Krishna Mohan Reddy of Berhampur among 35 young Indian achievers of India Today

Krishna Mohan Reddy of Berhampur features in the “Youth Special” issue of India Today weekly as one among the 35 young Indian achievers along with the likes of Sushil Kumar, Karun Chandhok, Hamdullah Sayeed, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kangana Ranaut and creator of a symbol for Indian Rupee D. Udaya Kumar etc. Interestingly India Today goes on to describe Berhampur city as the CULTURAL CAPITAL of Orissa.

Following is the excerpt of the India Toady special article on Krishna Mohan Reddy
Krishna Mohan Reddy: Mover and Shaker

Determination, inspiration and attitude. Krishna Mohan Reddy has all this and more. He calls himself a dancer without training. A young man from Berhampur, a town known as the cultural capital of Orissa, Reddy became a dancer by watching films and TV programmes. In 2005, after completing high school, Reddy chose seven boys between 15 and 22, mostly labourers from Berhampur and formed the Prince Dance Group, a name he thought would attract young people. Within a year, the group grew to 16 members and plunged into Boogie Woogie, the long-running Sony dance show where it was adjudged a runner-up with a cash award of Rs 75,000. There was no stopping them then. In 2009, the group, which had expanded to 26 members, participated in Colors' reality show, India's Got Talent and successfully cleared its audition. They not only won the competition through a massive outpouring of SMSes, with Naveen Patnaik being among their supporters, but were also granted a cash prize of Rs 1 crore and four acres of land to set up a dance school at Gopalpur by the chief minister. Now, the Prince Dance Group is to represent Orissa at the Commonwealth Games. "We were attracted by local level competitions which inspired us to take on the national level challenge," says Reddy.

The Journey: "Earlier I used to think of myself alone but now I think of the 50-member team. This thinking has given me great responsibility. What we need now is not sponsors or tie-ups but adequate space to practice. The chief minister has promised it."

The Mission: He has been obsessed with dance since he was in school. "Dance has been my mission and for this reason I started hunting for talent. I always felt that adversity brings out the best in the best. None of the members has a dance and music background. My mission has been to make them perform despite that."

The Inspiration: His elder brother T. Harinath Reddy who also runs a dance school, Hari and Group, in Berhampur. "My brother was interested in dancing and I just copied him."

Source: India Today