Raj Parmar

Raj Parmar (born 1 November 1981) is a British Asian Bollywood dance expert, choreographer, and television and radio personality. Best known for his work with Sunrise Radio, as a presenter on the popular Urban Masti Show, Raj began his career as a trained media professional. Raj is a professional dancer, establishing his own dance troupe and performing in melas across the UK. More recently, he appeared in Channel 4’s reality series Big Ballet.

Early Life and Presenting Work

Parmar grew up in Hounslow, West London before moving to Bradford at the age of 10. With connections to leading radio station, Sunrise, Raj was offered unique exposure to the media world. Gaining valuable and relevant experience in media from an early age, Raj trained as a presenter. Hosting the popular Urban Masti Show, Raj’s popularity became widespread. During his work as a presenter for Sunrise, Raj has interviewed several luminaries from the Bollywood and Lollywood industries, including; Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishekh Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Juhi Chawla, Kajal, Saif Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor and more recently, Bipasha Basu. As well as celebrity interviews, Raj began managing and marketing the station. His natural flair for radio work led him to becoming one of the youngest directors in the broadcasting industry.

Alongside his presenting work with Sunrise, and no stranger to taking centre stage, Raj has hosted a number of live stage events and is a mainstay at the Bradford mela.

Dance career

Raj has been involved in all the leading melas as a dancer. His unique choreography has gained a great deal of attention over the years, resulting in choreography jobs for several popular British Asian music videos, as well as a popular MTV show.

Recognising a niche that had not yet been filled, Raj opened his own Bollywood dance academy, Spice Entertainment. In 1999 Raj’s academy opened its doors to youngsters across all ages. Alongside hosting training courses at the academy, he regularly conducts many dance workshops at various schools, community centres and arts organisations such as Kala Sangam.

Acting Work

In 2006, Raj landed an acting role in major blockbuster Casino Royale, as well as British film Mischief Night. In 2014 Raj achieved a small role in one of India’s most popular drama serials, Saraswatichandra.

Television Appearances

Deal Or No Deal

In 2006, Raj appeared as a contestant on popular television game show, Deal Or No Deal. Taking part in the first season, Raj responded to an advert in the paper, and was selected from thousands of applicants to become one of the twenty-two contestants.

Raj won £1 on the show after declining a final offer of £10, 000 from the Banker.

Big Ballet

More recently, Raj displayed his versatile dancing abilities in Channel 4 documentary Big Ballet. Beating almost 500 other aspiring ballet contestants, Raj ultimately won a place in the 18 member dance troupe. Raj received much attention and praise for being the only Asian member of the troupe and one of two males.

The three-part documentary saw Raj train under legendary dancer Wayne Sleep, and eventually play the role of heinous villain Baron Von Rothbart in the iconic Ballet, Swan Lake.

The series received global attention, airing in the US and in France.

External links

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