WOW STORY OF THE DAY National Patiala Boy Shehzaan Khan blends choreography and charisma, turning viral reels into global recognition and awards.

Bollywood Sets, Remo D'Souza, and the Day Everything Changed

•⁠  ⁠Shehzaan Khan grew up with dance as his first language. His professional journey began with the help of friend Salman Yousuf Khan, who introduced him to his idol, choreographer Remo D'Souza. That introduction opened the door to Bollywood's background dance circuit: Jagga Jasoos was his debut, followed by roles in Stree, Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi, Laal Kaptaan, and Malang. He also performed in some of Bollywood's biggest songs including Dilbar, Aankh Maarey, Nashe Si Chadh Gayi, and Tujhe Kitna Chahte Hain.

•⁠  ⁠But background work, by definition, keeps the performer in the background. The lockdown of 2020 changed that. With nothing but time and a phone, Shehzaan started posting on Instagram for fun, purely to distract himself. Then one reel connected. His choreography on Laung Da Lashkara from the film Patiala House went viral with approximately 4 million views. The comment sections filled with recreations. The phrase National Patiala Boy took hold. And overnight, the background dancer became the face.

Build the Blush, Own the Workshop, Wear the Crown

•⁠  ⁠The defining quality of Shehzaan's content strategy is something he stumbled into rather than engineered, which makes it more powerful, not less.

•⁠  ⁠During a dance workshop, a student blushed at him unexpectedly. He mentioned it casually online. The response was enormous. Suddenly he was the Blush Boy, a nickname that spread faster than any campaign budget could manufacture. He leaned into it with complete self-awareness, making warmth and relatability as central to his identity as technical dance skill.

•⁠  ⁠This combination, world-class choreography wrapped in genuine accessibility, became his most powerful differentiator in a creator economy full of technically skilled dancers who felt untouchable. Shehzaan felt like a friend. And in the attention economy, the friend always wins over the performer.

•⁠  ⁠His collaborations reflect this reach: Sargun Mehta, Vijay Deverakonda, Shikhar Dhawan, Raftaar, Ridhi Dogra, Ankush Bahuguna, Aastha Shah, and Vishal Pandey. Each name added credibility, each reel added community, and each workshop added a new generation of dancers who would recreate his moves and spread his name further.

Scale, Recognition and Real-World Impact

•⁠  ⁠Shehzaan Khan has 556,000-plus followers on Instagram across 870-plus posts. He was named to Forbes India's 30 Under 30 Class of 2022, one of the most competitive recognition lists in Indian media. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Choreography for Laung Da Lashkara. He was awarded Trendsetter Influencer of the Year Male at the InfluencEX Awards 2023, sharing the stage with Mr Faisu, Piyush Joshi, and other top creators. He attended the Cannes Film Festival 2024, where he represented India's creator community on one of the world's most prestigious cultural stages. He is a member of One7 Club, the premium creator collective. He has appeared in dance reality shows and is actively pursuing acting, with a stated dream of working alongside Shah Rukh Khan on screen.

The Background Is Just the Beginning

•⁠  ⁠The sharpest lesson from Shehzaan Khan's journey is this: the years spent in preparation are never wasted, even when they are invisible.

•⁠  ⁠Every film set where Shehzaan danced in the background was sharpening a skill, building a work ethic, and developing the stage presence that would eventually carry an entire reel to 4 million views. The lockdown did not create his talent. It simply gave that talent a direct path to an audience for the first time.

•⁠  ⁠"Create what makes you happiest, create for yourself, create quality and put up things you believe in. And be patient. When it clicks, it clicks. And trust me, it'll click because no hard work goes to waste ever," Shehzaan says.

•⁠  ⁠He spent years in the background. He spent one lockdown in the light. And India, watching a boy from Patiala dance on a phone screen, decided he belonged right at the front.

Sources: Tring India, Exhibit Tech InfluencEX, Social Nation, Instagram @isshehzaannkhan, WikiBioAge