The Mira Road police have registered an offence against 29 people for allegedly misusing the registered trademark of V Unbeatable- a Bhayandar based acrobatic dance troupe which had shot to fame after bagging the Best Talent in the World award in the second edition of America’s Got Talent (AGT)-The Championship, 2019.
The action followed in response to a complaint registered by choreographer and founder of V Unbeatable- Omprakash Chouhan. In his statement to the police, Chouhan said that he has been conducting practice sessions of the acrobatic dance troupe since 2012. The members of the group are mostly youngsters belonging to economically weaker sections of the society.
However, one of their members, identified as-Vikas Gupta, met with an accident resulting in his death during a practice session in 2015. After a six-month hiatus, the members regrouped and started their practice sessions and participated in several competitions between 2015 to 2018. A huge opportunity knocked their doors when they were invited to participate in the AGT. After discussions with the group members, Chouhan duly registered M/s V Unbeatable Dance Group under the provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 which was mandated to participate in the international competition.
The group clinched the top spot to bag the Best Talent Award in March, 2019. However, alleging anomalies in distribution of the prize amount, 25 out of the 32 members including manager- Mahesh More abruptly left the group in March, 2024. Notably in response to a petition filed by the members (who exited the group) alleging embezzlement of funds, the High Court had directed the Mira Road police to take necessary action. Subsequently, a FIR was registered against five people including Chouhan and a famous Bollywood choreographer in October, 2024. Chouhan has alleged that More and 28 others began participating in various interstate and international competition by misusing his registered trademark and deceiving the organisers. Chouhan also alleged that the members of the group had abused and manhandled him after forcefully barging into his studio on 6, July, 2024.
“Based on the complaint filed by Chouhan we have registered an offence under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita which includes charges for cheating, impersonation, criminal conspiracy, defamation, criminal trespass and provisions of the Trade Mark Act-1999 against 29 people. Further investigations were on.” confirmed DCP (Zone I)- Prakash Gailwad. However, the accused troupe members in this case had alleged that they were physically assaulted when they went there to ask for their money.
