Berlin-based TikTok creator Lena Schmidt, 24, turned a Bandra backstreet into her stage on March 15, capping a three-week India trip with a farewell dance that has since accumulated 4.2 million views across TikTok and Instagram Reels.
The video, posted to her @LenaDances account, layers Rema and Selena Gomez's 2022 hit "Calm Down" over Sanju Rathod's Marathi track "Gulabi Saadi"—a pairing Schmidt told followers she developed with Mumbai-based choreographer Aarav Mehta during her stay. Wearing a sequined lehenga over white sneakers, she blends bharatanatyam mudras with hip-hop footwork, a hybrid style that has defined her account since she began posting Indian-influenced content in 2022.
"I'll be back," Schmidt says at the clip's close, addressing the camera from outside a chai stall whose proprietor, Rajesh Kumar, later told Mumbai Mirror that crowds gathered for nearly three hours as she filmed multiple takes. "She wanted the evening light," Kumar said. "People kept stopping their scooters to watch."
The "Gulabi Saadi" segment has driven particular engagement from Indian viewers, who comprise roughly 40 percent of Schmidt's 2.3 million followers. Comments on her TikTok post—now exceeding 12,000—frequently note the specificity of her footwork, with user @priya_dances writing: "Finally a foreign creator who learns the style properly instead of just waving arms."
Schmidt's India trip included workshops in Mumbai and Bengaluru where she trained in Bollywood and contemporary fusion with instructors she has credited in previous posts. She has addressed questions about cultural appropriation directly: in a February Q&A, she stated she donates workshop proceeds to Indian dance education nonprofits and tags all collaborating choreographers.
The creator has not specified a return date, though her March 15 caption promises "more cities next time—Chennai? Kolkata? You tell me." Her previous India visit, in January 2023, generated three videos that each surpassed one million views.
For platforms, the clip's success underscores continued appetite for cross-cultural dance content. "Gulabi Saadi," released in 2022, has seen periodic resurgence through creator adaptations; Spotify India reported a 340 percent streaming increase for the track during the week following Schmidt's post.
Schmidt is currently en route to São Paulo for a similar content series, she told followers in a March 17 story update.
