With Delhi University’s admission season still underway, the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) trials are playing the main character in aspirants’ lives. Frerom channelling filmi drama onstage to creating GRWM-coded Reels, here’s a dekko. The second round of seat allotments for Delhi University is all set to release today. While several students have secured their seat through CUET scores, and carefully curated preference lists, some others are still chasing their dream college. Thousands among these hope that their talent beyond academics will make all the difference to get therm the college of their choice. It’s here that DU’s Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) trials play the main character!DU ECA aspirants at the Miranda House campus during their theatre trials.Taking place in full swing, the ECA trials are witnessing some strong iconic characters from cinema as well as literature, come alive as aspirants are giving it all to present performances that can earn them a coveted seat in their dream college.Gangubai met Julius Caesar @ Miranda House18-year-old LSR aspirant Vridhi Bajaj performed as Gangubai.On one side of the Miranda House stage stood Gangubai — fearless, fiery and commanding. Moments later, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar found his way into the same auditorium through an original theatrical act. Such was the set-up on Tuesday as the college hosted theatre trials.Among the students who stepped on stage, was 17-year-old Vridhi Bajaj, who chose to portray Alia Bhatt’s character of Gangubai before the jury. “My dream is to get admission in Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) and my talent and passion for my craft is what I want to see get me there... When I was performing in front of the jury, I knew I had to present something powerful and hence picked the role of Gangubai. Just preparing for the role made me feel empowered; so much that when I was on stage talking to the judges, I was talking with the same vigour and confidence that Alia exuded while portraying Gangubai.”Beyond the silver screen, aspirant Nishchay Miglani turned to the classic Shakespeare for inspiration. Hoping to stand out in his show, he presented an act that blended the world of Julius Caesar with an original contemporary narrative, and told us later: “I did not get the best of CUET scores, but my craft and the trials gave me a whole new life. I wanted to present something that stayed with the jury after I left the stage. Months before the act, I read the Julius Ceaser act in such depth, but then I decided to come up with my own interpretation because I thought being original with give me an edge.”Theatre as an art form has always been about stepping outside the comfort zone for many aspirants such as Ayan Ather. This time, however, the stakes were much higher than just receiving applause as he dreams to get into BA (Hons) Philosophy at Hindu College or Kirori Mal College (KMC). “Walking into DU knowing my fate was now totally in my hands made me extremely nervous. It’s a feeling of now or never, and I had to do something different so I picked abstract theatre and presented a monologue. Back in my school days, in Varanasi, I spent six years practising theatre. Yet, the performance at ECA trial felt different because it was not just another stage, but it required me to step outside everything familiar. ”Tiger Shroff-inspired moves, Tauba Tauba hooks energise western dance trials @ Bharati CollegeKunsh Kundra, performed a dance routine inspired by Tiger Shroff.Bollywood found a fan-following with a spin at the western dance society trials held at Bharati College, on Friday, as aspirants blended contemporary choreography with popular Hindi film tracks and global dance influences.“Dance comes naturally when you’re inspired,” says Kunsh Kundra, a BCom (Hons) aspirant. Hoping to bag a seat at his favourite Sri Venkateswara College, Kundra says, “I love Tiger Shroff and Michael Jackson, so my routine was inspired by their styles. I had been watching their dance videos on repeat, over the last few weeks, before choreographing my performance.”The viral track Tauba Tauba also made its way to the audition floor as Deepali Singh, an aspirant from Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh, chose the Vicky Kaushal starrer hit number for her performance. “I’m the first girl from my family who has got a chance to reach DU. The journey from Azamgarh to Bharati College, on the day of trial, was full of butterflies in my stomach,” says Singh, adding, “Infact I was nervous right until I stepped on stage. But then, I told myself all I need to do is dance to Tauba Tauba, the way I dance when I’m with my friends, and that’s what helped me let go of all the anxiety that I was facing earlier. Now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”In Insta age: Watch ECA’s Reel-fication Bharatanatyam dancer and Hindu College aspirant Smaraki Sahoo.Smaraki Sahoo, who aspires to get into Hindu College, says: “I’ve been learning Bharatanatyam since I was six years old. As soon as I got to know about the opportunity to get into DU through ECA trials, I thought if my dance can’t get me to my dream college then what can? But then I decided to record my journey to getting ready, specifically for the trial because I love applying makeup and my followers keep asking me which products I use and how I use these. Since it was a big day for me, I decided to post a Reel on the morning of my ECA trials, and since then the response has been overwhelming and I’ve received 61k views so far.”Kathak dancer and Miranda House aspirant Sriranjani Ghosh Hazra.Sriranjani Ghosh Hazra, who aspires to get into Miranda House, says: “I’ve always loved vlogging. But I would usually upload only dance videos on my Instagram. When the day of ECA trials came, it was a big day for me to travel from Hisar (Haryana) to Delhi. It was very special day, and that’s when I thought it would be nice to share what goes on behind a dance performance with my Insta fam. Since I’ve been performing and learning Kathak for 14 years, I uploaded the journey to share my love for the art and its legacy. Though I made the Reel on a whim, but now after seeing all the love coming my way I feel it was the right move to make the moment memorable.”Inputs by Sakshi SinghFor more follow @htcity.delhijunction