There is good news for all dance lovers on the couch. The season of dance is back, and how. We are going to witness pure dancing in Season 5 of the much-loved show Dance India Dance. Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Reloaded 8 is all set to show much more than celebs. Nach Baliye Season 7, which is nearing its end has drawn stiff protests from its audience thanks to its new format, says SRISHTI DUTTA
Nach Baliye 7— Gone haywireIJ
By now, everyone knows that this dance reality show is a complete non-entertainer. The contestants (barring a few), judges and the entire concept of the show has backfired.
Among the line-up of couples for this season of Nach Baliye, the known faces were Karishma-Upen of Bigg Boss 8 fame, Rashmi-Nandish of Uttaran fame, Shakti Arora from Meri Aashiqi Tum Se Hi alongwith his fiancé, Sangram-Payal who were known faces from different seasons of Bigg Boss. Then there are other recognizable couples but not for their dancing. This uninteresting line-up itself was a major reason for the low TRP for the show.
Even the contestants’ personal stories couldn’t retain the audience’s interest in the show for long. Or were it the judges who forced the viewers awayIJ From the very beginning Chetan Bhagat as a judge did not sit well. How is an author supposed to judge a dance showIJ was the question most wanted to know. Although people were excited to see Preity Zinta on the small screen but she too appeared to be too lenient when it came to giving scores. Marzi is the only person who is fit to judge this show.
As is with other shows, Ekta Kapoor tried a new format — Too Much Factor — with this season of Nach Baliye. A mixture of Bigg Boss and Splitsvilla required the jodis to stay together in one house, men and women separately, being allowed to meet only during rehearsals and promotions which did not go down too well with the contestants and the audience.
On top of all this, the contestant are made to do a number of love tasks through which they get immunity. These tasks appear to be staged and so pretentious that it becomes very difficult for a person sitting home to watch.
The only saving grace of this show is the performance. Though dance is supposed to be the mainstay of the show, the makers, in their effort to bring in a lot of other reality elements, totally missed out on the dance aspect. With this season nearing its end, we can only hope the next season is better.
Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 8 — Studded with stars
The contestant list for this season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is spectacular. Stars like Sanaya Irani of Miley Jab Hum Tum and Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam DoonIJ, Vivian D’sena of Madhubala fame, Radhika Madan of Meri Aashiqi Tum Se Hi fame, Kavitha Kaushik of F.I.R fame, Dipika Samson of Sasural Simar Ka fame are some of the people participating.
These actors, who have huge fan followings, are sure to attract the audience. Manish Paul has been retained as the host, he is sure to maintain the fun quotient of the show. RJ Pritam, the finalist of Bigg Boss 8, who won hearts with his simple man nature in the show was supposed to be Manish’s co-host but rumour has it that he has backed out.
The only downer for JDJ 8 is that there is no Madhuri Dixit in the judge’s seat. She had become the face of the show since season 4. However, Shahid Kapoor is making his debut on the small screen with this dance reality show. Buzz is that the actor is charging `1.75 crore per episode. Also, Remo D’Souza is being replaced by choreographer Ganesh Hegde. This is the first time that an all-male panel will be judging Jhalak. Will the absence of Madhuri Dixit Nene work against the showIJ May be not.
Dance India Dance 5 — Beat that
Dance India Dance, the only true dance-based reality show in India, is back with Season 5. This show has always connected with the audience. Focusing purely on dance, it is credited with introducing many new dance forms in India like popping and locking, aerial, paso doble, lyrical hip hop.
The reason for such immense and continued popularity judge Mudassar Khan says is that Dance India Dance (DID), unlike other shows, is 100 per cent real. “We hold auditions across India and choose the top ones who deserve to be there. What you see on the show is a real person attempting to be a master and not a celebrity,” Khan says.
Other than Khan from last season who will continue, Gaiti Siddiqui, choreographer of songs like Baby Doll, and popular ex-DID contestant Punit Pathak are the new judges. This panel of young judges does seem refreshing but will they be able to retain the magic the this reality has managed to generate so farIJ
In Season 1 when Terence, Geeta and Remo were new judges, the audience loved them. Mithun Chakravarty, as Grandmaster, will continue to encourage contestants with his Kya Baat. Jay Bhanushali, the much loved host, is back. The Dada-Jay jugalbandi will be fun to watch on our screens.
The season 5 has been touted as the biggest battleground of dance, with a new format called — beat that — where the contestants will be required to bring something spectacular into each performance and challenge the others to beat that. Format changes sometimes work , however at times it can backfire as has been seen with Nach Baliye this year.
Although the new format of DID appears to merely be an introduction of a new title to bring in some freshness, if dance is no longer the focus, the show will have few takers. We just hope that this does not happen with this dance reality show.