MUMBAI: SaharaOne is looking to strengthen its weekend programming with a new reality show Jjhoom India.This is slated to fill up its 9-10 pm slot on Fridays and Saturdays from 27 October. After the first season of its earlier reality show Biggest Loser Jeetega which ended in September, the channel was looking to strengthen this slot in the face of formidable competition from other general entertainment channels.
As a filler it was screening a film on Saturdays and a soap Woh Rehnewali Mehlon Ki being aired at 9 pm throughout the week.
The channel is now banking on Jjhoom India to increase its GRPs in the face of competition from existing shows at prime-time on weekends (Sony has Jhalak Dikhla Jaa in the 9-10 pm slot).
"In Jjhoom India, soap stars will be coached by professional singers to sing and perform on stage in front of a jury and live audience. Each performance will be a duet, where the TV stars will perform alongside their mentors (the professional singers). They will be judged by a jury comprising Mahesh Bhatt, Shabani Azmi and music legend Anandji, followed by an SMS poll. One pair stands to get eliminated every week," says SaharaOne programming head Kalyan Sundaram.
SaharaOne CEO Sharmisha Rijhwani says, "Off late we have seen various reality shows being offered to viewers but Jjhoom India is unique in its concept. For the first time, TV stars will be coached by star singers to offer a complete entertainment package."Former Indian Idol contestant Rahul Vaidya and TV actress Sucheta Khanna will host the show.
The following 10 pairs of actor-singer have been roped in for the show: Shweta Tiwari-Suresh Wadkar, Sharad Kelkar-Vaishali Samant, Varun Badola-Akriti Kakkar, Roshni Chopra-Vinod Rathod, Mrinal Kulkarni-Sudesh Bhosle, Shama Sikander-Zubin Garg, Sachin Tyagi-Madhushree, Shekhar Suman-Sanjeevani, Chhavi Mittal-Jatin Pandit, Apara Mehta-Parthiv Gohil.
Produced and directed by Optimystix, Jjhoom India is an Indian adaptation of Stars on Stage, a Swedish format from Zodiac Television.
Optimystix has produced shows like Indian Idol (Season one) and Comedy Circus for Sony, Khullja Sim Sim, Kismey Kitnaa Hai Dam (Star Plus) and Bathroom Singer for Filmy.