Television channels, in their quest to grab eyeballs and TRPs, are shelling out big bucks to attract the big stars. And it seems to be working, with Bollywood stars realizing that there is a lot of money to be made from television.
Here’s a look at some of Bollywood’s celebs coming home to you
Priyanka Chopra on Fear Factor — Khatron Ke Khiladi 3. After creating waves on the big screen, the actress is all set to host the third season of Fear Factor — Khatron Ke Khiladi. She replaces Akshay Kumar, who hosted the first two seasons of the show.
Priyanka’s enthusiasm towards athleticism and her action movies like Don convinced the makers that she is the best option for Fear Factor.
The revival of the popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati will see Bachchan return as the host. He hosted the first and second seasons while Shah Rukh Khan anchored the third.
The fourth season will have a few changes in the format, and will flag off on October 11, the Big B’s birthday. Some of the changes include the famous KBC logo, which got a makeover, thanks to Bachchan.
So how does he feel about returning to the show? “Kaun Banega Crorepati is a good television habit,” Amitabh says. “It brings the whole family together and the knowledge is shared in an interesting and entertaining way. It’s is a great honor and a pleasure to be associated with the show again.”
Salman Khan will take over from Amitabh Bachchan, who hosted the previous season of Bigg Boss.
Interestingly, both KBC and Bigg Boss are expected to start at around the same time. The competition seems quite stiff, and a battle for TRPs seems inevitable.
Giving action a break, the actor is nevertheless returning to the small screen as a judge on the cooking reality show Master Chef India.
Akshay, who started his career as a chef in Bangkok before entering films, will team up with two other judges in the search for the best cook of the country.
The show is tentatively scheduled to go on air in September.
Auditions have already begun with the final 14 selected for the Mumbai round.
After hosting game shows such as Tol Mol Ke Bol and Deal Ya No Deal, R. Madhavan is enjoying his stint as the host of Imagine TV’s new game show Big Money.
It is a show which tests the competitors’ knowledge about TV shows and advertisements.
Asked what prompted him to do a television after the huge success of his movie, 3 Idiots, the actor replied, “I loved the idea of the whole family coming together and making an attempt to win the prize. Reality shows like Big Money are an excellent opportunity to reach out to my fans and connect with them.”
Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega is a talent hunt show on Sony Entertainment Television. This is the show’s third season.
Choreographer and director Farah Khan and music director Anu Malik will return as the judges. This show is expected to replace Indian Idol 5.
The pretty actress has been a regular fixture on the small screen right from her Indian Idol days.
Presently, she’s back for the second season of India’s Got Talent — Khoj 2. The channel has retained her and jury member Kirron Kher. The other jury member, Shekhar Kapoor has been replaced by Sajid Khan.
Jackie Shroff has made a comeback on the small screen with Star One’s show India’s Magic Star. The actor will judge the show along with magicians Franz Harary, Rajath and Vasanth. Jackie had earlier hosted a filmi show called Lehrein. Later, he anchored few episodes of Chitrahaar and a show called Missing on Sony.
Very few women anchors have made a big dent. Recall Madhuri Dixit’s stint of hosting the matchmaking show Kahiin Na Kahiin Koi Hai? Manisha Koirala’s quiz show Sawal Dus Crore Ka? Rani Mukerji is one of the judges on Sony TV’s Dance Premier League and Genelia D’Souza is hosting UTV Bindass’ Big Switch.
KBC, AB, and Star TV, watch out you’ve got competition. At least that’s what the folks at Zee TV are threatening to offer to the three courtesy their game show Sawal Dus Crore Ka which is being touted as the highest prize money game show globally and is slated to launch on October 23. The person at the forefront will be Anupam Kher who will be the master of ceremonies – along with Manisha Koirala.
Sanjay Dutt is all set for his second outing on television. The actor had been signed up to host a show called Mission Ek Crore in 2001, but despite heavy promotions, the show never took off. Now, he has agreed to host another game show that will be based on Sanjay’s Munnabhai character and will have him giving out Jadoo Ki Jhappis to the contestants. Apparently, a channel which wanted Sanjay to host a game show came up with three ideas and the actor liked the one which played around his Munnabhai character.
Sonu Nigam started his TV career as host of Zee TV’S Sa Re Ga Ma Pa series then moved on to adjudicate Indian Idol. However, he’s made his appearance as a guest on most channels. The singer, who of late, has been keeping a low profile, will return to television as a judge on the Star Plus reality show Chhote Ustaad.
Hit list conducted a poll on http://www.mid-day.com/ to ascertain which star the audience was eagerly waiting for. Sallu topped the list with the Big B coming second. Priyanka Chopra and Akshay Kumar keep company at the furthest end.
