Filmstars guest starring in reality shows is nothing new. In fact, tie-ups between television channels and producers have proven to be fruitful for all concerned -- the TRP of the show increases, as does the interest surrounding the forthcoming film.
Indian Idol [Images], Sa Re Ga Ma -- all have been prey to this gimmick. The latest one to join the bandwagon is The Great Indian Laughter Challenge II. The shooting of its latest episode saw Hrithik Roshan [Images] wave his hands to the audience and join the panel of judges along with Shekhar Suman [Images] and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Dressed in an all-black casual suit, Hrithik looked his best, as usual. And so did Dia Mirza [Images] in a yellow sari. She was there as the special guest for the next episode of TGILC II, which was also being shot on the same day.
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The set for TGILC II was identical to the one built at Nitin Desai's studio in Karjat, north of Mumbai. It just seemed the venue had been swapped from Karjat to the sprawling Film City studios at Goregaon, in the western suburbs of Mumbai for the semi-finals.
Shekhar Suman -- whose first music album Rubaru apparently may launch next month -- welcomed the audience by singing a song � Aao sunaein pyaar ki ek kahani in Hrithik's honour. Shekhar, though not completely off-key, would do better to stay away from singing.
Hrithik's entry made the audience hysterical. Shekhar Suman commented on his arrival, "Going by the character you are playing in Krrish [Images], I thought you would be flying in to the stage!"
But Hrithik was in no mood for jokes. He looked pretty serious, and said, "I don't know whether you will believe it or not, but for the last three months this is the only show I have been watching regularly."
Hrithik began by answering questions on Krrish. "This is the first time that the concept of a superhero is being introduced on Indian screen. Earlier we had only Batman and Superman from Hollywood. Now, with Krrish, the Indian superhero will arrive!"
But while Hrithik may be a screen superhero he's quite at loss on a reality show. He repeatedly looked to the co-judges for cues on how to react to jokes being enacted by the participants. And he asked innumerable questions about the format of the programme.
This episode too was on an Indo-Pak match -- Wali Sheikh and Kashif Khan represented Pakistan and Dr Tushar Shah and Rajeev Nigam were there to fight it out for India.
Says Dr Tushar Shah, who got to hear of the show from a friend, "I am an established professional in my field and have come here to satiate my energy. I want to form the link between humour and literature. Today, with Hrithik being the guest of honour, I want to use urban humour for this show."
Wali Sheikh, on the hand, is an old theatre hand. "I am grateful to the Indian audience. This is my first television reality show and I am grateful to my co-artistes and hosts to help me out. Apart from this, I am getting a number of other offers in television as well. But I am not too happy with them. Let's see what works out!"
Dr Tushar Shah stole the limelight. But Rajeev Nigam was pretty good too and got maximum applause.
Hrithik very openly caste his vote in favour of Tushar Shah and even requested the audience to vote for him!
The episode will be telecast on June 9, 2006, on Star One.
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