Star One, Zee in race to recreate magic of 'Antakshri'

New Delhi, Dec 31 (UNI) Shows with Bollywood song and dance as their backdrop seem to be the in thing in television after the success of 'Indian Idol' and 'Nach Baliye' last year, with television networks indulging in a race to go on air with their take on the shows.

Earlier this year, Star One and Sony vied with each other for launching their respective takes on a celebrity-based dance show - Sony launching 'Jhalak Dikhla Ja, which had celebrities like Cricketer Ajay Jadeja, TV actors Mona Singh, Shweta Salve and Akashdeep Sehgal, film actress Rati Agnihotri, filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar and TV show host Pooja Bedi while Star One responding by launching the second edition of its popular show 'Nach Baliye'.

Then, one saw a race between Zee and Star to launch musical talent hunt featuring kids.

After Zee launched 'L'il Champs where tiny tots competed with one another for the title, Star responded with a similar show 'Rin Tera Mera Superstar'.

A race is now on between Star and Zee for launching a show modeled on the highly popular Antakshri, the longest running musical show on Indian television. While Star One, fresh from the success of 'Nach Baliye 2' and the euphoria generated by the announcement of the nation's heart-throb Shahrukh Khan as the host of its third edition of the KBC, has announced the launch of 'Antakshri-The Challenge'', Zee TV has said Antakshri would make a return in the new year.

While 'Antakshri-The Challenge' to be launched in February this year, will be hosted by Anu Kapoor who lent the original show a legendary status with his irrespressible charm, Zee's 'retake' on 'Antakshri' will be hosted by Sunil Pal, who has been a part of STAR One's 'Great Laughter Challenge' with Himani Kapoor (one of the finalists in 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa -Challenge 2005) as his co-host.

However, while the show on Star One will be produced by Gajendrra Singh, the producer of the original 'Antakshri' as well as some of the most popular musical shows on television like 'Sa Re Ga Ma', 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge' and 'Little Champs', the Zee show will be produced by an in house team of the channel.

Sources in Star One said 'Antakshri-The Challenge' will have a reality aspect to it with inclusion of new elements in the format of the original show on Zee. ''The show, with an innovative and exciting format, aims to captures the passion that Indian audiences have for music,''the CEO of Star Entertainment, Samir Nair said.

He said the launch of 'Antakshri-The Challenge' was in synch with the channel's promise to consistently deliver indigenous content and complete entertainment for the audiences.

More UNI