Ajay Devgan, Kajol join reality show bandwagon

New Delhi, Mar 16 (UNI) The trend of stars from tinsel town of Mumbai making a beeline for Television continues! The latest Bollywood heartthrobs to make a foray on the small screen are the "brooding" star Ajay Devgan and the bubbly Kajol.

Ajay and Kajol, along with yesteryear's actress Tanuja (Kajol's mother), are being seen on television as judges of a unique reality show 'Rock N Roll Family', a family dance show which has three generations of a family displaying their dancing prowess in the programme, vying with 11 other families for the title of 'Rock N Roll Family'.

To be aired on Fridays at 10 pm, 'Rock N Roll Family', which began airing on Zee TV from Friday, will have the 12 families performed on different themes before Ajay, Kajol and Tanuja.

The channel has roped in Sharad Kelkar (Nahar of 'Saat Phere' fame) as the anchor of the show.

Those associated with the programme say that Sharad seemed just the right choice for a show, himself being a staunch family man and essaying a similar character on screen as well.

''The show required someone who can empathize with the participants,''they said.

Cohosting the show along with Sharad will be the charming Mauli Dave, the finalist of the recently-concluded 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge' Mauli became the darling of the nation since her first performance on the show, when she sung the song "Mayya Mayya" from Guru and was christened the 'Shakira of India' by her mentor on the show Bappi Lahiri.

''Mauli might hail from the USA but is very Indian at heart and that is why she is here hosting the show,''channel sources said.

Like all reality shows on the small screen in the past, 'Rock N Roll Family' too saw some moving and emotional scenes.

For example, the inaugural episode of the show on Friday saw Ajay Devgan, a habitual smoker, so moved by the performance of a family that he decided to quit smoking for one day.

The show saw Rohit and Tanvi Jain, who are from Ghaziabad, perform on an innovative theme -'Smoking is injurious to health'.

Their performance affected Ajay to such an extent that he actually decided not to smoke for an entire day, in respect of the performance. Both Kajol and Tanuja were pleasantly surprised by this gesture.

Those associated with the show and the channel hope that 'Rock N Roll Family', which replaces the highly popular 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge', will, with its unique theme and format and the first ever appearance on the small screen of the endearing couple of Ajay Devgan and Kajol, generate the same TRPs as the musical reality show had done.

''With this show, the channel has managed to rope in an esteemed jury that, for the very first time, shall make their appearance in a reality show on Indian television - the effervescent Kajol, the indomitable Ajay Devgan and the beautiful Tanuja. In this context, we are hopeful of generating the same viewership levels that 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' had done,''the channel said.

The eligibility to participate in the show is that at least one member from three generations of a family should be there, (that is, grandfather, father and son or grandmother, mother and daughter) if a family wants to participate.

Ajay Devgan and Kajol are the latest among Bollywood heartthrobs to jump aboard the small screen bandwagon. The last few years have witnessed popular stars of tinsel town like Amitabh Bachchan, Sah Rukh Khan, Adnan Sami, Sharmila Tagore, Shankar Mahadevan, Saroj Khan, Himmesh Reshammiya, Vishal Shekhar and many others appear either as judges or hosts of reality shows on the small screen.

UNI AR GL BST1042