It takes just a couple of programmes to make a TV channel. Star Plus zoomed from the bottom of the heap to the very top with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kaun Banega Crorepati. Sony hit bull's eye with Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and Indian Idol. Now it's the turn of another neophyte channel to stake its claim as a serious contender. Star One has been making a song 'n dance about its growing popularity and guess the reason for it going ballistic—a dance contest called Nach Baliye where ten celeb couples from within the television industry are battling it out for a Rs 50-lakh award.
Rumoured to have been made with a Rs 200-million budget, it has viewers talking and, as the finals approach next week, it's clearly TV's flavour of the season. "We are now in competition with our own flagship channel Star Plus," says Ravi Menon, head of programming.
Dance is always fun to watch. What works with Nach Baliye are the real-life couples, each pair reportedly getting Rs 16 lakh as appearance fee. Initially, for the viewers, there was the excitement of discovering which of their favourite TV characters was married to whom. They may have known that Archana Puran Singh was married to Parmeet Sethi but it was quite another thing to learn that Neeru Bajwa was living with Amit Sadh. Not just the couples, the channel also got the mix of star-judges right: the suave Farhan Akhtar, the sexy Malaika Arora and the opinionated Saroj Khan.
Actor Sachin remembers how he and Supriya were the first couple to be contacted. "I love dancing but I didn't realise it would get so tiring. The endless rehearsals are taking a toll physically. But mentally we are still on," he says. He is surprised to have found a clutch of fans in the younger generation through the show. As for his better half, "in the 20th year of our marriage we have rediscovered each other by dancing together," he says. The choreographers for Sachin-Supriya, Al and Mel (Aloysius and Melody), are not just hoping for the Rs 20-lakh prize for the best choregrapher but the recognition it's likely to bring. "We're looking forward to a career in films," says Al. On the other hand, for an established choreographer like Saroj Khan, the power of TV has been a unique experience. "Even after years of popularity in films, it's only now that I'm getting mobbed so badly," she says.
The show, obviously, builds on curiosity and suspense—who will get ahead and who will be left behind. There was the shock of the unexpected departure of Apoorva Agnihotri and Shilpa Sakhlani while a lesser couple like Delnaaz and Rajiv Paul stayed on. There's the wonderment in seeing poor dancers metamorphose into agile movers. Ironically, what has worked most is the fact that none of them is a professional dancer. Rajeshwari Sachdev may have trained in Kathak but
hasn't quite taken to the stage. It's a bit of evil pleasure then to see them go through the grind. Over the last eight episodes there have also been a few genuinely interesting performances. Like the comic, role-reversal dance where Rajeshwari played the man while her husband Varun Badola became a woman. Or the super-energetic Marathi folk dance, Dhagala lagli gala... from Sachin and Supriya.
As with reality shows, the basic mantra is to target the voyeur in every viewer. We get vicarious pleasure in watching glamorous couples laugh, cry, hug, bicker and quarrel on camera. There have been melodramatic episodes of stars dancing away despite injuries. Then there was Darren Das, the choreographer of Maninee and Mihir Misra, disputing Malaika's judgement. Of course, much of this drama seems manipulated but then viewers seem to easily lap up the histrionics.
The publicity machine has also delivered efficiently. The show has constantly been in the news, even negative stories have fuelled curiosity. Like how dress designer Anna Singh was eased out of the show because she couldn't click with the stars. Alais Kader, the choreographer for Amit and Neeru, was sacked at the behest of the couple. Then Sai and Shakti
Anand alleged that judges were favouring the older couples. Maninee is now threatening to write a bareall account of what it meant participating in the contest. And there have been reports of couples buying pre-paid cards in bulk to manipulate votes. What began as a happy family contest has been expertly fashioned into an aggressive, bitchy battle.
The finale is expected to be a 2 1/2 hour, live mega TV event. Meanwhile, the channel is also looking for other spin-offs of this success. Nach Baliye CDs, a compilation of the remixed tracks featured in the show, are already out. DVDs and VCDs may follow soon. Next year the channel plans a show along the lines of Dancing With The Stars, where a non-dancing celeb will find a partner in a dance expert. "Say a Shiamak Davar with a Prannoy Roy or Barkha Dutt," says Menon. Shiamak wouldn't be hard to rope in but will Prannoy and Barkha agree?
