Total Washout

The format is thus: Contestants have to go through a gigantic obstacle course,somewhere in Argentina,which is quite imaginatively put together. There are walls to clamber over,retracting water bridges,treacherously slippery logs,giant rubber balls and — a special favourite — a wall with punching hands in it. The contestants negotiate these obstacles to reach an ultimate goal,whether it is finding a seat on a huge,revolving pillar or simply making it intact to the end of a course. More often than not,they find themselves plunging into water or thrust into sticky mud-pools. But not to worry,the surfaces are all heavily padded and the contestants themselves are given enough protection in the form of hats,vests and elbow and knee pads. And what exactly is King Khan doing in all this? He’s egging the contestants on,teasing them and poking fun at them,all from a studio in Mumbai. The contestants will have to make it through despite all this if they want to win the final kitty of Rs 1.5 crore.

Who’s in it? King Khan is a bit of a scene-hogger so if all you remember of the show are his jokes and snide comments,you won’t be alone. The supporting role is played by the contestants,most of whom are Bigg Boss alumni. So we see Raja Chaudhury bumbling along a slippery bridge while Bakhtiyar Irani flexes his muscles as he falls backwards into sticky mud. The other notable contestants are Dimpy Mahajan,Narayani Shastri,Kushal Punjabi,Jennifer Winget,Debina Bonnerjee and Vindu Dara Singh. Already the show has courted controversy by dumping tantrum-prone Akashdeep Saigal and roping in Dolly Bindra to co-host a portion of one episode.

What’s hot? Sometimes,it does get genuinely funny in a very ‘banana peel’ kind of way. But then,even the Three Stooges was funny in that way and that was when we were 10 -years-old. Also,some of the contestants are just plain weird — take for instance,Priyadarshini Singh,the outspoken,chubby contestant from Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega,or even Raja Chaudhary. It’s fun to watch them flex their muscles and run headlong into a padded wall. SRK too sometimes,manages to hit a funny note or two.

What’s not? What’s not so great about the show is a lot. First of all,we’ve seen this format before. There’s nothing new here,except that the contestants are so-called celebrities. That is the first complaint — why couldn’t they have made the show with regular people? The second complaint is that despite the hype generated around Khan’s association with the show,he simply isn’t good enough. He’s not his usual witty self,the lines are clearly scripted and he did not even bother going down to Argentina for the shoot.

Should you be watching it? There are a lot of other shows playing on primetime on other channels; watch those instead.