A step ahead

Akshay Kumar with the 10 contestants on the show

By Priyanka Bhadani 

The Indian small screen, which by now has become accustomed to formats borrowed from the international markets, last week, witnessed a completely homegrown format as Dare 2 Dance was launched on Life OK. The show that has Bollywood heartthrob, Akshay Kumar as the host, has brought dance and dare (stunts) together on one platform.
The show that has been produced by SOL and shot in South Africa, kicked off with 10 contestants, who besides showing their dancing prowess, will also fight their fears. According to Ajit Thakur, EVP and GM, Life OK, since the show involves a lot of risks, Cape Town was the best place to shoot it. “It is one place that has trained professional stuntmen and supporting crew who helped us execute shoots at odd places and allowed us to keep the crux of the show alive,” he says.
The show is choreographed by Sanjay Shetty and his team of professionals, while the stunts have been designed by stunt co-ordinator and performer, Francois Grobbelaar, who has earlier worked on a number of Hollywood and Bollywood projects including Dredd, The Fall, Blood Diamond among others.
Kunwar Amarjeet Singh, one of the contestants, says that the show has been a wonderful experience for him as well as all the other contestants. “Having been associated with many dance shows in the past, I had almost thought that not much can be done in the arena, but this concept blew us off. Almost all the contestants are amazed by the way the show has been planned,” says Amarjeet, who has been known for his exceptional dancing talent in shows like Dance India Dance 2 and Dil Dosti Dance.
The twist in the show is that the elimination won’t be a weekly affair. “Following the concept of the show, elimination seemed like a redundant process as the parameter for judgement is based solely on the challenges given to the contestants. They will be judged for their performances under pressure situations and how they manage to dance withstanding the situations,” says Thakur, adding that to judge or rate the performances, cards have been introduced — red is for below average, green for excellent and gold for outstanding performance.
With a novel format, the team is being optimistic about the show hitting the bullseye.