Gauahar Khan, Kushal Tandon: Meet the contestants of Khatron Ke Khiladi 5

Gauahar Khan: Gauahar Khan, who’s yet to live down her win at the Bigg Boss 7, says that she isn’t adventurous at all. But she’s quite keen to test her physical, and mental strength by facing the challenges. What makes her even more happy is that her beau Kushal Tandon will be there to support her as she goes through the ordeals.

Kushal Tandon: He was sceptical about taking part in KKK, but it was Gauahar who convinced Kushal Tandon to do the show as the channel wanted the duo to appear together on the show. He feels that the show is a good opportunity to do things he wouldn’t do otherwise, and have a good time!

Dayanand Shetty: Dayanand Shetty, aka Daya from C.I.D, is known to break doors. He wants to test that strength with KKK by competing with contestants younger than him. Besides, he also wants test himself in underwater stunts as he’s not a swimmer.

Mugdha Godse: Mugdha Godse loves adventures and the idea of fighting her own fears. She has been told by her friends like Nethra Raghuraman, a contestant of KKK’s earlier edition, that it’s a life-changing experience. And that’s precisely what Godse is expecting.

Rajniesh Duggall: Grasim Mr India, Rajneish Duggall, who’s acted in films 1920, instantly took up the KKK offer for one reason. He wanted to face up his fears like going underwater, or being with snakes. Things he’d never do on a normal basis.

Rochelle Maria Rao: Beauty queen-turned-anchor Rochelle Maria Rao has been a fan of KKK and always dreamt of being on it. She loves adventure sports. Believe it or not, she’s also looking forward to eating some weird stuff on the show. She doesn’t have a fear of heights either. Guess, a tough contender in the making!

Nikitin Dheer: Having worked in blockbusters like Dabangg 2 and Chennai Express, Nikitin Dheer has acquired an action man image. Action, he says, is his passion, having grown up on it watching movies like Rambo. He’s doing the show for the sheer rush and fun of it!

Pooja Gor: Pooja Gor fought injustice in her show Pratigya, and now she’s set to fight her fears on KKK. She’s excited about the stunts as she’s never done anything adventurous so far. A reason enough to grab the offer, when it came to her!

Ranvir Shorey: Funny man Ranvir Shorey says he’s a part of the show to make other contestants laugh. He also calls himself a ‘bundle of fears.’ KKK, says the actor, is like a paid adventure holiday that he always wanted to go on when he turned 40, but couldn’t!

Geeta Tandon: Female stunt artiste, Geeta Tandon has performed stunts for many top actresses, but KKK, she believes, will give her the opportunity to showcase it for herself. She’s quite excited about being able to give a face to her work with the show.

Salman Yusuf Khan: He’s danced his way to success by winning dancing crowns on Dance India Dance and acting in films like ABCD – Any Body Can Dance, but what Salman Yusuf Khan wants to show through KKK is the madness to him. The stunts, he believes, will be more of a mental and spiritual process for him.

Mahii Vij: A popular television face, Mahii Vij has taken up the KKK challenge to showcase her adventurous side and undo the pretty, petite image. The actress twisted her ankle just before the contestants were flown to Cape Town, so let’s see what she has in store for us!

How it all began

Fear Factor is an American reality game show which came into being in 2001. The Indian version of the show, Fear Factor India started in 2006 on Sony with Mukul Dev as the host. The show later got officially launched as Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi, a franchise by Colors in 2008. Three seasons of the show was hosted by Akshay Kumar, while the third season had Priyanka Chopra as the host of the show. The latest fifth edition will have film-maker Rohit Shetty as its host.

Adrenaline rush maxxed up by thrill, drama and entertainment — is the promise underlining the fifth edition of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi. Produced by Endemol India Pvt Ltd, the show is all set to continue its run on Colors.
The shooting of KKK is already in progress in Cape Town, South Africa. The location fullfilled all the criterias required to shoot an adventure series, including comfort, safety and security of the contestants. However, the major highlight of the 20-episode series is its host — action specialist, film-maker Rohit Shetty.
When quizzed about the reason for deviating from their earlier format that had stars like Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra as the host of the show, Deepak Dhar, MD, Endemol India, says, “We couldn’t think of anybody but Rohit Shetty for this season as the show’s format has changed this time around. Rohit is known for a certain style of action that goes in sync with what the new profile of Khatron…” Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, seconds Dhar, adding , “We’ve worked with Akshay, and he has done a fantastic job. But we wanted someone new. When we start looking at people to host it, Rohit Shetty’s name came first. He understands stunts like no other. But it took a lot to convince him to do the show.”
So how has the show changed in its fifth edition? “We’ve been working on the show for the last four-five months trying to figure ways to revive the brand and take it to the next level. We’ve been working with our stunt co-ordinators and team from Endemol International to see how we can up the scale. The audience will see all kinds of stunts —not just bigger in scale, but also in numbers. One stunt leads to the other, which in effect means that the contestants will have to do a lot more, and face their fears,” says Dhar.
Interestingly, this time around the KKK series will have a mixed crowd of six boys and six girls, instead of the ‘only boys’ or ‘only girls’ format of earlier editions. The ‘partner’ element has also been done away with; the contestants will now have to fight their fears all alone. The gross factor around stunts (like eating roaches or crawlies) have been scaled down to suit Indian audiences. “In the earlier editions too, we did not put too much emphasis on ‘edible’ stunts. There’ll be more of other stunts, which have been cherry-picked by us and our International team, in consultation with Rohit Shetty,” informs Dhar.
Rohit Shetty calls himself a die-hard fan of the KKK series. When asked as to why he took time to get convinced about hosting it, he said, “I’ll be able to tell you what happened in which season of Khatron…, especially since action is in my blood. But when I was offered to host it, I wasn’t sure if I was worthy enough to take on that role. I said yes to it only when I saw that the show’s format had undergone a change.”
Considering Shetty has been trying to ward off comparisons with Kumar, we’ll get to know if he’s been successful in it only when Khatron Ke Khiladi goes on air in March-April.

ankita.kanabar @expressindia.com