Ballroom dancing

Friday to Saturday, 9 pm

Rating1/2

What8217;s it about? Cricket is religion in India and reality shows have been a craze for some time now. When the two meet, what you get is great entertainment. Indian television actresses and famous cricketers will come into your drawing rooms every week and entertain you with their moves. The game only requires you to be a good dancer and whichever pair fails to grasp the attention of the judges and the viewers is eliminated.

Who8217;s in it? The competition will have six pairs coupling an actress and a cricketer. The pairs are: S Sreesanth and Surveen Chawla; Harbhajan Singh and Mona Singh; Irfan Pathan and Ashima Bhalla; Dinesh Karthik and Nigar Z Khan; Nikhil Chopra and Barkha Bisht; and Vinod Kambli and Shama Sikander. Colors has roped in ex-Miss Universe Sushmita Sen and ex-Pakistani skipper Wasim Akram to judge the show. Sandhya Mridul who has made a comeback on television after quite long has been roped in to anchor the show.

What8217;s hot? This may not be first time that we are seeing cricketers participate in a dance reality show Remember, Ajay Jadeja in Jhalak Dikhla Ja but for ardent cricket fans it is a delight to watch six of your favourite cricketers dance to the most popular film numbers. Kambli and Harbhajan with their sense of humour and lively attitude are an absolute delight on stage. Among the girls, Chawla and Mona Singh look well-trained for the job. And the chemistry between the 8216;Mallu superstar8217; Sreesanth and Chawla is eye-catching. Sen does a good job of commenting on the performance, while Akram has a wide grin pasted on his face. Nevertheless, both of them seem to be having a good time in each others company.

What8217;s not? While most actresses come across as good dancers, it is the men in blue who disappoint a bit. While Pathan dances in a Robot mode reminds us of Harman Baweja from Love Story 2050, Nikhil Chopra simply cannot get out of his bowling shoes. But Dinesh Karthik is by far the worst dancer and looks like he has at least three left feet. Although the concept is novel, there is nothing new in terms of strategy and set design. Dimly lit centre stage and tacky costumes take away from the freshness of the show.

Should you be watching it?After the Slapgate controversy, it is for the first time that Bhajji and Sreesanth will be facing each other. And this is a battle worth watching for cricket lovers. For the rest, it is an opportunity to witness a new game. On a different pitch, of course.