Mumbai: The dance reality show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa on Colours makes for good weekend entertainment on the telly if you have no plans on Saturday night. But for many of the celeb contestants who have been eliminated from the show, there is nothing entertaining about it.
Actor Kushal Punjabi, who was a wild card entrant on the show, was angry at being disqualified after a dance face-off with Kiku Sharda, Palak from Comedy Nites with Kapil, another popular show on Colours. While Kiku has also been eliminated since then, there were whispers that the reason he had a long run on the show was because he was a Colours actor and that the channel was playing favourites.
Adding to the rumours was the fact that Kushal complained publically that he found it hard to understand why he was asked to leave when the judges constantly kept telling him how happy they were with his work.
Cricketer S. Sreesanth is another contestant who was not happy with the show. He stormed out halfway through after a tiff with the judges.
Actress Kritika Kamra too was shocked when she was eliminated though the judges were praising her throughout.
The positive feedback from judges and audience votes never tally on the show and the explanation given regarding as to why moderate performers are pushed up is that they are very popular with the viewers who keep voting for them to stay.
Thus, great dancers who are a hit with the judges — Karan Johar, Madhuri Dixit and Remo D’Souza – can’t really feel safe.
There is talk that TV star Ashish Sharma, considered to be a hot favourite on the show, may make it to the finals this time because he is the hero in one of Colours’ hit shows. He doesn’t always get the highest points but is never in danger of an elimination threat.
While representatives from Jhalak refused to comment, this is not the first time that the show has been accused of favouritism. When actor Prachi Desai won Jhalak in Season 2, it was alleged that TV czarina Ekta Kapoor had pulled strings to ensure her win. Last year when Drashti Dhami won, it was said that she won because she was a Colours heroine.
While the winners have always dismissed the talk as a case of sour grapes, the losers have always been suspicious.
When asked about their experience on Jhalak this season and what they have to say about their ouster from the show, here’s what some of the former contestants have to say:
Kritika Kamra
Winning and losing are always part of the show, nothing to fret over. I have no idea about the maths of elimination. How the marks of the judges work is best known to them. I am not aware whether the show is scripted or not.”
Kiku Sharda
I have no regrets for being eliminated. The voting definitely does not tally with the judgement passed by the judges on the show. Because we have a fan following, obviously they do not judge us on par with the technicalities of the dancing performances.”
VJ Andy
Dancing for the show was challenging and funny as my stay was terribly short and ended in a few months. My initial theme was changed all of a sudden. I was given a theme at a short notice. I am a trained dancer, but switching to a new theme and getting the perfection needs some time. I was also disappointed with my choreographer.
“Also owing to some confusion on social networking sites, Dhrishti Dhami’s fans were wild at me as the news spread that I was replacing her as the host…next, co-host Ranveer Shorey’s nasty comment also garnered a lot of hatred for me.”
Purab Kohli
It’s been three months since I was eliminated. It is the past. I did have a lot of fun on the show. In fact we were all shocked about being eliminated. Probably we could have gone ahead for a bit longer. Having put in eight hours of practice, I tried to do the best.”
