Article:Wild Entry:Balaji Dikhla Jaa

Jhalak Dikhla Jaa this year seems to be out and out Balaji dominated. The Balaji Brigade — Ronit Roy and the protgs, Prachi Desai and Jay Bhanushali not only fare well but in a show of solidarity, Ekta Kapoor and her family lashed out at Sony when Prachi was ousted. The channel had no option but to bring her and Sudha Chandran back via what they called a 'wild card' entry. This was clearly a face saving measure for Sony. But the message is loud and clear: you can't mess with Ekta Kapoor's proteges and get away with it.

Obviously, the other contestants are hopping mad. They are disturbed about the judges being partial towards this 'special' brigade. Sonali Kulkarni had openly expressed about her displeasure about being given low scores. Admits Sonali, "I did say so because that's what I felt. I have no complaints against the audiences. I also respect the judges for being experts in their respective fields. But I felt they gave me low scores even when I performed well."

Sandhya Mridul and Mir Ranjan Negi too have hinted about this supposed partiality towards the Balaji brigade. But most of them are afraid to vent their ire considering that Ekta Kapoor's dad Jeetendra is also on the panel of judges.

But the hue and cry made by the Balaji camp about their blue-eyed girl Prachi Desai's ouster from the show last week only makes things more blatant. The Balaji camp talked about how Prachi's ouster was unfair since she was hardworking and sincere. It then went to the extent of producer Siddharth Basu holding meetings with BBC Worldwide, who own the original format, 'Dancing with the stars' about the possibility of changing the format of the show so that a wild card entry is introduced to facilitate Prachi's return. And the international format could actually be changed (happens only in India!) to suit the whims of a select and lucky few.

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