Shakti Arora would soon get extremely busy with Nach Baliye

There are speculations about everything related to the dance reality show - from judges, to contestants, to hosts and even the format of the show

The seventh season of Star Plus' popular dance reality show is soon to be out. And, with every passing day, there is a new rumour around the show and its contestants; so much so that it has become difficult to keep a tab on who's doing what. So we decided to break it down for you and here's all we've heard about Nach Baliye 7 so far...

Judges

The judges' panel is up for grabs and we have a few volunteers. Out with the old and in the with new - Shilpa Shetty, Sajid Khan and Terence Lewis will no longer judge the new season of Nach Baliye. Several names have been floating around and we've already told you about a few. According to the grapevine, Preity Zinta has been approached to be the judge of Nach Baliye 7. With Shilpa Shetty out of the picture, the makers wanted a big B-town actor to replace her. Rumour has it that Isha Kopikar and her husband Timmy Narang were approached to be a contestant this year, but the actress declined the offer and suggested coming back as a judge. Amrita Singh was also considered to be the judge this year, but the actress backed out for unknown reasons. The other names in the mix are choreographer Marzi Pestonji and author Chetan Bhagat. Frankly, we get roping in Marzi but what is Chetan going to do on NB?

Contestants

There have been several names floating but no one has given us any confirmation as yet, due to their contracts. Last we heard Jackie Shroff and his wife Ayesha were approached to be contestants this year for a few episodes. Boxing champion Mary Kom and her husband Onler were approached but we doubt the couple will make it. Alia Bhatt's parents - Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan, Salman Yusuf Khan and his wife Faiza Haramain have been roped in too. We called up Salman to confirm this and he said, "I am so sorry but I really cannot comment on it. Yes I was approached for sure." Considering the dancer-actor has completed all his movie commitments for now, we are sure he will be seen in the final list of contestants. Other names that are more or less confirmed include Upen Patel-Karishma Tanna, Rashami Desai-Nandish Sandhu, Shakti Arora-Neha Saxena, Jay Soni-Pooja Shah, Aishwarya Sakhuja-Rohit Nag and Himanshoo Malhotra-Amruta Khanvillkar.

Show Concept

Well besides the fact that couples will be dancing and competing to win the trophy, this year the makers have planned a whole new concept. It seems more like a mini version of Bigg Boss. Nach Baliye 7 will be a combination of dance and drama. Ekta Kapoor, who normally kept away from reality shows is going all out this year. Last year it was Box Cricket League and this year it is Nach Baliye.

So the rules are something like this -

-Contestants have to stay away from home, family and friends.

-No mobile phones on the sets. They will be allowed to make calls to family members occasionally but it will be monitored.

-Besides dancing, the couples will be asked to perform thrice a week.

Nach Baliye 7 will, in a way, be a competition to Bigg Boss. Will this new format work and give better numbers? Stay tuned to this space to find out.