NB part-2?? YEAH!!!

Nach baliye! part 2 in oct

While the stage is set for the final round to be aired tomorrow, the channel plans its sequel to start in October next year

Subhash K Jha, Reena Thapar Kapoor

As the competition in the first innings of Nach Baliye reaches a crescendo, Star already has plans underway to bring back this TRP-booster show. This is how it will work – the winning couple that will be announced during the live telecast on Thursday will be taken ahead; nine new couples will be added in Nach Baliye 2 which will aired in October next year.

Confirming the imminent comeback of this dance show, Star's COO Samir Nair says, "It will be foolish not to return with this dance show. Though Nach Baliye was inspired by Dance With Stars, it turned out to be different from the original." The show was the brain child of Associate Creative Director Sanvari Alagh (who is the daughter of Maya Alagh). Elaborating on why Nach Baliye worked so spectacularly well in concept and execution, she says, "When we decided to do the dance show we had 70 couples in mind, from the engaged Amit-Neeru to the very married Sachin-Supriya. We decided to go with real-life couples on several counts. Half the battle is won off the dance-floor since these couples share a high comfort level with each other. Look at what this show has done to the television stars. They're no longer known by the name of the characters they play in their popular shows. Shilpa and Apoorva are no longer called Ganga and Armaan by the public."

About the vocal resentment some couples expressed after being eliminated from the show, Alagh, says, "That's a natural reaction. Most of these couples hadgrown so attached to the show that they continue to call and make enquiries even after they're out. I think Nach Baliye showed us that reality television can be positive and not merely an embarrassing experience."

* It will be foolish not to return with this show. Though it was inspired by Dance With Stars, it turned out differently – Samir Nair


TWIST IN THE STORY
The public reaction to the Varun Badola and Rajeshwari Sachdev's ouster was vehement. There was wide spread resentment and rumours of a rigged outcome spread like wild fire. To get both sides of the story, we spoke to EVP Content Star India Deepak Segal to know his side of the story.

Did you anticipate such an overwhelming reaction to the Varun Badola-Rajeshwari Sachdev elimination?
To begin with there is no controversy. Varun goofed up and bore the consequences; it's as simple as that. People are making a mountain of a molehill.

How did the channel react to the episode?
We were definitely heart broken. A few weeks ago they had almost lost out because of low public votes.

But the judges bailed them out and they survived. The channel loved them as a couple. My family, especially my mother-in-law (Leela Bhansali) was taken aback.

It's rumoured that Star One paid Varun and Rajeshwari to get eliminated?
That's really unfair! Whatever I paid them as a bribe would not match the winning sum of money. Who in his right senses will let go of a huge amount like 50 lakhs and settle for anything less than that? Sachin-Supriya have always been in the lead as far as public votes are concerned. There is no strategy involved here. We're not playing a game within a game.

Do you think Varun-Rajeshwari deserved a second chance?
Does one get to re-appear for an exam after failing once? The answer is no. There is no way we could've given him another chance. There is no room for re-takes at all.

If Nach Baliye is akin to an examination, why didn't the judges reveal the marks for their so-called incomplete performance?
Before anyone accuses us of anything, let me remind everyone that a contestant who lost on Kaun Banega Crorepati was called back because we, at Star realised and admitted our folly. How do the judges give them the marks for an incomplete performance? In short, Varun-Rajeshwari's elimination wasn't rigged!

You promised an NGO that you'd open the phone lines for an hour to let people voice their opinions about whether they wanted to give Varun and Rajeshwari a second chance.

I never made any promises anyone any such thing. Star has its own response division where we get the feedback we require. E-mails, calls, fax, letters... they are all taken care of by them. We don't need to open any phone lines for that.