Article:Just laugh it off...

R eality TV producer Endemol India is launching the third season of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (TGILC) on Star One. Premiering on May 18, it will air twice a week for 18 weeks. Concept Ten winners will go into the finals. They will also perform in the Great Indian Comedy Show on Star One. What's different? CEO, Endemol India Rajesh Kamat says, "The set at Yashraj resem- bles London Square. It has been designed by Samir Chanda. It's on a much bigger scale. " Any celebrity guests this time? He says, "Yes, there will be mid-season spikes when we invite special guests. We will have celebrities from across the border." The participants are trained to face the cam- era and cautioned against cracking vulgar jokes since the show is targeted at families. Shekhar vs Siddhu The buzz is that Shekhar Suman is out of the show once again. Kamat says, "No, those reports are false. He is very much a part of the show. Shekhar's and (Navjot Singh) Siddhu's com- bination worked very well. The series needed a breather from the regular faces, that's why we had Shakti Kapoor as the judge for the recent- ly concluded Mahayudh." Shekhar had said that he had taken a break to fulfill commitments including those in act- ing, setting up his production house and releas- ing his first music album. About Siddhu, Kamat says, "He is rocking, he's an integral part of the show. Laughter is contagious. Siddhu evokes extreme reactions from the viewers.. they either love him or hate him. But he does instill confidence among the contestants." Copy cats Perizaad Kolah continues to be the hostess. "She has a terrific screen presence and shares an excellent rapport with Shekhar, Siddhu and the contestants," remarks Kamat. What about the shows that have replicated TGILC? Kamat says, "They are good attempts. One has to understand that humour is a difficult genre to execute. We have had the experi- ence of handling 104 episodes so far." Did the second season do as well? "The first season of any reality show is spoken about only because of its nov- elty factor. It had a TRP of 10. "The second sea- son is seen as a normal product. It continues to get in good viewership. The fact that it got TRPs of eight on a chan nel like Star One shows that it has worked equally well," ends Kamat.