| | | Singing the same tune: It's Sunil Pal and Himani Kapoor on Zee v/s Navina Prabhakar (right), who has been approached by Star |
It's the sequel to the Sandiip Sikcand v/s Ekta Kapoor drama. Zee's prodigy Gajendra Singh, who conceived the channel's goldmine, Antakshari and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, has switched loyalties to Star. This has unleashed an interesting saga.
Both the channels are priming to unleash a new version of Antakshari on their channels. Now, if insiders are to be believed, both the programmes are trying to rope in comedians as hosts.
A source from Star says, "Zee has roped in Laughter Challenge comedian Sunil Pal as the host for their show.
On the other hand, Star has Annu Kapoor as the host. But, as Zee's name is synonymous with Antakshari, Star wants to leave no stone unturned to make their version of Antakshari a successful one.
"Now, they have also approached Navin Prabhakar, a Laughter Challenge finalist, to bring in the laughter quotient. They want to keep everything under wraps for the moment as disclosure could ruin their strategy."
Gajendra Singh, when contacted, said, "Our Antakshari will be completely different from Zee's show. We can't disclose the format of the show, but it's going to be absolutely different. We have Annu Kapoor as the host. The female co-host is yet to be finalised."
Isn't it true that they approached Navin Prabhakar to equalise Sunil Pal's comic quotient?
"We are considering it. But, he is not going to be the main host like Annu Kapoor. It will be a different segment altogether. It's too early to talk about that," he added.
Ashish Kaul, senior vice president, Zee, said, "We have heard about it. I don't know whether they are copying our idea or not, but definitely they are very insecure about our idea.
"Zee has been synonymous with Antakshari for a long time and all the versions of Antakshari on other channels have fallen flat.
"No doubt, they are bold enough to come up with their version, but they are scared enough."
How does he feel about Gajendra Singh's departure? "He's been a part of the Zee family for a long time. He is a thorough professional and I wish him all the best. But, it's a channel's game, so the equation is quite different," he added.
As the story unfolds, it will soon be clear if this is just the tip of the iceberg or the clash of the Titan(ic)s? |
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