come,sing along with me

Usha Thomas Look who's here? Starting tonight is the world's first reality Antakshari on Star One. After Kaun Banega Crorepati, it's Sameer Nair's last creative ini- tiative for Star. Antakshari-The Great Challenge will kick off at 8 pm with special guest Shah Rukh Khan inviting viewers for a musi- cal treat. It is Gajendrra Siingh's first show under his banner Saibaba Tele- films. Having introduced the concept way back in 1992 and making it the longest running (12 years) music- based show on Indian television, Bringing the show back on air after two years, Siingh says he is nervous: "The concept is in keeping with the times. There are newer elements with the core essence of music." Who's that girl? Annu Kapoor and Juhi Parmar host the show. Dressed in Reza's designer clothes, Parmar looks younger and sexier. Recount- ing her first day at shoot, she says, "There was no script. The instant positive reaction from the audience showed that Annuji and I had connected with them. I felt like a pop star. And, Shah Rukh's presence made the show bigger." What's new? Fridays to Sundays, the reality format involves a battle between the four zones — north, cen- tral, east and west. The first segment will run for 16 weeks and auditions will be conducted every Monday in New Delhi, Kolkata, Indore and Mumbai. In the first episode, Shaan is the celeb guest.There is also a special round dedicated to music director O P Nayyar. Zee's Cham- pions 2005 and Sony's Indian Idol runners- up Vineet Singh and Prajyakta Shukre also sing and give cues to the teams. Rs1lakh The winning team every Sunday will take home a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and will get an opportu- nity to participate the following week