Shakti set to lead team of comedians

After his appearance in one of the episodes of The Laughter Champions, actor Shakti Kapoor is all set to lead a team of comedians in a new six episode series on Star One called The Laughter Champions Mahayudh. This series sees Shakti's team competing with Navjot Singh Sidhu's team in every episode. A total of 12 contestants from both seasons of the show are brought together to compete in the comic stand-up routines.

Divided into two teams, these participants would be eliminated one by one in every round, based on points given by the studio audience. In the preliminary episodes, eight contestants would be short-listed, who will then proceed to the semi finals. For the finals, four top performers will be selected.

Talking about how he was called by the channel for hosting this series, Shakti says, "The channel told me that when the episode in which I was called as a guest was telecast, the show registered high TRPs. Apart from this, my name has been associated with comedy for a long time."  Will he do a stand-up routine in the show as well? "If I get a chance, I would definitely love to perform alongside the contestants as it will be a different experience for me," says Shakti.

Since stand-up routines on stage are difficult, what are the qualities a comedian needs to excel on this platform? "A stand-up comedian needs to be very relaxed and confident on stage. He should have the ability to enjoy his own jokes. Another important thing is that his body language and mannerisms should complement the theme of his act," says Shakti.
But would Shakti's participation in the show be met with disapproval by the viewers because of the sting operation he was involved in recently? "I think people have realised the whole thing was a gimmick by a news channel. They know I'm innocent and the incident was an inappropriate move. Anyways, it's been a long time and people really don't have the time to remember such useless things,"