Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; May 8, 2014)

Ekta Kapoor has joined hands with MTV for the Indian version of its popular international reality show, Punk’d. The hidden camera-practical joke reality television series has been created and hosted by Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher.

A source says, “This American show is hugely popular and Ekta and her team liked the concept a lot.
She has decided to team up with the channel to bring this show to India. She has already started working on the project and it is expected to go on air in a couple of weeks. For the show, Ekta has roped in newcomers Siddharth Gupta and Siddharth Bhardwaj, who are also working in her film, Kuku Mathur ki Jhand Ho Gayi. As the hosts of the show, they will play pranks on celebrities and capture it on camera.”

The show is tentatively titled MTV Jhand and it will run for five weeks. “The format of the show has been changed to suit Indian audiences; we are going to collaborate with the channel to add to the show’s star power and also promote our film. So far, we have shot with Nargis Fakhri, Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor, Anu Malik, and Ekta Kapoor,” says Tanuj Garg, CEO, Balaji Telefilms.