Urmimala Banerjee (MID-DAY; December 30, 2014)

After reports trickled in about Ekta Kapoor co-producing the next season of Nach Baliye, speculation is rife that the couple dance reality show will get new judges too.

Filmmaker Sajid Khan, choreographer Terrence Lewis and actress Shilpa Shetty had judged the fifth and sixth season of the show. Insiders suggest that Ekta is keen to rope in actors and filmmakers close to her to evaluate the performers.

Right from the prospective jodis to the new panel of judges, everything is being closely guarded by the channel officials. Sources insist that the upcoming season will be more dramatic than ever. The names of celeb couples doing the rounds are Mohit Raina-Mouni Roy, Sanaya Irani-Mohit Sehgal and Jay Soni-Pooja Shah.

Two months ago, there was buzz that the show would be scrapped after failing to garner TRPs. Ekta now apparently wants to add some novelty to the show and is involved in the creative planning.

Terrence says, “I haven’t received any such information from the production house yet. If they are planning to revamp the show and need a panel that fits the new format, the channel will make the best choice.”

Sajid echoed him. “I have not heard anything from the channel to that effect.”

Refusing to divulge any details, spokesperson of the channel concerned says, “At the moment, everything is in the planning stage and we are not authorised to make any official statements.”

Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; October 8, 2014)

Nach Baliye, the celebrity couple dance reality show which had been treating the small screen audience to a heady mix of dance and romance, has been scrapped by the channel on which it was being aired. A source says, “There will be no new season for Nach Baliye as the channel has decided to end the show. In the recent past, there have been many dance reality shows which have been hugely successful and the audience is getting divided, resulting in low TRPs for us.”

A source from the channel adds that it was also quite a task to scout for celebrity jodis. “Though the judges (Shilpa Shetty, Sajid Khan and Terrence Lewis) were big names, the show was not able to garner high TRPs. This is the reason why the show is being taken off air,” the source suggests.

Another reason for low TRPs is attributed to lack of novelty in the show’s format. “Nach Baliye is a big brand but the format is too jaded,” adds a source.

The spokesperson of the channel remained unavailable for comment.

MUMBAI MIRROR (January 9, 2014)

When Charles Darwin proposed the theory, he definitely did not have this contest in mind; Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty competing to know who can do the most push ups, with newbie Daisy Shah playing third wheel. The face-off happened on the dance reality show Nach Baliye, where Shilpa is a member of the judge’s panel while Salman and Daisy were there to promote their film Jai Ho. When a contestant requested Salman to flex his muscles on stage, he talked Shilpa too into accompanying him in the show of strength. The actress, who was clad in a saree, was reluctant to do push-ups but Shilpa finally relented when Salman requested the “yummy mummy” to provide fitness inspiration to her audience. But Salman won out finally with ten push ups while Shilpa gave in after five.