Zor Ka Jhatka

Another reality show makes its debut with a star host, this time Shah Rukh Khan. This show is a remake of a popular series Total Wipe Out. While the original was an excellent show, Zor Ka Jhatka seriously falls far behind the original.

I just caught a few episodes in the beginning and since I was put off, stopped watching the show. While the original was total fun to watch, cant say the same for the remake. The original series hosts were funny and humorous and the commentary peppy. In the Indian remake, Shah Rukh is doing nothing but making a fool of himself. Looks like he is suffering from mid-life crisis. He seems to be trying too hard to be supercool and part of the show, but cannot quite manage it. The reason I guess would be, as he isn't actually present at the scene of action but doing the commentary in some stuffy studio in Mumbai which probably is cause of the disconnect. There is something zanny about being at the scene of action and commenting aakhon dekha haal :-) and who should know this better than SRK. What is amazing is how could he associate himself with a show which from the word go looked destined to be WIPED OUT.

Stars like SRK should stick to doing what they do best i.e. ACTING and not take up reality shows just to score points off rivals in this case probably he was trying to score points off his rival Salman Khan who recently hosted the very popular / unpopular (whichever you choose) Big Boss.

Last heard, Jhalak dikhla Jaa featuring Madhuri Dixit as a Judge had higher TRPs than ZKJ.

Wake up SRK out of your slumber before your reputation gets a Zor Ka Jhatka.

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Not many reviews are available for Imagine Channel's latest show Zor Ka Jhatka, which is the Indianized Wipeout series, so I'm taking the task of writing one.

I have been watching Wipeout on AXN on and off(2:15 pm weekdays) and trust me, I am bowled over. The games remind me a lot about Takeshi's Castle on POGO(standing ovation), yet there was a certain twist to them. And, hence, my expectations kept doubling with every single day counting down to the premiere episode of ZKJ. Alas, the treat wasn't worth it.

First of all, I had this inkling that SRK will definitely blab a lot during the show, but I also expected him to show up only a couple of times, whereas the rest of the programme would be occupied by other hosts. I even assumed that the role of the commentator would be allotted to someone else. But, I was in for a rude shock when SRK started talking non-sense with the arrival of the first participant, Commonwealth champion boxer Manoj Kumar. And the last straw was the cracking of jokes on the next contestant, beauty pageant winner Simran Kaur Mundi. I changed the channel to watch Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa on Sony(for Mom; I took my novel to another room and then chatted with a friend on the phone) within less than ten minutes of the start of ZKJ!

Here's what went wrong and what should be rectified:

• Has anyone of you ever seen even a single episode of the original Wipeout? Don't you think the focus there is more on the game than on a superstar host(and do the western guys even have a superstar host?!?)? And, don't you consider it sensible that our desi makers too should follow that rule?

  
  




• OK, let's say that SRK isn't bad as a host, but why show him again and again in-between the game? Why not focus on the contestants instead? And why allow him to irritate us during that period with his bakwaas?

  
  




• If SRK can't shut up, then recruit Jaaved Jaafery(or someone like him, very difficult to find one indeed) to do the talking. Look at the heights where he took Takeshi's Castle to! And that's also because he preferred to only commentate and completely abstain from coming in front of the camera. That's something SRK cannot afford to do even when you give him ten times the remuneration he's paid now(which I'm sure already exceeds an eight-digit figure!).

  
  




• My heart goes out to Saumya Tandon, the outdoor host who is facing Disguised Unemployment!

  
  




• Nothing wrong with the games and the participants. But we do hope to see some aam janta contestants in the upcoming episodes(and I wonder, why's Vindu here. Did he spent all of his one-crore fortune in one moment? Strange that most of the contestants were in-mates in the Bigg Boss House).

  
  

Will tune in a couple of days to check whether there are any improvements. Until then, Madhuri's Latkas and Jhatkas will keep my family hooked(and Maa Exchange on Wednesdays and Thursdays!)!

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That's a completely cynical review - rather I would say a Paid by Other GECs one! SRK is doing a great job .... his energy is unmatched and likewise are the contestants entertaining enough! Anybody who compares SRK to Javed Jaffery - is out of his mind!

I really liked the show - and shall definitely stick to it - its better than the routine Singing - Dancing reality shows and their politics and definitely a treat as compared to the Rona-Dhona soaps.Thanks, A Zor Ka Jhatka Fan

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The biggest, funniest and most entertaining show -Zor ka Jhatka screamed a hoarding .Hmm,

I thought, the timings( 9pm) clashed with our family favourite show Jhalak Dikh la jaa, but lets give it a try, said the SRK fan in me .from the commercials I knew It was some kind of sports based reality show like Khatron ke Khiladi(minus the dangers of course). The show is a licensed version of Wipeout, the Endemol show that originated in the United States in 2008( Reference:Wikipedia)

==What is the show all about == Contestants need to clear the obstacles, jump from one big elastic balls to another, avoding punching fists etc and make it to the end in the least time .These challenges are based in large pools of water, there are have four rounds in which the slowest ones gets eliminated in each round and the fourth round leaves 3 contestant to fight it for the winner.The winner gets Rs10 Lac and to participate in the finals.

The first eposide had contestants like Manoj kumar( the boxer not the actor), vindoo dara singh, Claudia Ciesla, Bhaktiyaar Irani(big Boss 3) Debina Bannerjee( Sita) to name a few.

Shahrukh gives live commentary of the contestants actions tries to induce humour, while another anchor Saumya Tandon does the field job.To his credit SRK does manage to carry it out for the some time( depending upon your endurance level) but after some time you wish he would stop.

10 minutes into watching the show I started catching my head .Shahrukh is at his hamming best making fun at the cost of the participants names, failed attempts, repeated double meaning jokes on big balls, using haryvani accent and trying all tricks in his reportoire to make it sound funny( script writers please give him some new ideas). Finally I was tempted to shout -Awaaz neeche( inspired by the film Action replay which has the Zor ka Jhatka song).

Also shahrukh commentates from the studio's in India while the action takes place in Argentina which I feel does not match at all.On the positive side the contestants do give their 100% into their tasks.

If you have watched Takeshi's Castle( in some Kid channel) hosted by Javed Jaffry years back you would feel that he was far more better in terms of anchoring and presentation.Kids might like the show but for a me I don't see any fun in laughing at people falling down or getting punched.FYI some of the participants have faced injuries on this show . SRK's stint at KBC and Are you smarter than a fifth grader seems like Oscar winner's in comparison to ZKJ.

Manoj kumar was the winner for first episode, I think every episode will have a winner till we have the final 12 or 14 finalist.This might be the biggest show( Shahrukh is getting Rs 2.5 crore per eposide) but certainly not the funniest or entertaining show.

Do watch this show once to get a feel of the stupidty.May be the show will improve after getting feedbacks from the audience or that I might get used to the show but we will have to wait for another day. My first impression about zor ka Jhatka was not at all Zordar.

Regards,

Rajiv

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