The tenth season of celebrity dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa premiered on 3 September 2022 at 8pm on Colors and will air every Saturday and Sunday. The hourly episodes are expected to run for three months. Making way for the show, Naagin has been moved to the 7pm slot, while Khatron Ke Khiladi remains at 9pm.
“We’ve nestled the celebrity dance reality show between Naagin and Khatron Ke Khiladi with the intention to pack wholesome entertainment for the audience. Considering the hype that the upcoming show has amassed, we’ve scheduled the weekend prime time slot for it,” said Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, in an e-mailed interaction with MediaNews4u.com.
The last season of the show went on air in 2016, judged by actor Jacqueline Fernandez, singer-choreographer Ganesh Hegde and filmmakers Farah Khan and Karan Johar. The current season features Johar and actors Madhuri Dixit and Nora Fatehi as judges.
Sharma explained the rationale behind bringing back the show and challenges therein: “Several factors came in the way of reviving it. One of the main reasons for the hiatus was the three years of the pandemic. Given that it is a celebrity-based show, many elements such as the line-up of star contestants and getting a popular host and an illustrious jury on board become a challenge. Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa has loyal viewers who have been eagerly waiting for its comeback.”
The format of the show remains the same. New elements have been drawn from the international format ‘Dancing with the Stars’ that the show is based on, like a ‘Judges Popularity Contest’, capturing contestants’ reactions before and after performances, to a ‘Golden Chair immunity’ element. According to Sharma, the contestants mix of the season will be one of the biggest differentiators.
‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’ will deliver audiences of all ages, underlines Sharma, in line with the channel’s content approach. It will also stream on Voot. Audiences delivered on OTT will be incremental to TV viewers, she says, with people getting to sample more shows via different media.
