Rating: **

Who’s in it? Funnymen Sajid Khan and Cyrus Broacha have been roped in as judges on the show. They make for an apt jury; their comic vein is put to good use on the show that primarily deals with gags. But their humour does get a bit trite. Khan refers to himself as ‘newly turned director’ which is somewhat annoying because he turned director a year ago and that is not so new. Keeping them company is Mona ‘Jassi’ Singh. After hosting live and television shows and the likes, Mona’s got a good hang of anchoring. But looks like she isn’t over her Jassi avatar yet and makes several references to it as she stands bow-legged on the stage urging the contestants to out-do each other to become Champion Chaalbaaz No 1.

What’s in it? The show basically sees a set of three contestants at a time vying to become Champion Chaalbaaz No 1. There will be 33 participants in all. The idea is simple: You have to execute a gag which may require you to dupe people, scare or confuse them to elicit a ‘wow’ from the judges. The judges, on their part, evaluate you on everything right from your costume and your acting skills to the manner in which you execute the gag.

What’s hot? By now producers are running out of ideas for reality shows that need melodrama. Champion Chaalbaaz is refreshing because producers don’t have to spend money procuring gallons of glycerine, it’s got nothing to do with getting emotional and crying your eyes out. The show allows ample scope for adventure by way of pranks/ gags that the contestants play. They go out on streets and into shops carrying out their funny act, at times annoying people and at others, amusing them. The contestants so far have been a spirited bunch that often laughs at itself.

What’s not? In some places, the show seems like a repackaged version of Broacha’s MTV show, Bakra. So for most of us who grew up watching the latter, the new show has nothing giggle-worthy. The gags are boring and poorly executed. The real bummer are Khan’s English tutorials to contestants (“Say letter, not latter, Harpreet”). That he doesn’t pay much attention to his own, when he signs off saying “all the best to both of you all” doesn’t bother him, of course.