Who’s in it? Ashutosh Rana who is back on television after a long hiatus is the so-called dictator on the show who makes an appearance once every week. He has the ultimate power to make rules and punish or reward the contestants. The 18 contestants on the show come from different social backgrounds — corporate executive, martial arts trainer, singer, doctor and voice over artistes. These contestants who are assigned tasks have to survive here for a period of 100 days.

What’s hot? The show, for a change, does not bank on celebrities to raise its TRP. It has common people from different walks of life who are probably there to take a break from their routine and in the process earn some big bucks. Since it is an outdoorsy show it has good production values too. The tasks assigned to the contestants like digging a well, ploughing a field or collecting wood for fire are new to reality television in India. While most shows on television are quintessentially urban, this one gives one a feel of rustic India. Women in spaghettis and shorts cooking food on a hearth and men in capris carrying wood on their shoulders is a sheer delight to watch.

What’s not? Switch on your TV and you will feel that the contestants of Roadies, Splitsvilla and Bigg Boss have resurfaced on this show. Just a week into it, the show seems run-of-the-mill and the voiceover telling you the date, time and task to be done brings back memories of Bigg Boss for sure. As usual, kitchen politics has taken over the actual content of the show. The hour-long show has one whole segment dedicated to fights, arguments and even hurling abuses. Couch potatoes may continue to enjoy this mindless show in the name of reality television, but it definitely does not qualify under the category of sensible content.