After five successful seasons, Colors channel is back with the immensely popular dancing reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa – season 6’. The Indian version of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars premiered on 1st June with 11 celebrities and their choreographer partners, competing over the next three months for the coveted trophy and title. These pairs judged by celebrity judges – Madhuri Dixit, Karan Johar & Remo D’souza come from a varied avenues – acting, singing, standup comedy etc.
Drashti Dhami – Salman Yusuf Khan – Small screens very own Madhubala (from the hit TV series ‘Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon’) Drashti Dhami pairs up with Dance India Dance 2009 winner Salman Yusuff Khan. Salman, the lead of Prabhudeva-starrer ‘ABCD’, has been a choreographer on the past two series of JDJ, teaming up with Yana Gupta in 2011 and subsequently Isha Sharvani in last year’s season. Complimented for his consistency and innovativeness with each routine, combined with Drashti’s household popularity, this pair who is being touted as ‘the eye-candy couple’ is a top favorite this year.
Lauren Gottlieb – Punit Pathak – American born Lauren bagged a place in the Top 6 of American dance series ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ 2006, while Punit began his dance journey with Dance India Dance, post which he was seen as choreographer to Anushka Manchanda and Shibani Dandekar in JDJ seasons 4 & 5. Having shared screen space together in dance flick “ABCD” last year, the pair boosts of an enviable combination of strong technique and easy camaraderie, which earned them the highest scores in the grand premiere episode.
Shaan – Marischa Fernandes – Bollywood’s favorite playback singer, Shaantanu Mukherjee, amicably known as Shaan, has been winning hearts with his playback rendition varying from Musu Musu hasi to Saawariya’s Jabse Tere Naina. Having participated in the competition upon wife Radhika’s insistence, Shaan is paired with the winning choreographer from season 4 Marischa, who coincidentally was then paired with Indian Idol singer Meiyang Chang. Will the “singing” angle play good omen for this pair one more time?
Suresh Menon – Suchitra Sawant – Host on a couple of radio shows, stand-up comedian, popularly known as the ‘Comedy ka Rajni’, Suresh partners with Suchitra who is trained in 15 different dance forms and has been choreographer to cricketer Sanath Jayasurya on season 5. Their fuferman act in the premier round had the judges in splits, but will Suresh’s funny jabs grab audience’s votes and have this duo laugh their way to the winning line? Only time will tell.
Aarti Chhabria – Cornel Rodrigues – Bollywood actress Aarti who has acted in movies like Awara Pagal Deewana, Shaadi No 1 etc took the small screen by storm by winning adventure based reality show – Khatron Ke Khiladi. Teaming with Cornel who’s biggest strength lies in his versatility of dance styles, their Bachuta act was as Madhuri would complement, ‘Puurrfect!’. A definite contender for the top spots.
Meghna Malik – Savio Barnes – The biggest surprise pair of this season, Meghna Malik could easily personify the saying ‘looks are deceiving’. Her transformation from the TV avatar as Ammaji in ‘Naa Aana Iss Des Laado…’, into a dancing star is highly impressive. Paired with an equally talented choreographer Savio (who was comedian Bharti’s partner in the last season) the duo’s Cha-Cha dance routine was applauded by the judges.
Karanvir Bohra – Sneha Kapoor – Karanvir became an audience hot favorite with his menacing act as Viraj Dobriyal in the TV series ‘Saubhagyavati Bhav’. Not new to the dancing stage, he and wife Teejay made it to the top 3 in another show earlier ‘Nach Baliye’. Karanvir pairs with choreographer Sneha, affectionately known as ‘Indian Salsa princess’, who is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as Salsa couple along-with dancing partner Richard Tholoor. Known for his competitive streak, trained in Kathak, Karanvir is acknowledged among one of the strong competitors for the JDJ6 title.
Shweta Tiwari – Sushant Pujari – From a gamut of tv/film roles to being crowned winner of reality show Bigg Boss5, Shweta Tiwari is a maverick at expertly donning multiple hats, while with 9 years of dancing experience, Sushant has worked with Remo (and many other choreographers) on projects like YJHD, SOTY, Agneepath and more. High on confidence and hardwork, it remains to see if Shweta continues her winning streak with the JDJ6 trophy.
Sidharth Shukla – Sonia Jaffer – Telly’s heartthrob of Balika Vadhu fame, Sidharth might be a self-confessed non-dancer, while on the contrary partner choreographer Sonia, who started her dance training at the age of 7 with London Royal School of Ballet, was JDJ season 3 winner (paired with footballer Baichung Bhatia then) and has worked extensively on film projects since. Their 3D act in the premiere episode, a first ever on Jhalak stage, was visually appealing and well accepted. Besides the fact that they make a striking couple, the contradicting dynamics of this duo, we believe, will make for an interesting watch.
Ekta Kaul – Tushar Kalia – Ekta gave up a lucrative FMCG job to debut on TV a year ago. Tushar on the other hand has trained in various styles including Kalari, Aerial techniques as well as performing shows nationally and internationally. Their opening act in episode 1 displayed that they have what it takes to beat the competition and marking their place high on the scoreboard.
Sumanth and Sonali – Vivek Chachere – The youngest contestants of the lot, winners of India’s Got Talent (IGT) 2012 Sonali (age 8) and Sumanth (age 14) are a bundle of talent and energy. They impressed their way to the IGT trophy with their sheer dedication, hardwork and strong dance skills. With choreographer Vivek, despite Sonali’s leg injury, their fairytale act in the premier episode stood tall among other performances, ranking them 3rd on the scoreboard.
In a surprise revelation, the judges announced that there will be a secret 12th jodi joining the competition in this week’s episode.
Stay tuned as we bring you all the updates, exclusive interviews and more!
