Palak Dikhhla Jaa!

Comic actor Kiku Sharda, who has become a household name after his drag act as Palak in Comedy Nights With Kapil, will now appear on the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa as a contestant.

But in a surprising twist, Kiku will participate as Palak, not himself.

"A whole screenplay has been devised for Kiku’s Palak avatar," says a source. "Palak will try to dance her way to victory on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and she will be bragging to Kapil Sharma on his show week after week. Kapil, who is shown to be very contemptuous of Palak, will be seeing her with renewed respect after she appears on Jhalak."

For an actor in drag to dance his way through entire show as the character he plays on another show is quite a novelty.

Kiku Sharda admits the idea was not his.

"Since Comedy Nights With Kapil and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa are both on the same channel Colors, it is their decision to transport me from Kapil’s show to the dance show as Palak. I had no say in it. They’ve also been asking me to appear on their other shows as Palak,” he says.

The comic actor says he has no problems being known as Palak.

"I enjoy being recognised for playing a character," he says. "Today, I am popular as Palak. Earlier, I was popular as Akbar. Tomorrow, I may be known for playing another character. I’d be happy to go everywhere as the character that I am popular for playing. The roles I play are very different from the person that I am. I have a very private life with my wife and kids. Palak is the public face."

Kiku hopes to play Palak for some time. "She is loved by the public. I don’t intend to kill her for some time now.”

The other contestants on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa are Sreesanth, Purab Kohli, Sukhwinder Singh, Sophia Chowdhary, KikuSharda, VJ Andy, Kritika Kamra, Ashish Sharma, Mouni Roy, Shakti Mohan, Pooja Bose and Akshat Singh.