The hit reality television show Fame Gurukul's winners, the Fame Jodi, will be decided on October 20. But the show is far from over.
The very next day, Sony Entertainment Television will launch Celebrity Fame Gurukul, where the disciples in the Gurukul will be, well, celebrities.
There will be nine well-known faces from the world of television, and they will stay at the Gurukul, like in the previous show.
The nine contestants will be trained to sing and perform with the same faculty members -- Padma Wadkar, Prashant Samadhar, Bosco Caesar and Micky Mehta. The hosts -- Mandira Bedi and Manav Gohil -- will remain the same too.
There will be just one change. While judge Javed Akhtar will continue on, the other judges -- Kay Kay Menon and Shankar Mahadevan -- will exit the show. in their place, playback singer Alka Yagnik has been roped in.
Rex, Qazi, Ruprekha on who the Fame Jodi should be
The contestants for Celebrity Fame Gurukul are Ajay Gehi (from the television soap Miilee), Amit Sareen (Kkusum, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi) Bakhtiar Irani (Batliwalla House No 43), Smita Bansal (Amanaat), Hansika Motwani (Hum 2 Hain Na), and Vinod Singh (Ayushmaan).
It also includes Bobby Darling (who has acted in films like Nazar, Tum and Chalte Chalte and the television serial Kyunki Saas ), Tanaaz Currim (who has acted in numerous television serials like Zabaan Sambhalke and Yeh Meri Life Hai and films like Main Prem Ki Dewaani Hoon and Kaho Naa Pyar Hai) and Tisca Chopra (Hyderabad Blues 2 and Sau Jhooth Ek Sach, and the serials Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Sarkarrr).
"I've done serials and films. Now, I will add another facet to my career by singing! I have sung before, and so am very excited about this show," Currim says.
The money earned from Celebrity Fame Gurukul from the cellphone text message voting as well as the prize money -- will be donated to Make-A-Wish Foundation. The prize amount, however, has not been disclosed yet.
Sareen, who lost his mother to cancer, says, "I've always wanted to do something for people suffering from life-threatening diseases."
Ila Arun, the Gurukul's headmistress, has a word of advice for the new contestants, "They will have to start from zero, however big they are. They will learn the art only when they respect the rules of the Gurukul.
"I am happy about Celebrity Fame Gurukul, but it's not like the first time. That was something different. There was a lot of attachment involved. But it's nice that it did not end all of a sudden. That would have been difficult for me."
Sony officials deny they are trying to compete with Star One's Nach Baliye, the celebrity dance competition.
"The idea of this show was already there. It is the copy of a successful global format. It's a natural progression for the show," says a Sony spokesperson.
"In fact, they [Star One] probably knew we were going to come up with something like this, and they started it [Nach Baliye] first."
