India's Best Dramebaaz

India’s Best Dramebaaz (Hindi:ड्रामेबाज़/dramebaaz - an actor or actress specializing in drama) is an talent-search Indian reality television show on Zee TV which has children between the ages of 5–12 years as the participants.^[2] The show is produced by the Essel Productions. The show is hosted by television actors Rithvik Dhanjani and Ragini Khanna.^[3] Bollywood actors Vivek Oberoi, Sonali Bendre and film director Anurag Basu are the judges of the show.^[4] The show was announce during the 2013 Zee Cine Awards in Mumbai.^[5] Zee TV had earlier launched shows with similar concepts in the past also like India's Best Cinestars Ki Khoj (2004) and Idea Zee Cinestars (2006-07), but they weren't meant for children. The winner of the competition was announced as 12-year-old Aditya Singhal in the grand finale.

Concept

Unlike music and dance shows like SaReGaMaPa and Dance India Dance, India’s Best Dramebaaz is focused on acting. The show hunts for kids who can show drama, performing a series of tasks to test their creativity, spontaneity and acting capabilities. Sonali, who has already judged a number of reality TV shows said "It is very difficult to judge children and I don't think we should judge them either. Instead, we are having so much fun. It is the naughtiness... there are so many little nuggets of information and amazing stories that come out. The kids talk so much, especially when they speak about their parents."^[6] On the day of its premiere, the show producers distributed mithai to the family, friends and relatives of all the new-born babies, that day. The process was carried out at the maternity wards across several municipal hospitals including the Grant Medical College and Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy Group of Hospitals, Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Hospital, St George Hospital, Mumbai, Neerjaa Children's Hospital, Cama Hospital in Mumbai and the Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Deendayal Upadhyaya and the ESI Hospital.^[7]

Response

Anurag Basu

Anurag Basu

In an interview with Anurag Basu, he had voiced his opinion on India's Best Dramabaaz. He said "You know as a film maker, we tend to grow very detached to everything happening around. But kids help me stay young as a film maker. They keep me connected. And interacting with kids is anyway great fun. I live in a joint family, where there are loads of children, including my daughter. So, being with children is something I am comfortable with and enjoy too." Basu had expressed his interest in the show in many ways. He also said that it would be like re-living his childhood, while he judged the show. "I am working on my next script now and working with kids is inspiring for sure," he added.^[8]

Rithvik Dhanjani and Ragini Khanna

Rithvik Dhanjani (left) and Ragini Khanna (right).

Pavitra Rishta's second male lead Rithvik Dhanjani had expressed his interest in the show and agreed to host it. He said "My role in Pavitra Rishta has been widely appreciated and the show remains one of the top-rated shows. So, when they approached me to host India’s Best Dramebaaz, it was difficult for me to turn down their offer. I am getting an opportunity to interact with so many talented children and the audience will get to see a more easy-going, fun-loving aspect of my personality." Ragini Khanna, who had appeared in many Hindi serials and reality shows on television like Radhaa Ki Betiyaan Kuch Kar Dikhayengi, Sasural Genda Phool and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa said "After my stint on Star Ya Rockstar, I am back for a second inning on Zee and this time as the host of a show that’s bound to be really high on its cuteness quotient. We’re talking about kids here… you can only imagine the amount of fun we will have through the making."^[9]

Sonali Bendre and Vivek Oberoi

Sonali Bendre has also favoured the show, saying that a competition among kids is important as it helps bringing out the best in an individual. She said, it just had to be healthy in nature. While promoting the show in Mumbai, she said "I feel very strongly about overt competitiveness. The word competition has a narrow frame... it has to be healthy. The line is very thin. At the same time, I feel competition is necessary because children do revel and excel in it sometimes when they are put in adverse situations. But that does not mean parents need to put pressure[on children]." When Bendre was questioned about the feasibility of the programme and the negative side effects of shooting schedules, she said "as long as the parents are not putting the pressure, and the child is not feeling the pressure and enjoying the experience, the reality shows are a platform which gives [children] confidence."^[10]

Vivek Oberoi said that judging the show would remind him of his childhood. He was described as the biggest dramebaaz by the other two judges when he said "Once, I stole my teachers' lunch boxes, wiped off the food, filled the boxes with dead cockroaches and kept them back in their bags. I was a good student, but when I used the same intelligence to play mischief, it would be a disaster." He also said that when he had to reject a kid during the auditions, he would let Sonali do the dirty job, to which Sonali replied "Rejection is what parents teach them. If the kids are not told that they are losing out on something they don't realise or think about it. It is complete fun and adventure for them."^[6]

Ajay Bhalwankar

Zee TV Head of Content Ajay Bhalwankar said "This is basically a talent show which nobody has done so far. Zee TV has always excelled in talent shows. It is a prime time slot, wherein the entire family can sit and watch the show. And we want it to be watched by the entire family. The show is primarily about ‘dramebaaz’, people who are extraordinarily talented and innovative, that is what we are looking at." He said, that the channel has conducted auditions over a period of three months in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Nagpur, Patna, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Indore, Lucknow, Ranchi and Dehradun.^[1]

'Super Duper 18' Participants

^[11]

Top 6 contestants were decided by public vote. On 12 May 2013, Anjali, Praneet, Mehnaaz, Chinmay, Aditya & Nihaar were declared as the Top 6 contestants. More than 17 lakh votes were received with Nihaar being the most voted contestant - 1,86,610 votes.

References

External links

• Official Website