Sun TV brings ‘Fear Factor’ to South India

[Basil]

MUMBAI: Sun TV is set to air the popular action-based reality format ‘Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi’ in three languages in the Southern market. The show will be dubbed and aired in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam on Sun TV Network’s Sun TV (Tamil), Gemini TV (Telugu) and Surya TV (Malayalam). Fear Factor story 02TelevisionPost.com was the first to report that Endemol India was planning to take its action reality show ‘Fear Factor’ to the diverse Southern market.

The production house recently produced the show’s fifth season in Hindi for the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors. Following the culmination of the Hindi version, Endemol started readying the show for the South market.

In an earlier interaction with TelevisionPost.com, Endemol India MD Deepak Dhar said, “Audiences want some disruption in programming and thus ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ will be made into a regional-language show. Keeping the shows in mind, the budgets are in line with the respective markets.”

Sun TV has syndicated the rights to the show from Colors for Seasons 1, 2, 4 and 5. It will premiere on 23 June on Gemini TV as ‘Fear factor: Sahasa Veerulu – Veelu Denikaina Ready’ from 9:30–10:30 pm every Monday to Thursday.

On Sun TV, the show will air as ‘Dhil Dhil Dhil – Fear Factor’ from 29 June in the 12–1 pm band on Sunday. While the launch date has not been announced for Surya TV, the show will telecast as ‘Sahasigam – Fear Factor’ from 8–9 pm on Thursday and Friday.

The original format will be too expensive for channels in the South where the economics are not viable for production. Speaking to TelevisionPost.com, Sun TV Network GEC network programming head SJ Clement said, “Yes, it is an expensive show. If this works, we shall certainly go in for producing the show in the respective languages. There is nothing wrong in trying out a new idea.

We are confident of the content and wanted to give it a shot, and we hope there is a good space and demand for this content.” Catering to the young and adventurous audience, the channel will present actor Akshay Kumar as the host, taking 13 celebrity contestants with their partners through various stunts.

Each season, the contestants battle it out for their own social cause of women empowerment or education or to let go of their fears and the ultimate pride of winning. The contestants of the show’s first instalment include popular actresses Anitha, Meghna Naidu, Yana Gupta, ‘Chak De India’ fame Vidya Malvade, the famous relationship columnist Pooja Bedi and Nethra Raghuraman, among others. The channel has commenced marketing and promotional activities for the show, which include cross-channel promos, radio spots and outdoor campaigns.



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