MUMBAI: Colors’ adrenaline pumping reality show, Khatron Ke Khiladi, is all set to return after a hiatus of nearly two years.

The fifth season of the show will premiere on 22 March and will be aired every weekend at 9pm. Season five will transport 15 celebrity contestants to the dense forests of South Africa, where they will be seen battling untold odds, performing high-octane stunts and generally overcoming their deepest fears.

With a tagline that reads ‘Darr Ka Blockbuster’ and stunt maestro-action filmmaker Rohit Shetty as host, Colors hopes to raise the bar even further with the upcoming season of its show.

The daredevils participating in this edition include Ranvir Shorey, Nikitin Dheer, Mugdha Godse, Dayanand Shetty, Rajniesh Duggal, Rochelle Maria Rao, Gauhar Khan, Kushal Tandon, Gurmeet Choudhary, Debina Bonnerjee, Karanvir Bohra, Teejay Sidhu, Pooja Gor, dancer Salman Khan and Geeta Tandon.

The channel has roped in Idea Cellular as the presenting sponsor, Gionee smartphone as the powered-by sponsor, and Mahindra & Mahindra, Amul Macho, Adjavis and Bajaj Electricals as associate sponsors.

Colors officials chose to remain tight-lipped about the financial details of the show. Industry sources reveal that the channel could be charging anywhere close to Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh per 10 seconds of air time on the show.  “Moreover, the channel is spending close to Rs 2.5 crore per episode,” reveals the source.  

In terms of the total ad revenue, the industry source adds, “Colors may well end up being in the black on this loss leading show as I believe the total revenue from advertising will tot up to about Rs 30 crore-35 crore this season."  An advertising and promotional war chest of Rs 3 crore-5 crore has been kept aside for marketing Khatron Ke Khiladi. 

So will season five be bigger than its predecessor? “With every season of Khatron Ke Khiladi, our aim is to raise the entertainment quotient and create edge-of-the-seat content to engage audiences’ week-after-week,” says Colors CEO Raj Nayak. “Be it contestant selection or programming and creative inputs, our teams ensure that viewers get the opportunity to witness the perfect amalgamation of action and entertainment as contestants push their boundaries to face their primal fears.”

And why was Akshay Kumar replaced with Shetty this time around? “We share a great working relationship with Akshay Kumar, who hosted the last season, and it was a great experience working with him. This season was however about having a stunt visionary, who would not only drive contestants to perform better, but also be the architect of the stunts.  We wanted the host to own the stunts this time around,” reasons Nayak. “Who other than the stunt maestro himself (Shetty) to take on the mantle of hosting an action-packed adrenaline-charged show like Khatron Ke Khiladi?”

With Shetty as stunt architect, Colors is looking to really push the envelope in that department. “Shetty will bring with him his own style of hosting and mannerisms that will add to the show’s entertainment quotient. Known for creating larger than life action sequences, he has entertained the masses with his films and I have no doubts that the show this season will be a blockbuster,” says Nayak.

What made Endemol and Colors retain Cape Town, South Africa as the location of the shoot? In an earlier interview with indiantelevision.com, CEO of Endemol India, Deepak Dhar said that the South African team was well-equipped to come up with the kind of high-calibre stunts required this season.  Dhar described it as a ‘really mean season’ with high- level stunts and animals coming on the show as well. He said it would be packed with edgy content and explore some of the most interesting locales of South Africa, be it stunts involving choppers, cars, bikes or even underwater.

An observer states that both Endemol and Colors would have found it quite difficult to make it as edgy as they did if the filming was to be done in India.

More on season five:

Unlike earlier seasons, it will not see partners holding contestants’ hands while performing some of the most challenging tasks. Also, each episode will feature three types of stunts performed by three sets of contestants.

A 360-degree approach to KK5

Colors is betting big on season five of Khatron Ke Khiladi. Not surprisingly, the channel has devised a 360-degree marketing and digital campaign to engage with its audience.

It has designed an overall outreach programme including over 4,500 spots on television, 75 plus editions of key print, over 9,000 radio spots, OOH covering 70 cities, integrations for 17 days across 17 stations of Radio Mirchi, and DTH imprints to grab the attention of its target audience.

To begin with, distinctive black and yellow hoardings have been placed at various consumer touch points across 70 cities in the country one week prior to the launch, to send out the key message of the show.

On the cards is an adventure-based mobile game called ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi – The Game’, designed by Gameshastra Solutions, which can be downloaded on iOS and android platforms.

On Twitter, the show has a dedicated page called @KKKonColors, which currently has over 4,000 followers. The Facebook page has more than 627,000 likes. There’s constant chatter about the contestants, trivia about the shoot and South Africa, bloopers and more to keep social media buzzing about the show.

Colors has partnered with Radio Mirchi as its exclusive radio partner, who will engage listeners over a period of 17 days through 17 stations across the country. Radio Mirchi will review the show’s blockbuster opening on its premium property ‘Blockbuster Budhwar’ along with small segments during the day called ‘Meri Life Ka Blockbuster’ that will highlight the karnamas of real-life khiladis in the entertainment industry.