‘Hero Bannay Ki Tarang’ with an added twist

The second season of the reality show will look to find an on-screen pair.

KARACHI:

After the immense success of the first season of acting and dancing show “Hero Bannay Ki Tarang”, organisers have now decided to incorporate a slight change in the talent hunt programme. The show — which saw three young heroes take the limelight last season — will now be looking for the best pair for Lollywood, hence the added tagline “Hero Bannay Ki Tarang Sahi Jodi ki Talaash”.

“Last season, we were looking for a hero for Lollywood and all the three finalists were so good that the final cash prize of Rs1 million was shared by all of them. However, this time around we’re looking for a potential on-screen couple” said Ahsan Afzaal Ahmed, General Manager Engro Foods.

The show, which will be hosted by actor Faisal Qureshi, will include John Rambo (Afzal Khan), Reema Khan and film director Syed Noor as the judges.

“The last good Lollywood couple comprised Shaan and Reema in the film Bulandi but since then Pakistani cinema hasn’t seen a single identifiable couple. Hence, we decided that instead of a hero we will look for a heroin as well,” added Ahmed. Recalling the success of the first season, he said that Ary Digital produced a telefilm in which all the three winners were featured and later on Noor casted them in his upcoming film Price of Honour. However, Ahmed claims that this time around, the award for the winning couple will be more long lasting.

“The winning couple of season two will get a free scholarship to formally study the art of acting in an international university whereas the runner-up couple will get to study the same at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa).”

Around 1,000 people initially auditioned for the competition and after a number of trials and auditions, the contestants have been short-listed to 16 and eight couples in total. The new season will begin in September and air on ARY Digital and PTV.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th,  2011.