Life OK Ups the Dance Challenge with 'Dare 2 Dance'

The show will run for 16 episodes featuring 10 contestants. It airs every Saturday and Sunday at 8.30 pm.

Life OK, the second Hindi general entertainment channel from Star India stable, is known for breaking cliches and air shows which are not the "usuals" in the genre. After Mahadev, Laut Aao Trisha, Shapath and Savdhaan India, the channel has launched a dance reality show.

Hosted and mentored by Akshay Kumar, 'Dare 2 Dance' is all about challenging contestants to dance at various platforms - be it land, water or air. The show is all about daring to take risks and re-inventing oneself.

Ajit Thakur, EVP and general manager, Life OK says that the show goes beyond the confines of the stage and is based purely on Dance coupled with Dare. The various tasks will test the ability of the 10 contestants to perform in extreme locations and conditions like underwater dance, rappelling and dancing atop moving trucks. "It was indeed challenging for the contestants and the production team to cope with the unusual climatic conditions and shoot for long hours," he says.

The performances and stunts have been shot at various locales of Cape Town over a period of one and a half months under extreme conditions.

The show will run for 16 episodes featuring 10 contestants including Emille Callion, Scarlett Wilson, Sayantani Ghosh, Alisha Singh, Kunwar Amar, Mayuresh Wadkar, Ritwik Dhanjani, Sanam Johar, Karan Pangali and Prince.

How were these contestants chosen? "The contestants who have been selected to be a part of the show," says Thakur, "are ace dancers who come with a strong dance background and have proved their mettle across various dance shows." Interestingly, the format of the show does not have any elimination process hence making it different from the other dance reality shows. The parameter of judging is on the basis of three different cards - Red, Green and Gold. Red representing below average performance, Green for good performance and Gold for outstanding performance. While Kumar will be the mentor and guide for all the contestants, the show will be judged by Sanjay Shetty and Francois.

Marketing push

Life OK has launched a 360-degree marketing campaign to promote Dare2Dance. The promos of the show are running across 50 channels inclusive of Star network channels. As for print, the channel is looking at a spread across all mainline/ regional publications in key markets including Delhi, Mumbai, UP, Gujarat and Punjab.

At this point, it has not tied up with any radio station but is planning to associate with couple of channels through contestant interviews. "We have an extensive OOH plan spanning Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, UP and the rest of Maharashtra, covering all major towns. Dare2Dance is the first show for which we have joined hands with a film publicity designer for the entire off-air campaign," Thakur avers.

The channel is sampling videos of performances, behind-the-scene bits and putting it across various digital platforms. It is also looking at launching an app to make exclusive content available to viewers on their mobile phones and tablets. As for BTL activities, an on-ground activation is being done by taking the contestants to various cities where they will interact with the viewers through mall activations. Life OK has got on board Micromax and Honda as the sponsors for Dare 2 Dance. The show airs every Saturday and Sunday at 8.30 pm.