Farhan Akhtar’s I Can Do That is as Real as any Other Reality Show

The celebs seem reluctant to risk disappointing fan base and so most of the performances look rigged.

Screengrab from the promo of I Can Do That.

Based on the American format that goes by the same name, the Indian version of I Can Do That aired on Zee TV on 17th September. As a part of the show, certain challenges are given to a group of celebrity contestants, who then decide upon emulating one of these challenges in a week’s time.

The first faces that you see as screen cuts from Farhan Akthar to the contestants are Shibani Dandekar, Bani J, Rithwik Dhanjani, Mieyang Chang, Dino Morea, VJ Andy, Bharti, Gurmeeet Chaudhary, Gauhar Khan, Madhurima Tuli, Ranvir Brar and Mandira Bedi. A fairly interesting mix of good looking people who you would definitely root for if they were to perform dangerous stunts.

So the show begins, and as a concept, it operates in two time lines. One in which the celebrities are shown getting blown away by the amazing expert performances and picking a challenge for themselves and the other one is real time, where after a week they are performing the given challenge.

And speaking of performances, yes there were some crazy things that were showcased by the experts. Be it the BMX bike guys or the pole climber, the wheel juggler or the magician, you will be on your toes while watching them execute sheer perfection on stage.

Contestants react to the challenges demonstrated to them.

But it’s only when a certain celebrity chooses a particular jig or is assigned one, is when you actually feel sympathy growing inside you. How on earth will they pull off what you just saw? Deep down, you really want them to break a leg...really want them to excel. And then begins the first performance by Madhurima Tuli. To be honest, she looked every bit hot in her Goddess like red costume and then she began with her moves around the pole and we went all eyes.

But sadly, one after the other, as the performances progressed, you realise that these people are celebrities and they will never gamble or even get close to jeopardising their face value and hence all the acts come across as very safely played and rather superficial in a way.

Yes, there were glimpses of the quintessential wow moments in Gurmeet’s BMX stint and in Bani J’s handling of the wheel, but what came across as extremely rigged was Mandira’s Magic Show.

Screengrab of Mandira Bedi during the show.

You know, when she replaced the wet tissue with the tissue dust from the tray; you know, when the recorded camera footage is playing behind while she is supposedly in a water box, which was of course concealed. And why it bothers you more is because you really wanted to see someone like Mandira learning magic and pulling off those tricks with prowess.

In totality it was great to watch Farhan Akhtar, this time with a dense beard, back on TV, after Oye! It’s Friday. His sense of humour is as engaging as ever and that’s the only thing that sails you through the show.

Otherwise, I think the show was every bit real like the reality shows today are. It had the not-so-real looking shocked reactions by the celebrities, there was a reaction music for every pin drop, there were fell and hurt moments in the rehearsal reality, and last but not the least there was Bharti hitting on the show host for the nth time. Power pack, yes.

Here’s hoping that the standard of performances on this stage goes higher and the reality clichés especially with Bharti, die down. Because what you really want to see is that yes-I-can, daredevil side of these celebrities. You’ve seen them do fantastic work with acting and comedy. Now let’s get down to some real challenges. Let’s see if they really CAN DO THAT!