Talking point with manish goel

The small screen star makes a comeback as a reality show host on Star Plus’ Mahayatra

Your show Mahayatra is positioned as a very different reality show. Can you tell us a bit about it?
Mahayatra has a very unique concept in that unlike most other reality shows, there is no singing or dancing or comedy, certainly no judges and SMS voting. It is based on the mythological tale of the ideal son Shravan, who was taking his parents on a pilgrimage of the four holy centres of Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka and Badrinath — the four dhams— before his life, and mission, were cut short by King Dashratha. We’re trying to reignite that kind of filial devotion. We have on our show four young people who’ve sworn to take their parents on this pilgrimage and we’ll be following their trials and tribulations.

If there are no judges and no SMS voting, who decides which contestant stays and which one leaves? Where does the drama come in?
Since this is a pilgrimage-based show, we’ve literally left things to God. Before arriving at any of the four dhams, the contestants have to pass a number of difficult tests and solve many problems. We give them many chances, but ultimately, we leave it to destiny. The person who’s left behind or fails to complete the tasks, will have to leave the show. As for the drama, these are very real people who’re uninhibited in front of the camera. They’re not afraid to show their real emotions and if they feel like singing or dancing or crying, they’ll do just that.