Manish Goel, who had last hosted Mahayatra on Star Plus, is all set to anchor a married women talent hunt called Big Memsaab on Big Magic.
The Season 5 of this property, the previous two seasons were hosted by Natasha Sharma of Na Aana Iss Desh Laado (Colors) fame. In this edition, though, she will be seen in limited proportions.
Talking about the format, Manish says, “Many people in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, etc (where Big Magic is showing) don’t believe in letting their woman work after marriage. By this show, we are giving these ladies a second opportunity to prove their talent. We did regional auditions and conducted first round shoots in six cities (Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Patna) from which three finalists were selected from each city. These finalists will then compete in the grand finale which shall be telecast somewhere in August.”
So what kind of rounds do we expect? “The woman, concerned, will be judged on personality, talent grooming and several other factors. There will be lot of songs and dances to add to the fun.”
So what did you bring to the table as an anchor? “I tried to speak in the local dialects to better endear myself to the contestants and audience in each of the named cities.”
Manish reveals that the main reason why he took up this show was that he genuinely believes in women empowerment. “I always encourage my better-half Poonam to go out and work. I also did this show because I felt that this will help me reconnect with my audiences.”
A large chunk of the mainstream GEC audience lives in the Hindi heartland. Will Big Memsaab be a stepping stone to a possible full-fledged come back? “I take each outing as a learning curve. I am still waiting for that elusive cutting edge role. It should be something what encourages me to go to work every morning. I am a very patient guy and have let two years pass as I was not getting anything worthwhile. I know that I being talented, one day I will get what I am looking for.”
Manish, incidentally, struck fame in shows like Bhabhi and Saara Akaash.