Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar is all set to host the first season of the Indian version of the cult reality show, The Traitors. As the show was unveiled at a grand event in Mumbai on Friday, KJo revealed that he was the best person to host it as he has been surrounded by traitors all his life.
"Traitors have always been a part of my life. We're all in an industry where trust is rare and dhokha is everywhere. One evening, Nikhil Madhok (Head of Originals at Prime Video India) came home and said, 'I have something exciting to tell you'. He said, ‘It’s a show called The Traitors and we want you to host it'. I was like, ‘Who else but me can host a show called The Traitors?’," KJo shared.
He went on to say, "Of course, I went and watched the international formats — the UK and US versions — which are already cult, loved and hugely popular, both into their third seasons. I was absolutely enthralled, invested, engaged, and mesmerised by the sheer craziness of this supremely clever format. It was different from every other reality show that is on any kind of platform."
Explaining how The Traitors would be different from other reality shows, KJo stated, "I’ve never done something like this before. You don't need to be inauthentic. The thing is, in many reality shows, we're also fraudulent — crying when we don’t feel like crying, laughing loudly when we don’t feel like laughing. But here, there’s none of that. It's all actually real-time drama and you're reacting authentically. There's no put-on. Everyone is being an authentic self. You’re really feeling betrayed. You’re really feeling hurt. You’re really feeling happy or empowered. You basically are the most authentic self of yourself — and I think that’s what really excited me. It’s absolutely raw."
The Traitors is all set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on June 12. The reality show will feature a total of 20 contestants, including, Apoorva Mukhija aka the Rebel Kid, Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra, stand-up comedian Harsh Gujral, Arjun Kapoor's sister Anshula Kapoor, actress Elnaaz Norouzi, social media influencer-actor Sahil Salathia, rapper Raftaar, actress Uorfi Javed, Telugu actress Lakshmi Manchu, actress Jannat Zubair, Anupamaa fame Sudhanshu Pandey, actor Ashish Vidyarthi, Nikita Luthra, YouTuber Purav Jha, actress Jasmin Bhasin, Sanjay Kapoor's wife Maheep Kapoor, actor Karan Kundrra, content creator Sufi Motiwala, casting director Mukesh Chhabra, and Janvi Gaur.
