They wanted to be different, says Hemant Sharma, news editor of India TV, and that is why they came up with 'Bigg Toss', which sees item girl Rakhi Sawant and Pakistani actress Veena Malik entertaining viewers by discussing cricketers in their unique style during the World Cup matches.
'Usually, during the World Cup matches, all the news channels organise discussions with four or five experts in the studio. This concept doesn't excite people anymore. We wanted to do something different so we zeroed in on this concept,' Sharma told IANS.
'Bigg Toss', which went on air Feb 17, will be shown only when India is playing. It features 12 contestants divided into two groups who will choose their favourite player from the Indian team and bet on him. The group that scores the maximum points will be declared the winner of a Honda car.
Why Rakhi and Veena?
'Both of them can add a lot of drama to the show and people are interested in watching them on small screen,' Sharma said.
Apart from Rakhi and Veena, the list of contestants includes cricketer Yuvraj Singh's father Yograj Singh, singers Shankar Sawhney and Ashok Masti, beautician Sylvie and RJ Simran, among others.