Ekta Kapoor: This is Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Lock Upp’, She Has a Lot of FIRs Coming Her Way

On Thursday, television czarina Ekta Kapoor announced a new reality show Lock Upp, which will be hosted by actor-filmmaker Kangana Ranaut. Although Kapoor did not reveal much about the show’s format, she promised it will be ‘full of truth and controversies’, as it revolves around 16 celebrity contestants being locked in a jail with Kangana as the host, deciding their fate. “This is Kangana’s lock-up. She will be the in charge here. She has had a lot of FIRs coming her way. Now she can issue some. She will be vetting the contestants and finalising them,” she quipped.

The producer said the show’s that the idea of coming up with a reality show was she wanted to do something home-grown rather than aping the West. “In the last two years, there are few celebs who haven’t heard the word FIR, legal fees. So, here is a show where people are locked up in jail with concept of bail. It’s a massy reality show for Bharat. Hum India me reh kar Bharat ko bhool gaye hain (Living in India, we have forgotten Bharat). We don’t need international formats. Why should we copy from there?”

Taking an indirect dig at Bigg Boss, which has a similar concept, she added, “For the last two years, everyone is locked up ghar mein. Now there is nothing new to that. The new thing is being locked up in jail. The concept of the show is brilliant, and I am sure that it will captivate the viewers and set a new standard for reality shows. This show is going to be a digital disruptor.”

Ekta informed that the show will begin streaming live on both ALTBalaji and MX Player from February end. “For the first time in the history of reality shows, it will air live on the two platforms.” The show will also have a companion game that the makers are calling the “world’s first metaverse-based fantasy game”, also named Lock Upp.