The show spins off with Akshay Kumar making his entry—grand and powerful, with the song ‘Paisa’ playing from his 2009 movie ‘De Dana Dan.’ Over the years, we have cherished his presence on the screen, with his comic timings, hilarity that comes with his dialogues in movies, and now it’s going to be a headspin, as you see the Khiladi himself hosting the khel of phrases and words, all derived from Bollywood, pop culture and more. The swag is what you want to witness, and therefore watch the show.
The first episode brings Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia D’souza, and Shreyas Talpade on board, all trading zingers with Akshay Kumar as they play along. First up is Triple Toss Up, which brings Bollywood brain-teasers divided into three sections: the first lures 10,000, the second 20,000, and the third 40,000. While the actors crack the crosswords, we find them giggling it off—then if you have Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia D’Souza and Shreyas Talpade, you just know it’s going to give you a pounding chuckle—while you roister solving along, unveiling movies, song titles and more.
Spinning the wheel comes with spin, buy, or solve. Puzzle time pulls the curtain off the giant wheel, the wheel that rains riches—comes with three choices, first is spin—where the contestant spins the wheel, gives a letter, if the letter appears on the board, the contestant bags the money; however, while spinning, if it stops at ‘Naagraj,’ the money disappears with him. The second choice is ‘Buy’, where you can buy the VIPs—Vowels. The third choice is to solve. The Wheel of Fortune needs two in play—the contestant’s intellect as well as fortune—only that leads you to the jackpot.
Mid-puzzle madness: the stars bust into a ‘mini jashn’ moment—Riteish Deshmukh and Akshay Kumar caught in groove-attack to the song ‘Pinky’ from the film Zanjeer. The episode serves up celebrity sparkle, belly laughs, and nail-biting puzzle panic in equal measure. The audience was also in on the action, with one lucky soul snatching 4 lakhs by cracking the ‘Harmonium’ crossword in the end.
Watch Wheel of Fortune on Sony TV and Sony LIV.
IWMBuzz rates it 4/5 stars.
