by Subhash K Jha

The abrupt termination of Kaun Banega Crorepati hasn't deterred Star. They're all set for the telecast of their new game show Kamaal Ki Jodi from March 4.

Says Star COO Samir Nair, "We don't intend it to be a substitute for KBC. It's a home-grown format. And to compare it with KBC very unfairly puts the hostess Rakshanda Khan in a spot. She's being asked how it feels to be stepping into the Big B's shoes. No one can compare with AB. We're of course looking at ratings. But we don't expect Kamaal Ki Jodi to become another KBC. It's about how spouses and other pairs know one another. We've some really terrific pairs coming up."

Lined up for Kamaal Ki Jodi are tv pairs like Varun Bandola & Rajeshwari Sawant, Manish Goel & Poonam Nirula, Parmeet Sethi & Archana Puransingh, Mihir Mishra & Manini De, Rohit Roy & Manasi Joshi, Rajiv & Delnaaz Paul, Gurdeep Kohli & Arjun Punj.

It's not just tv couples. But celeb -pairs from Bollywood including Vipul & Shefali Shah, Mahesh Bhatt & Soni Razdan , politician Yeshwant Sinha and wife Nilima, singer Shaan with wife Radhika, Kunal Gunjawala with singer-wife Gayatri, Bappi Lahiri and Chitrani Lahiri, cricketer Vinod Kambli with wife Andrea, Syed Kirmani with wife Habiba, Mohinder Amarnath with wife Bickoo.

Even more interstingly Jodi Kamaal Ki spins away from spousal causes to feature father-daughter pairs Pooja & Kabir Bedi, Mona(Jassi) Singh & dad Col Jasbir Singh, Yukta Mookhey with dad Inderlal....mother-daughter Sushma & Divya Seth and Shubha Khote & Bhavna Balsaver and actress-sisters Ketaki Dave & Sarita Joshi.

Sighs Samir Nair, "It's an enormously eclectic mix of pairs. And we hope to get sizeable eyeballs. But to compare the show to KBC or poor Rakshanand to AB is unfair. Incidentally we're gearing up for KBC 3 where we hope to have Mr Bachchan back with us "

Samir perks up at the mention of the new season of Rendezvous With Simi Garewal on Star World. "Simi's show is a prized asset for us. And it's good to see her back with a new season of star guests. There may be a thousand other star-talk shows. But Simi is Simi. You may have seen John Abraham talk to others. But what Simi made him say was something else."