‘Dhamaal, bawaal, kamaal’: Tej Pratap, Shehzad Poonawalla join hands for reality show

Janshakti Janta Dal chief Pratap Yadav and former BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla have joined as contestants on the second season of reality show Rise & Fall, which began streaming on Prime Video and MX Player on Saturday.

Poonawalla shared a video featuring the two, captioning it, “Plot twist no one saw coming...two hackers in one frame. Rise & Fall 2 is about to get interesting. Watch us on Sept 26, in Prime Video and MX Player, for free.”

‘When Patna meets Pune’

In the Instagram reel, Poonawalla says, “When Patna meets Pune,” to which Tej Pratap responds, “When Mumbai meets Bihar.” The two then describe their collaboration as a mix of “Dhamaal... bawaal... and eventually kamaal”.

The collaboration is not a political alliance. Both Tej Pratap and Poonawalla are contestants on the reality show, which is hosted by former cricketer Virender Sehwag.

The second season features 15 contestants divided into “Rulers” and “Workers”, with the show built around themes of power, strategy and survival.

The confirmed line-up includes actors Swara Bhasker, Gautam Gulati, Karan Patel and Priyanka Chahar Choudhary, along with Bhojpuri actor Kajal Raghwani. Actor-singer Sara Gurpal, reality-TV personalities Siwet Tomar, Niharika Tiwari, Irina Rudakova and Kaira Anu, content creators Anish Bhagat and Raj Grover, and digital creator and journalist Manish Kashyap are also part of the season.

Tej Pratap’s reality TV appearances

Tej Pratap recently made headlines for his appearances in reality shows. Earlier this year, he featured in Bhojpuri Bawaal, a show centred on the lives of popular Bhojpuri personalities.

One segment saw Tej Pratap working out with Bollywood actor Mallika Sherawat, a moment that drew attention online. Bhojpuri Bawaal was announced in May and premiered on JioHotstar on August 2.

Poonawalla resigned from the BJP in last month, citing “pressing financial and personal circumstances”.

At the time, he said he continued to support the party’s ideology and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision.