Suhaib Ilyasi floats new show on Sahara

Suhaib Ilyasi's India's Most Wanted may have lost its sting on India TV, but the producer and verbose anchor himself is ready with another crime based show for another news channel. Ilyasi's Crime and Punishment will debut on Sahara Samay Rashtriya on 11 July. Crime... may sound like its treading familiar ground, but the concept is radically different from Most Wanted, say sources. While Suhaib remains tight lipped about his new show, we do know that this time round, his creation will not dwell on unsolved cases but will recount crimes that have already occurred and solved, and the culprits put behind bars. The show is more like a warning to viewers, to help them guard against falling victim to similar crimes. The idea is to make sure that the citizens are well informed, say those close to the show. India's Most Wanted on the other hand, flashed pictures of those accused in the crimes and asked viewers to help in nabbing them. In the last four months, the show took another turn by launching sting operations against leading Bollywood and television figures and trying to reveal the sleazier side of tinsel town. The series petered out after the first two episodes on actors Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma generated enough heat and debate and the industry to warrant a clamp down on the operations. This time round, there will be no undercover agent Ruchi anchoring the show, but the svelte Shweta Kawatra who has for long restricted herself to anchoring Current Bollywood on Max. Apart from IMW, Suhaib now also makes Farar Kaun for Rajat Sharma's India TV.