“No two marriages are the same, and so every panga is different,” says host Sonali Bendre Behl about COLORS’ ‘Dhamaal With Pati Patni Aur Panga – Jodiyon Ka Reality Check’

COLORS’ ‘Dhamaal With Pati Patni Aur Panga – Jodiyon Ka Reality Check’ is winning hearts in its second season by putting celebrity marriages to the ultimate test, one ‘panga’ at a time. Bringing together seven celebrity couples, the show turns everyday relationship dynamics into entertaining reality checks, as partners navigate unexpected challenges, test how well they know each other and discover what happens when their differences take centre stage. In a candid conversation, one of the show’s hosts, Sonali Bendre Behl, opens up about the surprises of Season 2 and what it has in store for the audiences.

Excerpts of the conversation:

1. Tell us about the show.
A. Dhamaal With Pati Patni Aur Panga is back with Season 2, and I think what makes the show exciting is that it brings celebrity marriages into a space that feels both entertaining and completely fresh. The show is about couples competing against each other, while every challenge becomes a reality check for their own relationship, chemistry and compatibility. There is always a curiosity around the shaadi ka laddoo – what really happens once two people are married, how well they know each other, what makes them click and, of course, what gets on each other’s nerves! With celebrity couples, that curiosity is even greater because audiences usually know them through their public personas. Here, they get to see the real dynamics behind those personalities. Every jodi has their own equation, their own quirks and their own way of handling a panga. Through the reality checks, you see those differences come alive in the most entertaining way. There are moments that make you laugh, moments that surprise you and sometimes moments that tell you something about a relationship without the couple even having to say it.

1. The first season of Dhamaal With Pati Patni Aur Panga was a massive success, but the next seasons always carry the weight of heightened expectations. Now that the show is back for Season 2, what is fundamentally different about the format, the level of challenges, and the ‘pangas’ this year?
A. I think the biggest difference this season is that the couples have come in with a much clearer understanding of what they are signing up for, thanks to the massive success of Season 1! The biggest attraction of this format is that it doesn’t just showcase how well a couple knows each other; it’s about how they react to each other when things don’t go according to plan. You may know your partner’s favourite food, their habits and even their deepest fears, but do you know how they will react when you’re put in an unusual situation together? Will you support each other, disagree, blame each other or find a way to laugh about it? That’s where the real dynamics emerge. With Season 2, we’re exploring those pangas that exist in every relationship, but we’re doing it through humour, reality checks and challenges that bring out different sides of the couples. The pangas aren’t necessarily about big fights; sometimes, it could also be a tiny disagreement that reveals a whole history between two people! No two marriages are the same, and so every panga is different. For me, the beauty of the season is that you can laugh at a couple one moment and find yourself relating to them the next. The personalities may be larger than life, but the emotions are wonderfully familiar. That’s what makes the second season exciting: there are new equations to discover, new sides to these couples and plenty of relatable moments.

1. You have a legendary career spanning films, books, and judging talent on television. However, hosting a reality show is an entirely different beast. What is it about stepping into the shoes of a host that genuinely excites you at this stage of your career?
A. Every phase of my career has taught me something different, and I think what excites me today is the opportunity to keep discovering new facets of myself. I’ve always believed that there is something to be gained from putting yourself in a position where you’re learning again. Hosting is very different from acting or judging. As an actor, you have a character and a story to inhabit. As a judge, you’re evaluating a skill. As a host, you’re responsible for creating an atmosphere in which other people can open up. You have to listen, respond in the moment, read the room and know when to step in and when to let a moment breathe. You cannot walk in with every reaction rehearsed because the most interesting things often happen when nobody is expecting them. That’s particularly true of a show like Dhamaal With Pati Patni Aur Panga, where you’re dealing with relationships. You cannot approach every couple with the same lens. Sometimes, you want to tease them a little; sometimes, you want to ask a question that gets them thinking; and sometimes, you simply have to let them be themselves. I enjoy that balance between being playful and being perceptive. I’m not coming into hosting with the idea that I have relationships figured out. I’m coming in curious, willing to engage and ready to be surprised. And that, to me, is a lovely place to be creatively.

1. Munawar and you come from completely different entertainment backgrounds. How do you both complement each other as hosts?
A. Munawar and I come from very different worlds, and I think that’s precisely what makes our combination interesting. He has a very instinctive, spontaneous sense of humour, and he’s quick on his feet. He can take an ordinary moment and find something funny in it almost immediately. I come at things from a slightly different place. I enjoy observing people, understanding what makes them tick and probing into what lies beneath a particular reaction. So, we bring different energies to the same situation. He might spot the joke in a couple’s argument, while I might be curious about why that particular disagreement has unfolded the way it has. And often, the fun is in moving between those two perspectives. You can laugh at a situation without losing sight of what makes it meaningful. And, of course, the fact that we come from different generations and have had different experiences means we won’t always look at things in exactly the same way. That keeps the conversation lively. What we have in common is that we try our best to make the couples comfortable enough to be themselves while ensuring that the audience has a good time watching us all.

1. This season features heavy-hitting couples. We see the fun on screen, but when the cameras stop rolling, which celebrity couple has had the most genuine, raw argument or ‘panga’ that surprised you the most?
A. I wouldn’t want to name one couple and call their disagreement the most surprising, because I don’t think a relationship should be reduced to one argument, especially when you’re only seeing a part of it. What might look like a big ‘panga’ to an outsider could be something a couple has been laughing about for years! And what looks like a perfectly smooth equation on the surface may have its own complexities that we know nothing about. What I have found fascinating about these couples is how differently they communicate. Some couples are incredibly expressive and will tell each other exactly what they’re thinking. Others have their own unspoken language; a look, a raised eyebrow or one particular sentence is enough to tell you that there’s a whole conversation happening beneath the surface! And then there are couples who can disagree quite passionately one minute and be completely fine the next. I think the most revealing moments are not necessarily the loudest arguments. They are the moments when a couple realises that what seems obvious to one partner isn’t obvious to the other. One person thinks, ‘How can you not know this about me?’ and the other is genuinely baffled! Those moments are funny, but they also tell you something about how we all make assumptions about the people closest to us.

1. You mentioned that watching the show with your husband could lead to a few ‘pange’ at home. Has any particular challenge or reality check on the show made you reflect on your marriage?
A. I think the moment you start watching couples being asked questions about each other, you inevitably begin asking yourself the same questions. You may be sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, that’s so funny, how did he not know that?’ and then you turn to your own husband and wonder whether he would have got the answer right! After having lived so many years together, you begin to believe that you know each other inside out. You know each other’s habits, preferences, moods and all those little things that become part of the rhythm of a shared life. But people keep evolving, and relationships evolve with them. The person you married years ago is still that person, but they have also grown, changed and discovered new things about themselves along the way. Sometimes, we miss getting to know each other or we’re too close to the picture to see it clearly. I think that’s the reality check the show offers. It’s not about whether your spouse remembers every little detail or whether you agree on everything. It’s about whether you’re still paying attention. And yes, I’m sure there will be moments when my husband and I look at each other and say, ‘Wait a minute, would you have answered that correctly?’ But I don’t think every such moment needs to become a serious discussion. Sometimes, you can simply laugh at yourselves. If watching the show leads us to ask each other a few more questions, listen a little more carefully or just laugh together, then that’s a pretty wonderful outcome.

1. What’s your message to the audience watching Dhamaal With Pati Patni Aur Panga?
A. I think there’s something very reassuring about realising that the things you experience in your own relationship are not unique to you. We live in a world where we’re constantly seeing curated versions of people’s lives, whether it’s on social media or in the public eye. You see the holidays, the celebrations, the beautiful photographs and the big romantic gestures. What you don’t necessarily see are the everyday negotiations that make a relationship work. And celebrity couples are no different in that respect. They may have extraordinary careers, busy schedules and lives that attract a great deal of attention, but when they come home, they’re still two individuals trying to figure things out together. They can disagree about the smallest things, misunderstand each other, have different expectations or simply have days when they’re not on the same wavelength. Fame doesn’t exempt anyone from being human. We’re excited to show viewers the real side of couples they admire – these couples could disagree over something familiar and it could be what brings them a little closer to that couple. You stop seeing them only as celebrities and start recognising the husband, the wife, the partner in them. You might laugh at their argument, but you might also recognise your own relationship in that moment. And if viewers can watch these couples, have a laugh, recognise a little bit of themselves and perhaps go home with a little more patience for their own partners, then I think the show has done something meaningful beyond entertaining them. Watch Dhamaal with Pati Patni Aur Panga – Jodiyon Ka Reality Check, every Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 PM, only on COLORS and JioHotstar.

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