Nach Baliye 8: Malaika Arora replaces Sonakshi as judge, shoots with Arjun, Shraddha

Malaika Arora has returned to the dance reality show she made her television debut with. She has replaced Sonakshi Sinha as the judge of Nach Baliye 8.

Deccan Chronicle reports that Sonakshi Sinha will not be able to continue with the show owing to her prior commitment to Hrithik Roshan as they have left for their tour in South Africa. Interestingly, it was on the sets of Nach Baliye that Roshan and Sinha shook a leg with each other on ‘Saree Ke Fall Sa’ and expressed their mutual admiration since their debut films, Rakesh Roshan’s 2000 romantic drama Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and Abhinav Kashyap’s 2010 action comedy Dabangg.

Sinha, who just returned from Salman Khan’s Da-Bangg world tour has now left for Roshan’s. Thus, the makers have roped in Arora to replace her. However, there is  no official word on whether the substitution is permanent or only till the time Sinha returns to India.

In the past, Arora has hosted or judged shows like Zara Nachke Dikha, Dhoom Macha De, Perfect Bride, two seasons of Jhalak Dikhlaa Ja, Nachle Ve and three seasons of India’s Got Talent. She has also judged the first two seasons of Nach Baliye alongside Saroj, Farhan Akhtar and Kunal Kohli before being replaced by Isha Koppikar in Season 3.

Bollywood Life reports that Arora has already shot for her first episode and that too a special one. The lead stars of her fellow judge and filmmaker Mohit Suri’s upcoming romantic comedy Half Girlfriend joined her as special guest judges on the show. Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor were also seen shaking a leg with the contestants of the show including comedienne Bharti Singh.

Half Girlfriend is a cinematic adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s bestselling novel of the same name that released in 2014. It also stars Seema Biswas and is slated to release on 19 May.