The keenly anticipated reboot of popular Japanese game show ‘Takeshi’s Castle’ has begun streaming on Prime Video worldwide. Indian fans of the show are obviously quite delighted at the return of their favourite TV game show of their childhood. For, Takeshi’s Castle holds a special place in the hearts of nineties’ kids, when the show would air on Indian TV, juxtaposed with Javed Jaffrey’s distinctive commentary.
The mention of Javed Jaffrey brings us to the purpose of this writeup. Takeshi’s Castle is finally streaming on Prime Video, all eight episodes of it, but there’s one major flaw. The game show series is streaming only in the original Japanese language. There’s no hilarious Hindi commentary accompanying the show, to elevate the viewing experience.
Let’s face it, the games in the new iteration of Takeshi’s Castle are more or less same, the vibes are similar too. But it just doesn’t feel the same without a humorous Hindi commentator blabbering in the background. Prime Video India had promised us Bhuvan Bam as the Hindi commentator in place of Javed Jaffrey. But guess what, even he’s missing in action in the new Takeshi’s Castle.
Take it from us – Indian viewers are not going to like it. Fun and games aside, what makes Takeshi’s Castle such an enjoyable watch for viewers is undoubtedly the running Hindi commentary in the background. Takeshi’s Castle is just not the same without it.
For those who don’t know, ‘Takeshi’s Castle’ is a game show where contestants compete to overcome difficult obstacles, in order to reach the finish line and win the grand prize. A total of more than 300 participants, selected from more than 1,000 applicants, will attempt to break through the various tricky games.
The new Takeshi’s Castle includes classics like Dragon God’s Pond (Ryujin-Ike), The Strait of Gibraltar, where players go over an unstable bridge while avoiding flying balls, Mushroom Trip (Kinoko-de-Pon), where challengers cling to a large spinning mushroom and must land on a small island floating on the surface of the water at the right time, and many more.
The ‘Takeshi’s Castle’ reboot includes some new games too. The new version of Takeshi’s Castle has also been filmed at Midoriyama Studio, the same location as the original version.