(Dallas, Texas) - January 5, 2010 – ZEE TV USA, the number one brand in the South Asian entertainment space, has always strived to give the best of entertainment to its viewers.  The return of the second season of the number one dance reality show, Dance India Dance and the selection of Nikkitasha Marhawa speaks to ZEE’s goal of bringing entertainment as close as possible to its viewers in the US.  In line with ZEE’s efforts to bring entertainment to your doorstep, the channel held auditions in the US to give America’s viewers the chance to compete in Bollywood’s hometown.   Nikkitasha joins the company of international contestants like Mauli Dave of Texas (finalist on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007) and Puja Bhattacharjee from California (winner of the Zee World Teen Queen pageant 2002) who have also appeared and successfully competed on ZEE TV reality shows in the past. The success stories of these real people in the entertainment industry speaks volumes about the efforts that Zee TV USA is putting into fulfilling people’s dreams.

In December, auditions for another sensational season of Dance India Dance began in which participants aged 15-30 competed for their shining moment on the DID stage by performing before the show’s Grand Master Mithun Da, an acclaimed actor and Bollywood star.   The new show follows a format similar to the original season where the final 18 contestants are divided into three teams led by the choreographers - Geeta Kapoor, Terrence Lewis and Remo.  It is a matter of immense pride for the master whose protégé walks away with the coveted ‘Sunehri Taqdeer Ki Topi’.

Among the contestants is Nikkitasha Marhawa, a 20-year-old student from the U.S. who earlier in the year clinched the 18th Miss India Worldwide crown. ZEE TV USA has given her the opportunity to represent as an Indian American on Master Remo’s team and show off her skills  in Mumbai, the City of Dreams.  The first NRI to have reached this far is already touted as one of the strongest contenders of this season. Whoever has seen her perform can't stop talking about the girl's agility and versatility. It's a surprise that in spite of being a generation Y girl and brought up in USA, Nikitasha harbors a keen interest in Indian classical dance. This North Indian young lady has trained herself in 'one of a kind' and relatively difficult dance forms - Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi, all while living in America!  ZEE TV USA is excited to see her talents matched up against the top performers in this year’s competition.

“We realize ZEE has a huge presence in America and over the years we have been making conscious efforts to ensure that we further build on these relationships,” said Jaideep Balial VP of Programming at Zee TV USA. “Having Nikkitasha as part of our finalists is a great testament to the quality of performers on DID and ZEE TV is proud to provide a platform like Dance India Dance for talented individuals in the US.  We look forward to supporting our US contestant.”

Will USA based Nikkitasha dance her way to glory? Tune into ZEE TV every Friday and Saturday at 7 PM ET/ 6 PM CT to witness the most talented international dancers battle it out on the high energy second season of Dance India Dance!

To support Nikkitasha, visit: www.zeetvusa.com.