Season 8 — officially branded Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Reloaded — brought a shake-up to the franchise’s judging panel and a mid-season judge swap that made headlines in its own right. Running on Colors TV from July to October 2015, the season built toward a finale featuring a former child star reclaiming the spotlight. Here’s the complete breakdown.
Season 8 at a Glance
The season premiered July 11, 2015, and ran for 27 episodes before concluding October 10, 2015, with the grand finale shot in Mumbai on October 7. Manish Paul returned once again as host. The judging panel initially featured Karan Johar, Shahid Kapoor, Ganesh Hegde, and Lauren Gottlieb — but partway through the season, Malaika Arora stepped in to replace Karan Johar, a notable mid-run change for the franchise.
Who Won Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Season 8?
Actor Faisal Khan, paired with professional partner Vaishnavi Patil under mentor Vivek Chachere, was crowned the winner. Khan had already tasted reality-show success once before, having won DID Li’l Masters as a child, before stepping away into an acting career and later returning to competitive dancing on this season.
Runner-Up
Television actress Sanaya Irani, paired with partner Jai (Jai Kumar Nair), finished as first runner-up — a strong showing for a star who had appeared on the show in earlier seasons as a supporter of contestants Ashish Sharma and Drashti Dhami before finally competing herself.
Full Contestant List
Season 8 fielded twelve original celebrity contestants, later supplemented by wildcard entries mid-season:
- Faisal Khan with Vaishnavi Patil (mentor Vivek Chachere) — Winner, October 10, 2015
- Sanaya Irani with Jai Kumar Nair — Runner-up, October 10, 2015
- Dipika Kakar (Samson) — Eliminated, July 27, 2015
- Kavita Kaushik — Eliminated, July 31, 2015
- Ashish Chowdhry and Subhreet Kaur — Both eliminated, August 22, 2015
- Vivian Dsena — Eliminated, August 26, 2015
- Raftaar (Rapper/singer) — Eliminated, September 5, 2015
- Scarlett Wilson — Eliminated, September 11, 2015
- Roopal Tyagi — Eliminated, September 20, 2015
- Mohit Malik, Radhika Madan — Competed through the season; exact elimination dates weren’t clearly documented in available records
Wildcard entries added mid-season:
- Irfan Pathan (Cricketer) — Joined as wildcard in August 2015, later withdrew due to cricket commitments
- Vishal Karwal — Joined as wildcard, eliminated immediately
- Anita Hassanandani, Neha Marda, Sukirti Kandpal — Added as wildcard entries in September 2015
Given the patchy public record for this particular season’s week-by-week eliminations, some dates and final placements for mid-tier contestants aren’t as clearly documented as in other seasons — worth keeping in mind if you’re cross-referencing against other sources.
Judges and What They Brought to the Panel
Karan Johar opened the season with his usual sharp, industry-savvy commentary before departing partway through. Shahid Kapoor brought a rare Bollywood leading-man presence to the judging table, a departure from the choreographer- and director-heavy panels of past seasons. Ganesh Hegde and Lauren Gottlieb — the latter a former contestant and mentor from earlier seasons — rounded out the technical dance critique, with Malaika Arora stepping into Johar’s seat as the season progressed.
Hosting Duties
Manish Paul, by this point one of the franchise’s most reliable hosts, anchored the entire season solo.
Final Thoughts
Season 8’s storyline arc — a former child star returning to reclaim a trophy years after his first reality show win — gave the season a strong narrative hook, while the mid-season judge swap added an unusual behind-the-scenes twist rarely seen in the franchise’s other years. Combined with high-profile wildcard entries like cricketer Irfan Pathan, the season reflected the show’s continued willingness to mix things up format-wise even eight seasons in.