MUMBAI: Hot on the heels of the successful Guinness World Records initiative held in the country a few months ago action oriented AXN is continuing to expand its ground presence this time through the programming franchise Who Dares Wins.

AXN Who Dares Wins - India Special marks the first-ever local production and programming effort on the part of the channel in India to let people experience the buzz first hand. It is based on the highly popular reality television series Who Dares Wins, which challenges ordinary people to participate in dares in front of a large crowd. The production effort will take off on a five city tour of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai from 18 September to 7 October, an official release informs.

The show will be hosted by former Australian test cricketer - Mike Whitney. He will approach Indians at home, work, on the streets or at shopping malls and dare them to attempt certain stunts, which will be televised for the show. This will be telecast on the channel in November. In addition, AXN is also giving six Indians the opportunity of going on an all expenses paid trip to Australia to participate in the Who Dares Wins main dares. These will be hosted by Mike Whitney and his co-host Tania Zaetta.

The channel, in association with Colgate-Palmolive, is also holding a contest wherein the purchase of Palmolive shaving gel entitles the viewer to and get access to an application form to nominate a person to participate in the major dares segment of the AXN Who Dares Wins - India Special.

V-P marketing AXN Asia Gregory Ho was quoted in the release as saying: "The AXN Who Dares Wins - India Special, based on one of AXN's signature shows Who Dares Wins, is one of the biggest initiatives that the channel has embarked on to date, and we have decided to do it first in India. AXN pioneered reality TV in India over three years ago with Who Dares Wins, which has since become television icon and continues to remain high on Indians' TV viewing priorities."

Since the first broadcast, Indians have gotten a kick out of seeing Mike and Tania challenge ordinary people to perform dares that they wouldn't normally do. I am sure Mike and the Who Dares Wins - India Special crew will be overwhelmed by the popularity of the series in India."

For AXN's first local production effort, both international and local expertise will be used to ensure the quality of the production is on par with the broadcast standards that viewers have come to expect on AXN. The AXN Who Dares Wins - India Special is presented by Hero Honda, and co-sponsored by Samsung, Perfetti, Palmolive Shave Gel and Bharti (Airtel). The India Special is also supported by Adidas and The Park Hotels, the release says.