Antakshari

Antakshri also known as Anthyakshari is a spoken parlor game played in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. Each contestant sings the first verse of a song (usually a Bollywood song) that begins with the Hindustani consonant on which the previous contestant's song selection ended.

The word is derived from two Hindi words:

When these words are combined and an '-i' suffixed, the term means "The game of the ending letter".

Its known as Anthyakshari same as Sanskrit only in Telugu and no other Indian language. Due to schwa syncope in Hindi and other Indo-Aryan languages, Anthakshari is pronounced

The game can be played by two or more people and is popular as a group activity during commutes, bus rides etc. The first singer has to sing two complete lines and then s/he may stop at the end of those or following lines. The last Hindi letter of the last word sung is then used by the next singer to sing another song, starting with that letter. The winner or winning team is decided by a process of elimination. The person or team that cannot come up with a song with the right consonant is eliminated if their opponents can produce such a song.

The game is often kicked off with the consonant /m/ (म or م) with the recitation of the following couplet which varies, but usually has wording similar to -

Baithe, baithe, kya karein? Karna hai kuch kaam,
Shuru karo antakshri, leke prabhu/rabb ka naam!

It started as a family pastime. Now there are several TV shows and competitions all over India based on it. The classic style is where two or more teams sing songs which start with last consonant letter of the song sung by previous team. When a team sings a song they earn points.

A popular Indian television program by the same name has run successfully on Zee TV for over 10 years. Annu Kapoor was the permanent male host while female hosts included Durga Jasraj, Renuka Shahane, Pallavi Joshi, Shefali, Rajeshwari Sachdev & Richa Sharma . Contestants have ranged from school and college-goers to housewives, professionals and celebrities. Mr.Gajendra Singh is known as the Creator of Musical Reality shows in India, Talent Scout extraordinaire’ and a true Visionary who revolutionized the Indian Cable TV scene. He is the man behind conceptualizing 'Antakshari' as a TV show and creating history. The team names of the Zee TV show are Deewane, Parwane, and Mastane.

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