MUMBAI: Malayalam general entertainment and news channel Amrita TV will air season 5 of its flagship show Vanita Ratnam from 18 February.

The inaugural episode of the singing reality show will telecast at 8.30 pm. Thereafter, it will telecast every weekday Monday through Thursday from 8.30 to 9.30 pm.

The new season will be flagged off by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Sashi Tharoor who will take the dais as the celebrity judge for the inaugural episode.

Vanita Ratnam seeks out superlative women who don?t just possess artistic talents, culinary skills, homemaking proficiency or professional capabilities.

21 participants dispersed between the ages of 17 and 35 have jockeyed themselves into contestant slots, riding on the back of scores tallied in several auditions conducted before a panel comprising Shyamaprasad, Murali Menon and noted psychologist Parvathy.

The competitive field of 13 married and 8 bachelorettes consisting of students, housewives, agriculturists and IT professionals will all try to get off to a good running start when the new season kicks-off.

Renjini Haridas, the most recognisable face in the Kerala?s anchoring world who took compeering to another dimension with her singular style of presentation, will be hosting the show.

Murali Menon, eminent theatre and film personality who had groomed the competitors and been the judge in all the previous editions of the show and Sithara, yesteryear screen heroine, will be the two permanent judges on the panel while dignitaries from films, politics, art and cultural fields will join them in the celebrity judge seat every week.