All smiles: Mona Singh in town on Friday. Picture by Amit Datta

If she can shed her braces and glasses to emerge as the hottest thing on television, why not you? Mona Singh, better known as Jassi from Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, will host the Indian version of the popular international TV format Extreme Makeover.

The Sony show will travel to five cities looking for people whose faces have been damaged or scarred at birth or in an accident. “We are looking for people with medical histories and we will have doctors going through their cases during the auditions,” revealed a Sony spokesperson at a city hotel on Friday.

Thirty people will be picked to be transformed through cosmetic and plastic surgery over a period of three to four months. “This is not about regular people who want to just look beautiful,” cautioned Mona. “We are looking for serious cases where faces have been damaged due to explosions or acid attacks. There are many people in India who hide such members of the family. We are here to change their lives forever.”

Once the candidates have been selected, they will be flown to Delhi where the doctors will treat them in a hospital and the entire transformation phase will be captured on camera. “Having seen the other international versions of the show, I can tell you it will be a very emotional experience watching lives change,” said Mona.

The actress is also appearing on another Sony show, Jhalak Dikhhla Ja, where she will be competing with other non-dancers like Ajay Jadeja, Mahesh Manjrekar and Sanjeev Kapoor. “I have never ever danced before,” she admitted. “It is so much fun and I am really enjoying my stint.”

The dance show is also an opportunity for Mona to showcase her skills in front of film-makers like Farah Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali who will be following her every move as judges. With Mona’s film career going nowhere — her debut project with producer Bobby Pushkarna is currently on the backburner — she even asked Farah on the inaugural episode of Jhalak Dikhhla Ja to “call” her for a possible movie break.

On the small screen Mona is pinning her hopes on Extreme Makeover to give her a brand new image — that of Fairy Godmother. The Calcutta auditions take place on Thursday, September 14, at Shree Guest House on 21, Mullen Street, from 9 in the morning.