Indian Television is all set for a makeover this year with a wholesome line-up of new shows that will provide plenty of entertainment and thrills this year. Here’s a sneak peek:
OF COMEBACKS & SEASONS
If you have enjoyed watching Aadalat, you may also enjoy yet another courtroom drama Bhanwar with Tarun Khanna as the defence lawyer. The series won the Jury’s Choice Award for the Best Investigative series at Screen Awards in 1999. With seasons ruling the small screen, it is not surprising that 2015 will see more seasons or sequels. Seasons like Is Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon, Madhubala, 24, Naa Bole Tum Naa Maine Kuch Kaha will rule. Apart from the official announcement of making tele-series and sequels of Anil Kapoor’s 24 and Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s Pukaar... Season 2 there will be Main lakshmi Tere Aangan Ki 2. BuzzIJ Sridevi has been approached to play the lead.
HISTORY & MYTHOlOGY
For those who love period drama, Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat will make for a must watch. The series will have film-like narration of the life of emperor Ashoka. “It is definitely an attempt in this zone of what is now called premium television. It has all the thrills, excitement, adventure and action of the historical story — battles and clashes. But with the human drama always in the forefront. It’s the biggest show ever attempted on television,” screenplay writer of Chakravartin... Ashok Banker tells you.
Abhimanyu Singh, MD, Contiloe Entertainment, who made many historical drama like Bharat Ka Veer Putra..., Veer Shivaji and Jhansi Ki Rani tells you that every Indian must know the story of emperor Ashok. “I’m sure everybody will be inspired from it. Ashoka is a great study and a best example of how you can be very forward thinking and be very effective as a human being and a ruler. The teachings of Ashok stambh, which are now the Emblem of India, are very relevant even today. The fact that the Ashoka Chakra is a part of our flag is just a reflection of how great he was,” Singh producer of Chakravartin...., says.
While Chakravartin... will take the viewers on a historical journey, life OK’s Dashavatar will talk about lord Vishnu’s 10 avataars. Mohit Raina has been roped in to play Krishna whereas Saurabh Raj Jain, who played Krishna in the newMahabharat series, will be Vishnu. “I’m really looking forward to Ashoka. It is Banker’s work and the way Colors intends to treat it, it’s going to be very different from the other historicals. There is a need to have a new and modern day approach to these kind of shows. It should have an unusual take to the whole thing. Epic TV is one of the channels leading this trend. The channel has brought in a lot of hope for the intelligent viewer,” Gajra Kottary, scriptwriter and TV critic, says.
CRIME BOARD
Shakshi Tanwar has always been part of crime against women shows. She will now delve into this psyche and behaviour of people that pushed them into the world of crime in Color’s Code Red to air soon. Before going on vacation, Sakshi shot for the promos and once she is back, by mid-January, she’ll start shooting. Daffa 420, a fiction show, on life OK will focus on cases that will be solved by a lady inspector — Yuvika Chaudhary. Manoj Pahwa will play a conman and be seen helping cops to crack cases.
IT’S ISSUE-BASED
Zee TV’s list of new shows includes Ganga that stares Hiten Tejwani and Niranjan. It’s an issue-based show that will throw light on the concerns of a girl child in a village and their constant battle against parochial ideas.
Zindagi, which is known for its hard-hitting issue-based shows, is all set to launch five new shows. Starting January 7, the new show Piya Re a love story of Faisal and Ujjala and touches upon the issues of love, marriage, fragility of relationships, sacrifice and acceptance whereas Khwahishein regales the story of Ajia, who dreams of a fairytale life.
Another show Maya, which will premier January 12, is about two sisters Maya and Zarmeena who through their love strengthen their family. January 20 will see the launch of Mausam and Ijaazat. Mausam is a story of love and sacrifice spanning two generations. Ijaazat, on the other hand, is a compelling tale of love and betrayal.
REAlITY BYTES
Every year, reality shows and talent hunts are the most viewed shows. Where Master Chef India season 4 will celebrate the rich Indian heritage of vegetarian food with the three judges Sanjeev Kapoor, Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar, Colors’ Khatron Ke Khiladi: Darr Ka Blockbuster Returns will have Rohit Shetty leading the contestants Sana Khan, Sagarika Ghatge, Ashish Chaudaray, Iqbal Khan, Rashami Desai and many others to their journey of conquering fear. Zee TV’s Dance India Dance season 5, Nach Baliye season 7 and India’s Got Talent are also in the pipeline.
MIXED BAG OF FUN
Director Vikas Bahl, who directed Queen, will make his TV debut with his yet untitled project. The show, one is told, will be about a Bollywood family. A little birdie tells us that Sohail Khan and Salman Khan are part of the show as well. Meanwhile, producer Rajan Shahi’s show Tere Shehar Mein has roped in Dhruv Bhandari, Heeba Nawab and Gautami Kapoor. Sets in the backdrop of Benaras, the show is about a widow.
After a run for six years, Uttaran finally signs off. But Gaurav Chopra, who played Raghuvendra Pratap Rathore, has his hands full; He will be seen in Star Plus’ new show Hotel. The show also stars Akanksha Singh who was last seen in Naa Bole Tum Naa Maine Kuch Kaha. Sources tell you that the show has a unique content.
Producer Siddharth Kumar Tiwari is also going to launch his new show Manmarziya a love-hate story with Kashmira Irani and Monica Bedi in lead roles. Endemol will be in the news for its serial — Hospital — which is rumoured to be loosely based on Grey’s Anatomy. Apparently, Veebha Anand and Shritama Mukherjee have been roped in for the show on doctors and surgeons. With so many shows coming up on TV, viewers have a variety of shows to pick their favourite shows from. But for the channel, it’s becoming very difficult to please the viewers as they have so much to choose from and they are also fed up seeing the same thing.
“With the explosions of channels and the kind of programming which is in demand, it’s boom time for quality of shows on the small screen. But it can be dangerous too because there are a lot of similar or repetitive content. That is inevitable because we don’t have any governing body which looks into the repetitive content on TV. Everyone is largely doing their own development. Sometimes the makers have to pull back their show because some other channel has launched a similar show before theirs. The good ones are definitely going to survive. Also, the opening and shutting down of programmes is going to go up. It has already gone up a lot in last year and it’s going to be much worse in 2015. There will be a lot of programmes which go on air but had to wind up very fast. It’s ultimately a loss for the industry,” Kottary says.