The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:05 AM PDT While mostly male Bollywood actors are ruling the roost on TV, many actresses too have made forays into the medium. Priyanka Chopra: The National award-winning actress made her debut on the small screen as the host of the third season of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi last year. She replaced Akshay Kumar on the show. Priyanka's enthusiasm for athleticism and her action movies like Don convinced the show's makers that she was a good fit for Fear Factor. She rode a bike, even did a few stunts (albeit the easier ones) and tried to up the programme's glam quotient by wearing itsy bitsy clothes. But alas, the package didn't quite work and the programme garnered abysmal ratings. Rani Mukherjee: The petite actress – star of the recent blockbuster No One Killed Jessica – judged Sony TV's Dance Premier League (DPL) along with actor Arshad Warsi and dance guru Shiamak Davar last year. Rani added glamour and credibility to the show. The programme went down well with the audience and commanded a decent viewership during its 16-week run. Genelia D'Souza: The Bollywood actress – who has starred in several regional language films down south – was the host of the first and second seasons of Big Switch, a reality show which featured 10 rich children who eschewed material comforts to fulfil the dreams of slum children. Season Two saw the concept getting tweaked with the focus getting shifted to entire families of the teenagers. Preity Zinta: Star of a slew of successful Hindi films, Preity has now turned her attention to business after lead film roles dried up. She is the co-owner an IPL cricket team (Punjab Kings' XI) and has recently launched a production house. In between, she hosted Guinness Records – Ab India Torega earlier this year to mixed reviews. While Preity's effervescence was appreciated, the "records" that the contestants broke had an element of inanity to them. Farah Khan: The choreographer-turned-director started out with Tere Mere Beach Mein, a chat show which involved a one-on-one with other Bollywood stars in 2009. She is now co-hosting Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega (an entertainment-based reality show) with music director Anu Malik which has entered its third successful season. – Neeta Lal Related Stories: |
| Posted: 02 Sep 2011 12:36 AM PDT You stand a chance to be rewarded when you tune in to Red FM the whole of this month. RED FM is going to make September a month to remember for listeners with the unveiling of a special contest starting next Monday. And like all of the station's contests, it's a contest that's designed to be fun and thrilling at the same time. You can participate in the contest on your own or get some friends to join you as there are lucrative prizes up for grabs. You could win cash or even a brand new car, just stay tuned for more details. Don't miss out on picking up clues on-air and online as they will be given out Mondays to Fridays. If you didn't manage to grab any of those prizes being given out, there's still more in store for you to win. There's a wide assortment of giveaways ranging from dining vouchers to hotel stays and movie screening tickets. You could be a lucky winner at anytime of the day and all you have to do is listen out for the cue to enter. You could win an exquisite dining experience from Rudy and Jeremy on the Red FM Breakfast show (Monday-Friday, 6am-10am) or an exotic getaway from Mynn and Linora on Red FM Late Night Love Songs (Monday-Friday, 10pm-1am). Pick up movie passes on Red FM's Drive With Terry (Monday-Friday, 3pm-7pm) and Red FM's Evening With Arnold (7pm-10pm). Or have Lexie reward you with a feel good session for the body and mind when you tune in to Red FM's Eleven 2 Three (Monday-Friday, 11am-3pm). Anyone can be a winner this month and you could be the ultimate winner to drive away a new car. Log on to www.red.fm for terms and conditions of all the contests. Join the Red FM Malaysia Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/redfm.my) and follow us on Twitter (@iloveredfm) for the latest updates. Red FM is owned and operated by The Star. Red FM's station frequencies: Taiping, Kedah, Perlis and Pulau Langkawi: 98.1 FM; George Town and Seberang Prai: 107.6 FM; Ipoh, Perak: 106.4 FM; Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan and Tapah: 104.9 FM; Kuantan, Pahang: 91.6 FM; Batu Pahat and Malacca: 98.9 FM; Johor Baru and Singapore: 92.8 FM. |
| Bollywood actors drawn to the small screen Posted: 02 Sep 2011 12:09 AM PDT Big money, brand building and a chance to connect with a diverse audience is luring Bollywood actors to television. EARLIER this year, when popular Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit, 44, flew from Denver, Colorado in the United States – where she is now settled – to Mumbai to judge a dance reality show, Jhalak Dikhla Ja (modelled after ABC's Dancing With The Stars), she spiked the collective adrenaline of Hindi cinema buffs. The still-stunning diva's wardrobe, her style and words of encouragement for the contestants generated enormous interest amongst the masses. The show went on to garner record ratings for Sony TV, the channel which broadcast the show. Following that, the actress was inundated with offers for movies, more TV shows and brand endorsements, some of which she accepted with her trademark dazzling smile. "Dance is close to my heart," said Madhuri, star of the 1990s blockbuster films like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (with Salman Khan) and Dil Ho Pagal Hai (with Shah Rukh Khan), at the show's media launch. "And TV can help me reach out to my fans." Like Madhuri, there has been an increase in Bollywood actors and actresses flocking to Indian television as celebrity hosts of popular reality shows, quiz shows and song-and-dance programmes. In fact, Indian viewers have never had it so good. They are now waiting with bated breath for megastar Amitabh Bachchan, 67, to enliven their TV screens as the host for the fourth season of KBC or Kaun Banega Crorepati? (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?) that went on air last month. If the promos are anything to go by, the programme is likely to break all previous ratings records. Bachchan, who had earlier hosted Season One and Two of KBC, is now on board for the new season for a staggering fee of several million dollars. Salman Khan, 45, who generated enormous interest for Bigg Boss (the Indian avatar of Big Brother) and quiz show Dus Ka Dum in 2010 and 2009, respectively as their host, is now preparing for the next season of Bigg Boss. He is likely to co-host the show with his buddy and actor Sanjay Dutt, 52, the protagonist of the cult film Munnabhai MBBS. Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar, 43, who had started out as a waiter in a small Bangkok eatery, hosted Master Chef India, the Indian version of the successful cookery show franchise, last year. "Television has become so big. There are so many opportunities. I started with stage and television and TV is genuinely my favourite," Akshay told the media. If everybody is dabbling in TV, then how can Shah Rukh Khan be left out? Despite the fact that the superstar's first TV outing – Kya Aap Panchvi Paas Se Tez Hain? (modelled on the American show Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?) – didn't exactly set the small screen afire, he was paid a stupendous fee to anchor Zor Ka Jhatka, the Indian version of reality show Wipeout last year. As trade observers point out, till as recent as a few years back, it wasn't considered kosher for Bollywood stars to appear on TV. They were the demi-Gods who ruled the silver screen and rarely stepped out of their ivory towers. But now, practically every actor worth his glycerin tears is hosting all manner of shows. "TV is testimony to the growing reach of entertainment television in India," opined Shah Rukh Khan at a media event recently. Media analysts say that good money, the chance to build their own personal brands through visibility and the opportunity to connect with a larger fan base direct Bollywood stars to TV. "These shows pay phenomenally well," says Mitul Pradhan, head of a media research company. "Moreover, Bollywood stars need to be in circulation more than other celebrities. What better platform than TV which gets you inside the living rooms of millions of viewers?" With their larger share in the TV pie, the stars have completely changed the dynamics of TV viewing, budgets and software content. TV channels can't have enough of them as they scramble to stay afloat in a hugely competitive entertainment market. An official at Imagine TV, which has produced several of these shows, says film stars attract audiences which in turn help them reconnect with their fans. Fans, meanwhile, agree that Bollywood's presence makes a world of a difference to programme content. In other words, TV and Bollywood are a marriage made in heaven. It is a symbiotic relationship, an unbeatable combination. Interestingly, as more and more stars are getting onto the TV bandwagon, the programmes are getting more ambitious in scope and coverage. So the talent show – Just Dance – currently being broadcast on Star Plus, which has Hrithik Roshan as its anchor, hunted for talent across the world. With mega budgets, foreign crew, expensive sets and of course the actor's Greek god looks, the show is quite the rage. Do the TV actors feel threatened by the sudden onslaught of Bollywood giants? "Not really," says one. "There are only a handful of shows where big actors rule the roost. So there is really no reason why we should feel threatened." Besides, TV stars concede, the presence of Bollywood on TV adds more brand value to the medium, which has a positive effect on everybody's earnings down the line. When TV shows get reputed Bollywood stars on board, most of their publicity is taken care of. Plus, stars like the Khans or Amitabh Bachchan rope in their friends on the show, which adds more power and visibility to the programme. "A channel's income rises dramatically the moment Bollywood stars are involved in the picture," says Karanjit Singh, a Delhi-based media consultant. "Advertisement slots are sold at much higher rates. In fact the premium goes up by about 30%." It would seem that the presence of big stars on the small screen is a win-win situation for all. Related Stories: |
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