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Now comes Pammi
STAR POWER... Star Plus cast Manav Gohil, Gurdip Kohli, Sangita Ghosh, Sweta Keswani, Manoj Joshi and Sonal Sehgal in New Delhi. Photo: Sandeep Saxena.
THIS INDEED has become a trend now. Only a few days ago came calling plain Jane Jassi attired in her trademark dress, hairdo, braces and spectacles in tow to "meet her fans" in Delhi. And, soon after - this past week - come knocking on people's doors Anu and Pammi of "Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand", Dr. Juhi Singh from "Sanjeevani", Mayorsaab of "Kehta Hai Dil" and Sanjana and Jatin from "Saara Akaash".
When television characters seen on that small screen everyday spring out of it suddenly to ring your door bell and lock themselves in small talks with you over `chai-coffee', it indeed is an overwhelming feeling for the loyal viewers as the stars claim it to be equally so. But for those willing to peep into it slightly deeper, an obvious battle for TRP between the channels comes to the fore. After Sony Television brought Jassi of their flagship serial "Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin" to the city, it is now time for Star Plus to parade their star cast. Interestingly, it is actually `the prime time war', Jassi... is a 9-30 p.m. show and "Sanjeevani", "Des Mein... ", "Saara Akaash" and "Kehta Hai Dil" begin at 9 p.m. and finish only at 10. p.m. And clearly so, the motive is it.
"The idea behind bringing stars to people's homes is to keep your products in news and secondly, it is an opportunity for real interaction between the viewers and the actors on a one-to-one basis," Deepak Segal, Contents Head of Star Plus says. Doing this kind of a star home visit earlier in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, it is now time to visit Delhi and the lucky ones are the winners of Star Plus's contest "Aapke Star Aapke Ghar". All that the viewers needed to do was to send replies to some simple queries on various serials on the channel and after a lucky draw, 40 families from the city were selected.
Segal says, there were about 10,000-plus entries for this contest, justifying indeed his back-up information that out of 50 top serials in all the channels, more than 40 are their shows. Not very much bothered about the moral side of the contents shown on television, Segal is into hard selling Star Plus. "Let me remind you, we are in the business of television. TRP brings in our advertisements and hence money. And, we have competitors," Segal makes it quite clear. All TV channels in coming days, he says, would have to become niche channels. Though many have predicted the weekly rating to nosedive in Delhi due to the CAS element, he is confident that would not be the case and is hopeful of a solution. At least some assurance of value for the couch potatoes of the city this would be.
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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