Balaji Telefilms makes an entry into events

Balaji Telefilms, promoted by Hindi film star Jeetendra, will make its foray into events with Millennium Mast - 2001. This was announced by the actor at a press conference in Mumbai.

Millennium Mast - 2001, to be held in Mumbai on December 15 this year will be a star-studded event. The stars will perform on the various festivals of India. The show is scheduled to have performances by Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Twinkle Khanna, Sushmita Sen and Malaika Arora.

Eventually, the show will be telecast on Doordarshan National Network on December 31 2000. The focus of the show will revolve around prominent festivals like Diwali, Gokulashtami, Christmas and Holi. According to Jeetendra, "Millennium Mast - 2001 will mark the unison of all cultures with each star’s performance personifying a specific festival." The show will be introduced by Malaika Arora who will speak on the various festive occasions and explaining their history and significance.

"Millennium Mast - 2001 will also consist of performances by Sukhwinder Singh, Adnan Sami, Kamal Khan among others.

BBC set to introduce Hospital series on AIIMS
As part of its ongoing endeavour to increase the quantum of India-specific programming on the channel, BBC World is all set to launch a 13-episode series called Hospital in the coming year. The series, documenting daily life in the AIIMS, New Delhi aims to duplicate the success of the original series with a similar theme in the UK. The series, according to the BBC is real reality programming as opposed to artificial or manufactured reality programming.

According to Narendhra Morar, commissioning editor, regions, BBC World the series will be filmed with a ‘fly on the wall’ approach to give the viewers an authentic picture with all the details. "We do not want to judge or pontificate, we just want to give the viewers the images, they make their own inferences and judgments," Morar adds. "The co-operation of the hospital administration, individual medical and other staff as well as patients is essential for the filming of the series. At the same time we have to ensure all the time that nobody’s feelings and sentiments are hurt or their privacy invaded in any way and we are constantly vigilant about the same," he goes on. Niret Alva’s Miditech TV is producing the series for the BBC. It already produces Wheels the Indian auto magazine programme. Three crews will be shooting in AIIMS on rotation round-the-clock for the series. The voice-over for the series will be done by Alva, which will be kept at a minimum, to help keep the viewer focussed on the video images. The travel for this story was sponsored by BBC World

Prakash Austin

Karnik quits Discovery
The Managing Director of Discovery Networks (India), Kiran Karnik, has quit the network. Karnik, who helped launch the channel in India in 1995, has been at the helm of the channel for the past five years. On being contacted, Karnik said, "I haven’t decided what to do and where to go yet. Maybe, I will put up my feet and get on with my reading." He added that there will be a transition period of four to five months. "We’ll immediately start looking for a replacement," Karnik said.

After Karnik’s resignation, Discovery president Dawn L McCall said in a statement, "Kiran’s contribution and personal dedication to building the business in India has led both Discovery and Animal Planet, to become widely recognised."

Miditech emerges winner at Asian TV Awards
New Delhi-based Miditech TV won awards for all three nominations at the Asian TV Awards in Singapore. Wheels a programme on automobiles, which is aired on BBC World, was adjudged the Best Magazine Programme. The Miditech president, Niret Alva, won a special commendation in the Best Current Affairs Presenter category. The Great Escape, telecast on Star Plus, won a special commendation in the Magazine Programme section.

Both Wheels and The Great Escape are made by Miditech, and they competed with each other in the same category. Out of the seven nominations from India, Miditech TV got three nominations. Wheels is the country’s longest running automobile show to date and it tells viewers whether a vehicle is worth buying or not.