Sukh By Chance to have a hour-long slot?
Apart from the detective series CID, which is Numero Uno on Sony, Sukh By Chance is the only other fiction show in years to have got a rating of one plus for two consecutive weeks on the channel, which otherwise has reality shows like Comedy Circus, 10 Ka Dum and nowDance Premier League on top of the charts. The story of how a middle-class Gujarati joint family, which prides itself on its values changes when it suddenly comes into riches has struck a chord with the viewers. The buzz is that the channel now wants to turn the half-an-hour daily into a one-hour soap for a month.
Rohit Verma finally evicted
The plotting and bitching finally caught up with fashion designer Rohit Verma, who was evicted last week. Verma, who rubbed almost all his co-contestants the wrong way by bitching against them, was “shattered” when he saw the audio-visual of Raju Shrivastav, Vindoo and him plotting against the others. “I broke down after seeing the AV. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I am not that kind of person but I got trapped and manipulated by others,” he says emotionally, admitting that knowingly and unknowingly he ended up hurting the sentiments of many people. So, is he happy that he is out? “It’s a mixed feeling because my mother (Poonamji) is inside,” he says. He, however is proud of the fact that he confessed to his wrong-doing on camera. “A section of the press has called me the ‘man of the house’ for owning up to my mistake,” says Rohit, who is now preparing for the Dubai fashion show.
Maniben.com gets 104-week extension
Smriti Irani’s show Maniben.com aired on SAB TV has got an extension of 104 episodes and a ten per cent increase in the budget. The story, based on a play by the same name, has Smriti Irani playing the title-role. She plays a middle-class woman from Saurashtra who shifts to Mumbai with her husband, a diamond polisher- turned-merchant. She believes in her values and refuses to change her ideology or dressing style to suit the new milieu. Though it was difficult for Smriti to shed the image of Tulsi, Smriti has managed to connect with her comic act and for the last few weeks, the track of Maniben in heaven has been doing very well. Incidentally, the plot was developed by Smriti herself. It has been getting rating of 0.8, which according to Anooj Kapoor, Business Head of SAB, is equivalent to two plus. “If aired on any of the top channels, it would have been more than two. Our reach is 38 as compared to the other channels, which has a reach of 55. Earlier our channel was sparsely available but now it has been augmented,” informs Kapoor. SAB TV, recently, won the award for brand leadership in media and entertainment, defeating STAR Plus and Zee. The award was given by World Brand Congress 2009, something that the channel is extremely proud of and so has put up hoardings advertising it.
Back in action
Ajay Wadhavkar, best remembered for his cop act as Ganpat havaldar in Nukkad, is back. He’s playing Damodar (Manav’s father) in Zee’s Pavitra Rishta. The actor who was missing in action had undergone surgery: he had injured his left leg a couple of months back and since he was already suffering from diabetes, the leg had to be amputated. However Ajay didn’t lose his faith and confidence. He has resumed the sets with full force and has been managing the shoot with one artificial leg now. When contacted Ajay said, “I went through a very bad phase of my life. It was destiny and one can’t fight against it. I have moved on with life and my family has really supported me in overcoming this incident. I hope no ones goes through such trauma.” Sukesh Motwani, the channel’s Creative Head, said, “I am amazed with his confidence and the spirit with which he is back to take the challenge. Ajayji is a fine Marathi actor and one would have definitely missed him if he had not made a comeback. On behalf of the channel, I wish him all the very best.”
