Rakhi Ka Insaaf now to air at 11 PM..

As we know, COLORS successfully moved the Bombay High Court on getting a stay order on the directive issued by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry to shift their controversial reality show Bigg Boss 4 to slots beyond 11 pm. There was lots of speculation as to whether Imagine TV would do the same as their show Rakhi Ka Insaaf too was asked to be shifted to the late night slot.

News now comes in that Imagine has decided to abide by the Government's ruling. A channel statement to that effect reads as follows, "We have received an advisory from the I&B Ministry that requires us to shift the telecast timing of the program, Rakhi Ka Insaaf. We are complying with the Ministry's advice on this matter, and changing the telecast time of the program to 11 pm. We have already stopped all day time repeats of the program and have advised all news channels to refrain from carrying excerpts or clips of the show during daytime hours of 5 am to 11 pm, as directed by the Ministry. We would also like to clarify that we have not challenged this Order in any court".

The last line is a clear indication that the channel is in no mood for a fight.

One speculation for this surrender could be that the quasi judicial show was already under the scanner following the death of contestant Lakshman Prasad. His family members allege that Rakhi calling him 'napunsak' on the show made him commit suicide. Rakhi and four others  have moved  Bombay  High court in a separate  case asking the above proceeding to be quashed, but the court refused to grant them any relief. Imagine has already been facing lots of other legal hassles. They were recently forced to change the name of their upcoming fiction show on reservation from Arakshan to  Armano Ka Balidan.Arakshan,  as well known Film Producer and Director Prakash Jha has a film by the same name.

This decision to shift the time slot of Rakhi Ka Insaaf may cost the channel heavily in terms of TRPs. This UTV and Sagar Pictures show was getting good numbers at the 10 pm Saturday slot, but now that it will be pushed by an hour, the ratings are bound to drop. The reason being that  most of its  audience comes from parts of Punjab and Bihar where its  peak sowing season. Hence people need to sleep early as  they have to get up as early as 6 am to go to the fields. It also leaves the channel with one more problem of having to find a show to replacement for Rakhi Ka Insaaf at the 10 pm slot. 

Reporter and Author: Anil Merani