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Sony spruces up late night slot with two new shows
January 31, 07
exchange4media Mumbai Bureau

Sony Entertainment Channel has launched a one-hour band, 'Dus Se Gyara… Waqt Hai Hamara', which will house two new shows in the 10-11 pm slot – 'Durgesh Nandinii' and 'Jeete Hain Jiske Liye'. Both shows would premiere on February 5, 2007 and will air from Monday to Thursday.

'Durgesh Nandinii' replaces the recently concluded 'Bigg Boss', while 'Jeete Hain Jiske Liye' comes in at 10.30 pm, which otherwise aired repeats of other Sony shows. The channel will also revive popular detective series of the eighties, 'Karamchand', in February, which will see Pankaj Kapur return as the carrot munching detective. Sony has used these tactics before with 'Aahat' and 'Boogie Woogie' with varying degrees of success.

Announcing the new shows, SET's Chief Creative Director, Sandiip Sikcand, said, "Indian audiences will watch shows that they relate to and can emotionally connect with. 'Durgesh Nandinii' has a subtle tone of humour while 'Jeete Hain Jiske Liye' is more intense. But both are essentially stories of women with grit and determination, and I think they are perfect to replace the slot that 'Bigg Boss' has created."

Meanwhile, more action can be expected in Sony primetime in days to come, even in the cream 9 pm band. SET COO, N P Singh, explained, "Around March-April 2006, we decided to take stock of our programming and come up with a healthy mix of fiction and non-fiction programming. Reality series like 'Fear Factor' and 'Jhalak Dikhla Jaa' were results of that. While a third season of 'Indian Idols' is already on the cards, we also wanted to get back to daily soaps."

He further said that SET was in the process of finding out what was gelling with the Indian audience, and that even though numbers hadn't been huge yet, 'Bigg Boss' did make noise in the right kind of audience and that with these new initiatives, the channel was looking at regaining its place on television. The new shows are being supported with multimedia campaigns.

exchange4media 2007

Happy days are back again for Bhairavi Raichuda who began her career with Hum Paanch a decade ago. The actor has been roped in for Sony's Durgesh Nandini to play a negative character. And there's more in her kitty as the versatile actor is also playing a

romantic main lead in Zee Gujrathi's Saptapadi along with Sab's Yes Boss.

So, what does her first time ever negative character look like in Durgesh Nandini?
"I play Priya who is the daughter of the house and is pampered to the hilt. She's a rich, dominating housewife who stays in her parent's house while her henpecked husband also stays with them. I am the most wcked daughter who keeps plotting and scheming forever," says Bhairavi who will have a designer salwar kameez look in the show.

So what made her take up so many shows randomly?
"I am excited about my role in Durgesh Nandini as I get to play an out and out negative character for the first time. In Saptapadi, I play the main protagonist who's all out to fight for her love with her family. I get to share screen space with veterans like Sudha Chandra and Anang Desai and I must add it's a good experience," smiles the actor who will now be shooting all thirty days of the month.
Interestingly, the actor has replaced Resham Seth, who shot for one day and decided to walk out so the production house eventually pencilled in on Bhairavi, who has started shooting only two days back.
Just back from a well deserved break (post Paraya Dhan) from Bangkok, now Bhairavi is back to some

After keeping everyone guessing about the male lead in Durgesh Nandini, it seems now Shobhana Desai has finally has finally roped in Amit Sadh. The actor who's currently basking in the glory of his new found fame, courtesy Bigg Boss.

Confirming the news, Amit Sadh says, "I am playing the lead in Durgesh Nandini and in fact I have just completed my first schedule. My character name in the show is Kshitij and I play a lawyer who has returned to India after completing his degree abroad. That's all I know about the track at the moment. I think I am very lucky to have bagged this kind of a role."

So, what took him so long to sign on the dotted line? "It took me sometime to commit to Durgesh, as I was busy with other projects. And then the Bigg Boss happened and I was totally cut off from the real world. But, now I have no qualms about taking up new projects, and I hope this is good for me."

Now that Amit has joined the new show, what remains to be seen is how Durgesh cashes on his popularity to keep the TRPs soaring.

Lets see!