Getting on to the brand-wagon:Kaajjal

Dunno if it's the because of the festive season, but new shows are launching with an alarming regularity across channels.

Paraya Dhan on Star One came close on the heels of Zee's Betiyann, and the channel followed it up with Saathi Re this week. Kaajjal debuted last week on Sony, and Sahara One's launching Solhah Singaar soon. With the exception of a Jeena Isika Naam Hai, which begins its second season tomorrow, the rest are all soaps, with lather enough to smother you. There was nothing remarkable about the first week of either Kaajjal or Saathi Re that stands out in memory, except that it had some smart product placements in the inaugural episodes of each.

You couldn't miss the brand of chocolate that formed part of a bet between a radio station head and his star RJ (uh, any striking similarities in the way the introduction to the lead is made and Munnabhai's Jahnavi is introduced are purely coincidental). Nor could you miss the brand of bright pink two wheeler that the Saathi Re protagonist wore on her way to an accident (TV stars probably don't need to wear helmets, one guesses). There has been the odd insertion of a potato chip brand here and a chocolate brand there in the past on TV shows, but never so in-your-face. Maybe the age of product placements on TV shows in India is beginning in right earnest.

http://www.indiantelevision.com/special/boxpopuli/y2k6/oct/b oxpopuli23.htm