Life after KBC --- KTLK a slow starter-Article

Sony officials are well aware of this and have charted out a strategy to maintain their lead. Two new fiction shows have been readied to occupy the one-and-a-half hour slot that will be left by KBC. The first one, Dekha Ek Khwaab, will air at 8.45 pm followed by Parvarish at 9.30 pm. Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, which is aired at 8 pm, will be turned into a 45-minute show. This, undoubtedly, is a huge gamble by the channel which had replaced KBC with Madhuri Dixit's Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa last year and consolidated its position. However, Sneha Rajani, Senior EVP and Business Head, SET is confident that their move will pay off. "During the launch of Bade Acche Lagte Hai early this year, I had said that Sony will focus on fiction and we are staying true to the strategy," says Rajani.

While Dekha Ek Khwaab is a fairy-tale in which a poor girl's life gets miraculously transformed when she comes to know that she's a princess, Parvarish deals with the trials and tribulations of parenting. The former, though set in Mumbai, seems to have a mass-appeal while the latter based in Delhi looks urbane. This probably is a ploy to appeal to the metros as well as the hinterland from where most of the KBC contestants hailed this year. Even the '5 crore winner, Sushil Kumar, belongs to a village in Bihar. Rajani, however, refutes it saying, "Dekha... has a universal appeal. The story, per se, is not new but the difference is in the narrative. The drama and the characters will set it apart. As for Parvarish, it has a new and unique story."

The channel is banking heavily on Dekha... which has Aroona Irani in a stellar role and Priyal Gor, who had made her debut in Ram Milayee Jodi, playing the lead as the bubbly and innocent Monia. "It's after a long time that you will see a cute, little girl who is extremely endearing. Then there's Aroona Irani who is an unparalled actress with a tremendous screen presence coming back to TV after a big gap. The combination of new and old will be the USP of the serial," contends Rajani. Parvarish, on the other hand, will see a couple of big names like Shweta Tiwari, Vivek Mushran and Rupali Ganguly in pivotal roles, which the channel is hoping will keep the viewers glued to the channel.

However, so far, except for Bade Acche Lagte Hai, which is garnering ratings of 3 plus since its launch post-IPL, none of the other fiction shows on Sony have managed to beat competition from other channels. Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, from which there were a lot of expectations, has failed to deliver. But Rajani is unperturbed. "Kuch Toh.. was expected to be a slow starter. In fact, soaps and serials on Sony will always be slow starters. Even Bade... started with a rating of 1.3," she reasons.

The five-crore question is will Sony, which is eyeing the Numero Uno position ' according to Virendra Shahane, Creative Head, Programming, they are the number one in prime-time shows ' be able to hold on to the No.2 slot post- KBC. Before Bade Acche... happened, the channel's highs and lows revolved around its reality shows like Indian Idol, Jhalak... and now KBC. The channel is well aware of that and seems to be prepared for a drop in the overall GRPs once KBC is over. As Rajani says, "No fiction show can open at 5. We are ready for that. We had planned to be No.3 by the end of this year but here we are at No.2 and even if there is a drop, we are pretty confident that we will be back at No.2 after a few weeks."

That as they say, only time and TRPs will tell.