'mamta' might go off air

Ranjib Mazumder

The almost non-existent Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (AB Corp) is now making a foray into television production. The production company, which had recently co-produced a play Lali-Lila, is set to make fresh investments in family soaps and reality television shows for leading channels. With the KBC controversy refusing to die down, Big B has now decided to keep Star India Pvt Ltd out of his list. After much haggling around the production house, he is presently in talks with Zee TV. Sources from the channel indicate that they're keen on having an association with AB Corp.

A reliable source informs, "With Shah Rukh taking over KBC and Amitabh's consequential fallout with Star, the ongoing SRK-Bachchan war has heated up further. AB Corp is looking at different multimedia options to invest in. After having produced a Hindi play, Lali-Lila, recently they are looking at TV serials. However, their first choice was Star. They even considered Sony. But they did not go ahead with Sony as it is not doing well as far as TRPs are concerned. On the other hand, Zee has revived itself tremendously in the past two years with its flagship shows like Kasamh Se and Saat Phere. So, it's an obvious move. Zee also has shown immense interest in AB Corp."

With Abhishek Bachchan appearing as a celebrity judge in an episode of Zee Cinestars Ki Khoj and Amitabh Bachchan participating in Titan Antakshari, sources from the channel are positive about an alliance. A source from the channel reveals, "Our association with AB Corp has become stronger after a series of meetings held over a period of time. Needless to say, Amitabh Bachchan participated in a special episode of Titan Antakshari for the visually-impaired participants on February 27 and spent considerable time on the sets. We are considering a lot of projects, both fiction and non-fiction."

As for the budget, the production house is ready to invest a whopping Rs 20-25 lakh per episode, which involves getting A-grade telly stars and ensuring excellent production values. In the days to come the channel will draw the curtains on a few shows paving way for a new bunch produced by AB Corp.

However, Ashish Kaul, senior vice president of Zee refuses to divulge details. He says, "We are getting a lot of proposals from several production houses. And yes, AB Corp is one of them. Things are in its initial stages and a concrete plan is yet to be materialised."

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