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Shruti

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Posted: 16 years ago

This thread will contain all the articles/interviews related to Mission Ustaad.

IF is in direct competition with Telly Chakkar & Indian Television so don't post articles from the above sites.

Kindly provide link to the article. Don't post any comments out here it would be deleted.

Regards,

IF Dev Team Edited by *Shruti* - 16 years ago

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Shruti

@shruti

IF-Veteran Member

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Posted: 16 years ago

Mission Ustad the new reality show

The new show on music will be judged by Lara Dutta, AR Rahman and Javed Akhtar. The show that is expected to start soon will have couples performing in front of the music experts.

The show was visited by musicians like Sonali Rathore, Vasundhar Das and four couples are participating in the show. The participants say that this will be an educational experience for them.

http://bollywood-buzz.com/news/2330/mission-ustad-the-new-re ality-show.html

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Shruti

@shruti

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Posted: 16 years ago

Musical message

Rachit Gupta

9X and the United Nations are ready to deliver the universal message of progress and development through their joint-venture Mission Ustad

X the new general entertainment channel from INX Media can take pride in its new musical competition show, Mission Ustad. Indrani Mukerjea, CEO, INX Media has joined forces with the United Nations (UN) and come up with a noble concept for their new musical show. Mission Ustad(MU), pairs eight professional singers from the Indian film industry as they compete against each other for the title of Ustad jodi. But, as clichd as it may sound, the good thing about 9X's new show is it's for a noble cause. The prize money and generated revenue at the end of the show will be forwarded to the UN Millennium Development Fund and subsequently used for the development of India's needy population.

In 2000, United Nations members pledged to eradicate poverty and usher development all around the world under the UN Millennium Development Goals programme. Their objective was to achieve their goals by 2015 and the resident coordinator UN in India, Maxine Olson revealed MU was a big step in achieving their target. "Mission Ustad is the perfect way to speak to millions of people and deliver our message of development and prosperity," said Olson. Indrani Mukerjea, said the show would use entertainment as a vehicle of spreading awareness about this UN programme.

Developed by Endemol, a company which has worked on shows like Big Boss, Deal Ya No Deal and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge Dwitiya, MU has all the key elements of a singing competition. It's got established singing pairs like Roop Kumar and Sunali Rathod, Kailash Kher and Mahalaxmi Iyer, Vasundhara Das and Mohit Chauhan and Naresh Iyer with Shweta Pandit. These jodis, who have already established themselves as successful singers, will compose original music for selected themes related to the UN Millennium fund and the best scores will make it to the Mission Ustad album. The couple that contributes the maximum number of songs will be the eventual winner. The show like any other reality based programme has a panel of judges. AR Rahman, Javed Akhtar and Lara Dutta form that panel. Rahman particular to judge the music of the compositions, Akhtar for the lyrics and Lara represents the UN as she is the official UNFPA ambassador.

It's all too familiar for a viewer to see reality shows going overboard with emotional angles and contestant conflicts, but as AR Rahman said "MU is devoid of any histrionics. The contestants will have verbal debates about their opinions and issues, but end of the day it will all be dignified and in the country's interest". As a part of the show's format the contestants will be given a chance to justify their choice of song with respect to the theme involved. Javed Akhtar added to the same saying, "The camaraderie on the show sets apart any cynicism and bitterness of the competition. MU will be a great source of inspirational programming".

Incidentally, the show that will be hosted by Simone Singh has a rocking theme song Jaago India. The song in a sense embodies the idea behind Mission Ustad, which is to let the Indian masses know about an International programme that will help the nation's development. And all that nobility will be delivered on 9X from December 1 in the form of an entertaining and refreshing new show.

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=18117

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Shruti

@shruti

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Posted: 16 years ago

By Asra Khan

The newly launched entertainment channel 9X, along with Endemol India, has joined hands with the United Nations to accomplish what the government of India had promised seven years ago. India, along with many member countries of the UN, took a pledge to achieve the "Millennium Development Goals" by 2015.

Halfway through it, a unique reality show called Mission Ustaad will help create awareness about these goals and help accomplish them. Beginning today, the show has eight established singers who, in pairs of two, will compose and sing songs to create awareness about the various social problems. The three celebrity judges, Javed Akhtar, A.R. Rahman and Lara Dutta, will decide, along with the public voting, which pair sang the most inspiring composition.

There will be no eliminations and the prize money will be given for charity. Lara, who is also the UN's youngest goodwill ambassador in South-East Asia, says on the launch of the show, "Mission Ustaad has taken a huge responsibility as only two per cent of Indian population knows that we signed anything like Development Goals in the year 2000." Maxine Olson, resident co-ordinator, UN says, "We believe Mission Ustaad will inspire millions to act and fulfill every Indian's right to decent work, education and good health."

Rahman commented, "This is a show with a cause. we all believe the show will inspire the nation." The Ustaad Jodi will be invited to the UN Annual Day in Delhi.

http://www.deccan.com/TV%20Guide/TV%20GuideDescription.asp#T V%20show%20takes%20up%20a%20cause

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Shruti

@shruti

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Posted: 16 years ago

A R Rehman to debut on musical show

Taran Adarsh/ IndiaFM News Bureau
Posted online: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 0000 hours IST

A R Rahman, UN and Endemol have partnered with an upcoming channel, 9X, for a unique musical show Mission Ustaad. For the first time, legendary music director and singer A R Rahman, the United Nations and Endemol have partnered with the soon-to-be-launched Hindi general entertainment channel, 9X, for a unique and entertaining show. Titled Mission Ustaad, the show will feature Rahman and some of the best singers and entertainers, who will provide engrossing musical entertainment for a cause.

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=17576

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Shruti

@shruti

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Posted: 16 years ago

AR Confidential
By: Shaheen Parkar
December 3, 2007

Rahman, the composer puts Rahman, the singer on the backburner but refuses to talk about the assignments he's undertaking

popular choice: A R Rahman.
pic/ Atul Kamble

Even though A R Rahman is still in the midst of his score for Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar and "there is still lots to be done" (as he puts it), he finds himself in a piquant situation. He has been getting singing offers aplenty from other composers!

Director's choice

"It's strange but true. Kailash Kher wants me to sing for him, so does Himesh Reshammiya and Adnan Sami.

It's extremely kind of them to think of me but I can't just sing like that.

When I render a track, I cut myself off from other things. Even for a concert, a couple of days before it I don't pursue my other music stuff, but just concentrate on the singing."

As a result, the musician has kept the offers on hold. "I am working on a new album only after I complete it, can I consider any singing offers." About the album, he says, "It is confidential so I can't talk about it."

The reticent composer, who is not too comfy speaking to the media, refers to Mumbai as North and Chennai as South. His conversation, whatever little, is peppered with what he is doing in the 'North' and in the 'South'.

On Mission Ustaad

Over the weekend, he was in Mumbai for the shoot for 9X's weekend show Mission Ustaad. Rahman features as judge along with Lara Dutta and Javed Akhtar. The reality drama has jodis Roopkumar and Sunali Rathod, Kailash Kher and Mahalaxmi Iyer, Vasundhara Das and Mohit Chauhan, Naresh Iyer and Shweta Pandit battle for the Mission Ustaad title.

Hosted by Simone Singh, it will have the jodis belt out both popular and especially composed tracks. The aim of this show is also to spread awareness about the millennium development goals of the United Nations across the country.

"I have been part of music shows earlier like Channel [V]'s Super Singer and in shows in Hyderabad and Chennai. It has been a nice experience shooting for the show; we have wrapped it up," he adds.

Apart from Jodhaa Akbar, Rahman is also working on two other Hindi films but his endeavours remain confidential a word with which he describes most of his assignments.

http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2007/december/167658.htm

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Shruti

@shruti

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Posted: 16 years ago

9X brings Mission Ustad
Saturday, December 01, 2007 11:42 [IST]
Mumbai: In an attempt to create awareness about the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 9X channel premiers Mission Ustad , a music and entertainment-filled show tonight at 2100 hrs. Commenting on the show INX Media Promoter Group Executive Director Indrani Mukerjea said, It gives us great pleasure to partner with A R Rehman, the United Nations and Endemol India to present this unique show on Indian television. Besides entertaining millions of viewers on 9X, Mission Ustaad will communicate the essence of the Millennium Development Goals across the length and breadth of the country. The show will feature three eminent judges and eight top-notch singers. The three judges of the show are musician A R Rahman, writer and poet Javed Akhtar and Ex- Miss Universe and Bollywood star Lara Dutta. Source : UNI http://movies.indiainfo.com/2007/12/01/0712011209_9x_brings_ mission_ustad.html

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Shruti

@shruti

IF-Veteran Member

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Posted: 16 years ago

9X launches celebrity music show 'Mission Ustaad'

9X, the

general entertainment channel from INX Media, will launch its music based show on December 1. The bi-weekly show is called 'Mission Ustaad'. The channel will broadcast episodes every Friday and Saturday at 9 pm for 11 weeks. The show will feature eight professional singers, paired together. Each pair will compete against the other to emerge the winner. The unique feature of this show is that it will showcase originally composed music along with popular numbers.

The target audience for the show will be people from SEC A, B and C classes in the age group 15-35 years. Recently, SaharaOne launched a celebrity based music show called 'Jhoom India'. However, 'Jhoom India' is a reality show and features pairs of a celebrity and a professional singer. NDTV Imagine, which will be launching in January 2008, also has a music show called 'Dhoom Macha De' with 11 celebrity singers. This show doesn't have pairs and the singers will compete with each other individually.

So far, non-celebrity music format shows, such as 'Saregamapa' on Zee and 'Indian Idol' and 'Star Voice of India' on STAR TV, have been immensely popular. agencyfaqs! sought the opinion of well-known media planners to gauge whether the celebrity based music shows will become as popular as the non-celebrity music shows.

Kajal Malik

Kajal Malik, vice-president of Interactions, Lintas Media Services' agency, says that people enjoy listening to good music whether comes from an already known singer or an unknown one. All the singers on shows such as 'Saregamapa' and 'Indian Idol' were unknown, but their singing was professional. The reason for the success of these shows is the strong relativity factor of the audience with the singers. The singers form the face of the crowd. When people see them performing on TV, it forms an aspirational connect and they want to back the singers by participating through activities such as SMS voting. That is why such formats work so well for the channel as far as TRPs and the audience participation factor is concerned.

However, the celebrity based show formats will be good in garnering high TRPs for the channel, and they may also attract similar audience participation. Malik says that celebrity based dance format shows such as 'Nach Baliye' on STAR TV and 'Jhalak Dikhla Ja' on Sony did well, but they were not as popular as 'Saregamapa' and 'Indian Idol' in terms of audience participation.

Malik says that 'Mission Ustaad' has big singers such as Kailash Kher and Naresh Iyer ('Rang de Basanti'), so it is likely to attract a lot of attention from the audience. But as far as audience participation is concerned, the market will have to wait for the results.

Malik is not very confident about the show format of 'Mission Ustaad'. She is sceptical about whether the originally composed lyrics and music concept will cut much ice with the audience. It is an original concept, but according to her, the more people listen to a track, the more it grows on them. She uses the example of 'Dard-e-Disco' (from the film, 'Om Shanti Om') and says that not many people would have found it appealing the first time. But because they have watched the film, they have got used to the song. Repeated listening raises the comfort level with any music track.

Malik is of the view that if 9X had promoted the original compilations in the market much before the launch of the show, they would have gained in popularity by the launch date. But because 9X has not done this, one will have to wait and see how successful this format will be.

Divya Radhakrishnan

Divya Radhakrishnan, vice-president, The Media Edge, and another senior media professional who wished to remain anonymous, are of the opinion that the new music compilations may not achieve the same popularity with the audience.

Radhakrishnan says that shows such as 'Saregamapa', 'Indian Idol' and 'Star Voice of India' have lots of drama because they are essentially talent hunt shows. But 'Mission Ustaad' will be a pure singing competition. The big singers on the show will help gain attention from the audience, but audience participation remains a big question.

Radhakrishnan adds that despite getting celebrities, the music shows on 9X and NDTV Imagine may not deliver TRPs as high as 'Saregamapa' and 'Indian Idol' because both channels are new.

Music director and singer AR Rahman, lyricist Javed Akhtar and actor Lara Dutta will be the judges for 'Mission Ustaad'. The singers include husband and wife Roop Kumar Rathod and Sonali Rathod; Kailash Kher and Mahalaxmi Iyer, actor and singer Vasundhara Das and Mohit Chauhan of Silk Route fame and 'Roo-ba-roo' singer Naresh Iyer and Shweta Pandit. Actor Simone Singh will host the show.

Endemol India is producing 'Mission Ustaad' for 9X. The channel has also partnered with the United Nations to create awareness about the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) across India for the End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign.

Each week, the four pairs will sing specially composed and popular songs based on a theme linked to the UN MDGs. The audience will be asked to vote for the best pair. The judges will proclaim the most popular pair as the 'Jodi of the Week' based on the number of points they score and the number of votes cast in their favour. The pair that makes the biggest impact week after week will be declared the 'Ustaad Jodi'.

The prize money and all profits received from SMSes on 'Mission Ustaad' will be contributed to charity for the development of the UN MDGs in India. The best original compositions by the various pairs will be compiled in an album aimed at further spreading the message of the UN MDGs.

http://www.agencyfaqs.com/perl/media/index.html?sid=19763
Edited by *Shruti* - 16 years ago

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Shruti

@shruti

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Posted: 16 years ago

INX Network to launch channel in India this month

Nov 01, 2007 08:08 AM

The INX Network will launch its flagship Hindi general entertainment channel, 9X, on Monday 12th November. 9X will use a combination of powerful storytelling and international production values to connect with the evolving sensibilities of the families of India today.

Indrani Mukerjea, Founder and Group Executive Director, INX Media said, "It gives me great pleasure to announce that 9X, our Hindi GEC, will unveil its engrossing lineup of Prime Time programming at 9pm on Monday 12th November. We aim to provide complete family entertainment through a distinctive variety of programs of compelling, world class quality that will connect with viewers instantly."

"Our shows are made by the country's leading production houses, and we have given them more resources than ever before to create broadcasting excellence," Indrani added.

9X's production partners include Balaji Telefilms, Synergy Adlabs, Endemol India, Ugraya Entertainment, Cinevista, B.A.G. Films, Hats Off Productions, Televisa, Creative Eye, Miditech, Wizcraft, Edit II Productions and Beyond Dreams.

Ekta Kapoor is producing two dramas, 'Kahe Naa Kahe', and 'Kya Dill Mein Hai', in which she will introduce two new extremely talented young female leads. 'Kahe Naa Kahe' will air Mondays to Thursdays at 9pm, and will feature the exciting newcomer Krystle D'Souza. Smriti Irani's mega family entertainer, 'Mere Apne', which will mark the television debut of Bollywood superstar Vinod Khanna, also features Smriti along with a talented Star cast. The show is scheduled to air at 10pm, Mondays to Thursdays.

Similarly, superstar Tanuja will make her Television debut in 'Babban Bhai v/s Bimla Tai', which is one of four exciting shows on 9 X that, will provide a daily dose of comedy, Mondays to Thursdays. Details of these will be shared in the near future.

"The fiction shows on 9X," said Indrani, "will define the channel's promise of Bigger, Better, Fresher, with engrossing storylines, the best loved actors, lavish sets and production values and locations in India and internationally."

Soon after it unveils its prime time programming, 9X will present another first to its viewers. The undisputed king of non-fiction programming, Siddhartha Basu, has chosen to make his long-awaited debut in fiction programming with 9X. He is producing a romantic daily drama, 'Jiya Jale', which features an exciting newcomer in the lead.

Similarly, on the non-fiction front, 9X will introduce not only scale, dramatic power and glamour, but will connect with its viewers in a multiplicity of ways.

The non-fiction lineup on 9X includes mega-mass-entertainment reality shows, including 'Mission Ustaad', which marks music maestro A R Rahman's Television debut and will feature some of the biggest names in musical entertainment in a show that is designed as an entertaining and musical mission to touch the nation's heart. Non-fiction programming on 9X will also feature unique game shows and engrossing talk shows with spicy and intelligent conversations between the most interesting hosts and guests. Plus distinctive and new-generation events created specially for 9X.

Said Indrani Mukerjea, "Today's discerning TV viewers want content that is distinctive and appealing. 9X will uniquely combine glamour with depth and values, which is what today's India is all about."

http://media247.co.uk/bizasia/newsarchive/2007/11/inx_networ k_to.php

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Shruti

@shruti

IF-Veteran Member

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Posted: 16 years ago

Jjhoom India's wild card entry

he wild card entry in reality shows is turning out to be more entertaining than the main competition! After Jhalak Dikhhla Ja's wild card entry, it's now the turn of Sahara One's Jjhoom India to play its special card. However, unlike Jhalak... that introduced the wild card entry this year, Jjhoom India's format has such an entry inherent in the show. This week all the ten jodis of the singing contest will be back on the show to perform. Four jodis have already made it to the final. Of the remaining ones, one jodi will be recalled by sms votes, while the other pair will be selected by the judges. Apara Mehta and Parthiv Goel who had scored the highest in the first episode are hot favourites with the judges, so it won't be surprising if they are back. The viewers' choice though remains a mystery?

Talking about Jjhoom India, a little bird told us that four singers, Kailash Kher, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Sonali and Roop Kumar Rathod who are a part of 9X's Mission Ustad had been approached for the show. In fact, Kailash had even shot an episode with them but later backed out. Maybe, the idea of pairing with an actor did not go down well with these professionals.

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=18214

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