Indian Television News, TV Stars, TV Actress, TV Actor | TVJini

India’s first daily family comedy channel is charging ahead with its fresh and new entertainment content. As a channel always known for its innovative and robust programming, SAB will soon present a comedy show truly like no other. Smriti Irani, best known as India’s favourite ‘bahu’ will soon be seen on SAB for the first time ever in a daily comedy series. The show is scheduled to air early next year on the channel.

The daily prime time comedy series will be produced by Smriti Irani who will also be playing the lead role.  The show revolves around the daily life of a middle class woman who lives in one of the many chawls in Mumbai with her husband and children. Being in the business of diamonds and with his rising riches, her husband manages to bring him and his family out of the chawl to an up-market area of Mumbai. Smriti Irani (who plays the role of his wife) although very happy with the recent turn of events, is now faced with an impeding dilemma. Balancing her middle class values and inhibitions she has to also portray herself with her neighbours as an equally snobbish and fashionable woman which is typical of the rich society women who live in the area.  The series showcases her transformation from a ‘behenji’ to an ultra modern woman which no doubt is filled with a lot of funny incidents.

Smriti Irani is clearly all set and extremely thrilled to do a comedy serial and says, “I am very excited to do a show which I am sure will appeal to the audience. It is not the general slapstick kind of comedy that one gets to see in today. As for acting in the show, it’s like coming back to my roots because I initially started my career anchoring a comedy show.”

According to Anooj Kapoor – Business Head, SAB, “We were in touch with Smriti for some other project when she came up with this idea for the show and it instantly clicked with our programming. Keeping in mind the genre of the channel this show will be one more in a long line up of comedy shows that we have in our radar. With overwhelming responses that we have received for all our comedy shows, we are keen on continuing with the channels’ strategy to entertain our audience.”

SAB continues to present its viewers with simple and humorous shows that the family can relate to and thereby bring them together. An existing strength of prime time programming includes shows like ‘Taarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah’, ‘Jugni Chali Jalandhar’, ‘Main kab Saas Banoongi’ and ‘Lo Ho Gayi Pooja Iss Ghar Ki’. With a few cards up its sleeve, the audience will find it very difficult to keep to their seats as continuous laughter and comic chaos rule across the shows on SAB.

This seems to be pretty much the case with the TV actors for whom things are not looking bright as of now. Looks like actor Manish Paul is no exception, he is making the most of the blackout that has hit the TV industry off late. The ongoing indefinite strike, which has hit the industry big time, is a big dampener for everyone in this profession. But this young actor is certainly looking at the brighter side and made hay while the sun didn’t shine!!

“All this while I was so engrossed in my work that most of the personal things took a backseat. Most of my chores were just getting delayed, so now I have time on hand, all the pending things like doing up the house, catching up with friends whom I have not met in ages, working out and other miscellaneous work will see the light of the day,” shares Manish.

STAR, Asia’s leading media and entertainment company, and Jupiter Entertainment Ventures (Jupiter Entertainment), Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s media and entertainment development company, today announced the formation of STAR Jupiter Entertainment Television Limited (STAR Jupiter), a joint venture aimed at enhancing the television viewing experience of South Indian audiences.

Under the agreement and subject to regulatory approvals, STAR Jupiter will become the majority shareholder of Asianet Communications Limited (ACL) which currently broadcasts channels in Kannada (Suvarna), Telugu (Sitara) and Malayalam (Asianet, Asianet Plus). Vijay, the Tamil language general entertainment channel currently operated and owned by STAR, will now come under STAR Jupiter.

The Joint Venture is expected to make additional investments towards developing and launching new channels in South India in the coming months.

The current management team of ACL, including Vice-Chairman and Managing Director K Madhavan will continue in their roles under the Joint Venture. K Madhavan has built a talented creative team at ACL and established Asianet’s presence beyond India in the Middle-East, UK, US and South-East Asia. Under his stewardship over the past decade, ACL has delivered top-rated programs to audiences across the world.

Paul Aiello, CEO of STAR, said, “This is a game changing partnership for STAR. It allows us to connect deeply with the rapidly growing South Indian audience by providing compelling television that truly resonates with the viewers there. And by adding the South Indian channels to our extensive portfolio of Hindi and regional language channels, STAR takes a big step towards becoming a truly national broadcaster in India.”

Aiello continued, “Mr Chandrasekhar is a true pioneer and an accomplished entrepreneur in the media industry. His track record in the telecom and cellular industry and his performance in spotting and investing in new opportunities and building brands, consumer franchises and management teams from scratch in India is truly impressive. We are excited to have him as our partner in growing our presence in the South Indian television space. “

Rajeev Chandrasekhar said “I am very excited at this Joint Venture and partnership, which will potentially transform the entertainment television business in India. STAR has impressed me with its commitment to this market, to its consumers and to its partnership with Jupiter. I am sure that this Joint Venture will set new standards and become the pre-eminent provider of entertainment for customers and viewers in the four states of South India.”

Uday Shankar, CEO of STAR India said, “South India represents the next big growth story for Indian television. With this strategic partnership, we should be able to capture this growth opportunity and create a much bigger platform for creative talent that would offer the South Indian a lot more exciting content. The partnership also offers an exciting opportunity to those advertisers who are looking at nationwide reach vehicles and reinforce this with strong regional channels.”

STAR and Jupiter are also exploring a wide range of new areas of cooperation including film co-production by Fox STAR Studios India and Indigo Movies, Jupiter Entertainment’s movie production arm.

It is rumoured Jodi no 6 of Nach Baliye 4, Mohit Malik and Addite Shirwakar, who are apparently going quite strong, will soon be out of the dance reality show. Mohit Malik’s beau Addite Shirwakar is weathering a major hiccup, as she injured her knee badly and is seemingly a little passive due to the restricted movement.

Addite says, “I have hurt my left knee badly and this is making me very restless. After our kathakali performance my left knee was in severe pain. I’m religiously going to the physiotherapist and hoping that I become fine real soon. As far as the rumors are concerned, both I and Mohit have no intention of quitting Nach. With Mohit taking good care of me and we enjoying every bit, I guess that pretty much explains that we are in no mood to back out!!!

Ranjit, Bollywood’s veteran villain and lead actor on SAB’s show ‘Jugni Chali Jalandhar’ passes on tips to his co-actors on improvising their acting skills. He says, “Yes we all do sit together during breaks and some time post lunch, these new kids get very nervous during their shot, so I try to ease them with some simple tips and also give them a cold glass of lassi to relax their mind.”

Actress Muskan (Jugni) who plays the lead character says “Ranjitji’s tips have definitely helped me perform better and I consciously try not to have any retakes”

Catch the shows of Jugni Chali Jalandhar every Monday – Thursday at 9:30 pm only on SAB