MUMBAI: When the sighting of the shawwal moon marks the end of the month of fasting and millions throng the mosques and masjids to offer prayers, Amrita TV celebrates Id with a series of special shows.
Al Manar, a Ramadan special show that had been regaling viewers for half-an-hour everyday of the Holy Month with a sweeping coverage of the rich cultural heritage of Malabar, culminates its month long celebrations with a special telecast at 9 am on Friday August 9th ,that gives glimpses of conventional Muslim folk art such as Oppana, Duff Muttu, Qwaalis, Ghazals etc that re-affirms the significance of the most important month in the Islamic calender.
Nombu Thura at 9.30 am presents a lip-smacking buffet of the traditional delicacies of the magnificent Iftar banquet with which the faithful break their day long fast. Prepared and served piping hot in a prominent Muslim home in Thallesery, it captures the flavor and taste of the exotic dishes of the famed Mappila cuisine of the Malabar coast-of unnakaye, erachi pathiri, kozhi pidi, chicken samosa, kallumekaye nirachathu and so on.
The high spot of the festive day is a free wheeling conversation 'Chamyangalillathe Chacochan'at 10 am in which the reflective and articulate young icon is caught in a confidential mode, opening his heart out on the high hopes he nurses for his latest outing in Lal Jose's Pullipulikalum Aattinkuttiyum, a rollicking out and out mass entertainer where he dons the role of a modern day Kuttanadan native whose 'get up' is such that he has 'stepped out of Alappuzha but has not quite reached Fort Kochi' ; the perils encountered in the death defying shoot schedule of the film in the heart of flood ravaged Kuttanad; his decade long friendship with Lal Jose who gave him an image make over from dashing pin-up boy to rustic country bumpkin in his 2nd coming in Elsamma enna Aankutty; the indefinable, mysterious chemistry he shares with Biju Menon that has given Mollywood some of its greatest box office hits etc.
Leading to the lavish Id lunch at noon, is Sneha sangamam at 11.30 am, a sumptuous spread of dance and song jointly hosted by Amrita TV and the Bangalore Kerala Samajam that scoops out the most delectable classic dance medleys choreographed on Mollywood's favourite songs, by Vineeth, Lekshmi Gopalaswmy and group; a treat of recent Malayalam hits by playback stars Afzal, Biju Narayanan, Sweta Mohan, Sreeram and Meghna;skits that have one in stitches from Country Cousins; caricatures from Jayaraj Warrier that hits bull's eye, all of which will have the audience hungering for more.
