MUMBAI: Watch out! That is the clear message that Sony Entertainment Television India's executive vice-president Tarun Katial wants to send out.
Innovations are the order of the day at SET. Right from beefing up the weekend content with special shows and ground events for the big one Indian Idol, to getting in new twists and adding new characters to its existing shows, Sony is all geared for action.
Speaking exclusively to indiantelevision.com, Katial said that the channel is not yet done with the weekend franchise. But instead of launching new shows, weekend is going to be all about specials . We have received a great response to our Independence Day CID special. We are now going to launch a 90 minute start to finish CID special in the weekend slot
That apart, the channel will also be airing the on ground events that they have canned during the special promotion of Indian Idol. "In addition to the on ground contest and press conference at various cities like Indore, Pune, Kolkatta, Bangalore, we had also flown in the three Indian Idol judges and the cast of various Sony shows. The cast of Jassi, Kkusum presented a special programme called 'Aap Jaisa Koi Nahi' in these cities. We will be airing the four 'Aap Jaisa Koi Nahi' episodes on the weekends," says Katial.
"In addition to performances from the stars, several interested participants even gave on the spot performances to impress the judges and obtain a 'jump the queue' pass, which we have included in the specials,"he added.
But specials apart, SET is also seriously looking at buttressing its long running shows like CID and Kkusum. "We are introducing actor Smita Bhansal's character in CID. She will essay the role of a psycho analyst, who will help in profiling criminals and putting the pieces together. It will be a sort of come back vehicle for Bhansal, who is returning after a brief hiatus post marriage and kid," Katial offers.
What about the long running soap Kkusum, which is in a new phase post the departure of original protagonist Nausheen Ali and the fast forward drama? "It has been our number one show," Katial defends. We are steadily picking up, especially after the twist in the tale where Mahi is murdered and the main suspect is Kkusum. But you will see that there will be an attempt on Kkusum's life and it will be discovered that some one in the family is behind all this.
As for the Friday thriller, Devi, which has been off late reduced to supernatural mumbo-jumbo, a wrap up of the good-versus-extreme evil track is on the cards. Television biggie Aman Varma's character Vasu (who was incidentally roped with much fan fare early this year) will be eased out and the story will now focus on the love triangle between Juhi Parmar's character Kalika and new entrant Manish Goel's character and Mohnish Behl's Vikram.
