Will these contestants dance into your screen when the show starts later this month?
With viewers rallying behind mythological stories like Ramayana and Mahabharata, broadcasters like Star Plus, NDTV Imagine and Zee TV, among others, are hoping to generate at least Rs 150-200 crore (Rs 1.5 billion to 2 billion) from advertisers in the next one year, accounting for about 10-12 per cent of the total advertising revenue generated between the top six general entertainment channels. Till recently, soaps, dramas and thrillers were attracting advertisers and viewers
Seven years ago, Ravishankar Venkateswaran heard a story during a bus ride.
'There are several stories in the Mahabharata where kings drunk on their power are banished to hell.' 'The story of Krishna and Kamsa is a case in point and the Ramayana, at its very core, is a story about Rama's victory over an arrogant Ravana,' says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
Bhide gave various references from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and attacked the current political and social system.
Badla wears the air of a cold, civil, old-fashioned whodunit, which treats its premise like an insidious game and characters with undisguised suspicion, feels Sukanya Verma.
'What was the message that was going to them?' 'The message was, we are a great country and we have beaten Covid!' 'No one talked about the precautions to be taken.'
Since the Mahabharata the Yadavs have been known for infighting. And the 2017 UP election proved yet another example of that, says Nazarwala.
'Behind and beneath a book lying unbought and unread in a bookshop there is an entire universe of ambition, aspiration and frustration.'
'Manthara wants Kaikeyi to make her son Bharat king of Ayodhya, instead of Rama.' 'She fuels hate and mistrust in her queen, much like what many modern-day viziers are doing, whipping up venom and frenzy among an entire nation,' notes Arundhuti Dasgupta.
"In his conversation with bookie Mukesh Kochar, we found Samuels talking about general things like order of the batsmen and arrangement of fielders," Pasricha said.
'To meet someone in Silicon Valley without Googling them in advance is the professional equivalent of declaring that you don't use a computer. It is suicidal as I have learnt.'
Tushar Kulkarni, 40 from Dombivali, Mumbai tells us what he learned from his father.
From March 12 a five-day virtual writing celebration called the Twitter Fiction Festival will be held entirely on the social networking site in which anyone can join and tell stories.
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In a special series, we will put YOU to the test everyday!
The lockdown should have been used to drum into Indians' head the reasons for social distancing and the necessity for it, and the costs of not applying it in our daily lives and it should have been used to set up the systems that would manage large numbers of infected, observes Mihir S Sharma.
As he faced flak, the senior Congress leader later said the incident was accidental, devoid of any mal-intent and that the woman was like his sister.
Tejashwi has refrained from reacting in public but is understood to have been upset over the frequent outbursts of his elder brother.
Mythological and historical shows are lapped up not just by the young, but equally by grown men and women.
Exclusive! Navjot Singh Sidhu on why he joined the BJP.
Guddu Ki Gun is a sex comedy with funny one-liners and great performances from Kunal Khemmu and Sumit Vyas, writes Prasanna Zore.
'How the lockdown is phased out or lifted will tell us if the government has succeeded in its battle against COVID-19.' 'If it cannot sequence its decisions on exiting the lockdown, the few gains secured so far may be frittered away,' says A K Bhattacharya.
This must be the first time in India's history that it has found itself bracketed with countries in a category which political scientists will not rate very highly if only because the group recalls Nazi Germany as one of its most infamous past members, notes Amulya Ganguli.
President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the nation on the eve of India's 75th Independence Day. Here's the text of what he said:
The move, said UP minister Siddharth Nath Singh, will help highlight Indian culture at international level.
Journeys from the mountains to the temples.
Rejecting neighbouring West Bengal's claim over the Rasgulla, the Odisha govenrment has said that the sweet dish was available in state's mutts and temples for centuries.
'Every song was a masterpiece.' Bollywood pays tribute to Ravindra Jain.
In a dig at Adityanath's earlier warning that rioters damaging public property will have to pay, the Congress general secretary said saffron denotes Hinduism, a religion that does not advocate violence or 'revenge'.
Gurgaon, the corporate hub of Haryana on the outskirts of Delhi, will now be known as 'Gurugram'.
Our Hindutva fanatics are actually making Hindu society more like Islamists are changing Muslim societies, says Shivam Vij.
'What Super 30 really wants to say is Hrithik Roshan can be an action hero without showing off his sculpted torso,' says Sukanya Verma.
As India logged a world record of over four lakh coronavirus infections on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the entire world is shaken by what is happening here and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "dropping the ball and throwing it to states" after prematurely taking credit for having "won against COVID-19" when the second wave was already underway. "Rely on yourself is the motto. No one will come to help you. Definitely, not the prime minister," Gandhi said, while alleging that the COVID-19 situation has gone completely out of control for the Modi government, and wondered whether it was their way of making the states and the citizens truly 'Aatmanirbhar'.
