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 MUMBAI:
Zee TV is set to go the whole hog with a fresh season of it's
musical talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, but this time
the attempt is to take it global with the addition of talent
from across US, UK, UAE, South Africa and Pakistan. Raising
the bar for themselves, the show supports the tagline "Sangeet
ka pratham vishwayudh" and has roped in five music mughals
including Ismail Darbar, Bappi Lahiri, Himesh Reshamiya, Vishal
and Shekhar. The show is slated to kick off on 4 May on Friday
and Saturday at 10 pm.
Following producer Gajenda Singh's exit from the Zee troupe,
not only has he set up base in rival network but has also taken
the core essence of the show, the host Shaan and the panel of
judges Alka Yagnik, Jatin, Lalit, Aadesh Srivastava and Abhijeet
to form Star's version of the same format. Prior to this, Singh
also kicked off Antakshari which was earlier a prime
property on Zee, taking its oringianl host Annu Kapoor with
him to Star.
To this Zee TV busines head Punit Goenka said, "Gajenda
Singh was part of th team that developed both the formats,
but we are the creators and the platform and will continue
to remain as that." Shaan did have his own fan following
and his absence seems to reflect an undetone of regret among
Zee offcials.
However, the attempt here is to bring the show back with
as much gusto and therefore the Zee team has decided to support
the show with an all round marketing effort. The channel has
tied up with Big FM and Rediff.com for the duration
of the show. The launch was infact aired live on the station,
and as radio partners Big FM will host contests and interviews
with the big wigs on the show.
Rediff on the other hand will stream videos of the episodes
and run contests, interestingly they will also support the
channel in a merchandising effort for the property. Additionlly,
Zee Music will air a behind the scenes episodes on the days
of the show at 11 pm as it was observed that audiences enjoy
being filled in on these details, says Zee TV marketing head
Tarun Mehra.
The host for this season is Udit Narayan's son Aditya
Narayan and the will be produced by Gyan Shahai, who supposodely worked closely
with Singh during his tenure at Zee.
Goenka believes that a distinction in the format had to be
made and therefore the introduction of International participants.
The show is surely looking to attract more eyeballs globally.
It will divide the contestants into groups of six, each mentored
by one guru and special guests on the show that will shortlist
the finalists, the first among the guests judges will be Asha
Bhosle.
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