News Broadcasting
Hindi movie channels to salute the spirit of freedom
MUMBAI: As television channels across the country brace the patriotic spirit by weaving special programming for the day, Zee Cinema and Star Gold will also air special shows on this occasion.
With a special line up of movies all through the day, Zee Cinema will kick off an all day festival ‘Maze Ki Azaadi’ with 16th December at 9 am, Ab Tumhare Havale Watan Saathiyon at 12:30 am, Tiranga at 4:30 pm and Indian at 8:30 pm.
‘Maze Ki Azaadi’ promises to keep its viewers glued to their television screens with not just a line up of films, but an equally entertaining song capturing the free human spirit. The song, ‘Aazad Hoon’ has been specially scripted, composed and executed in house and will air on the channel intermittently. It has been written by Viond Pandole, composed by Adil and sung by Deepak.
Also in line with the Independence Day spirit, Star Gold will bring three patriotic films back to back on 15 August, including Main Hoon Na (uncut version), Jo Bole So Nihal and Ab Tak Chappan as part of the ‘Watan Ke Rakshak Film Festival.’
The central theme of each movie attempts to capture issues pertaining to the law and order system, crime, injustice and terrorism, which of late has gripped the nation.
With its youthful fiery patriotism, Main Hoon Na (Uncut) will air at 1 pm, followed by the Sunny Deol starrer Jo Bole So Nihal at 5:25 pm while Nana Patekar’s Ab Tak Chappan, which tracks the story of a Mumbai police encounter specialist’s commitment to rid the system of its injustice will air at 9 pm.
To make the day even memorable, SaharaOne Television brings the world TV premiere of Bose, The Forgotten Hero. Directed by Shyam Benegal and produced by SaharaOne Motion Pictures, the movie stars Actor Sachin Khedekar in the lead role of Netaji. The lyrics have been penned by Javed Akhtar and the music score have been by A R Rehman.
The film is structured in three parts, named Itmad, Ittefaq and Qurbani after the motto of the Indian National Army. In the first, Bose escapes house arrest and tries to enter Russia through Afghanistan, the second shows his days in Germany (including a meeting with Hitler, and marriage to Emilie Schenkl), the formation of the Azad Hind Fauj made up of Indian prisoners of war in Germany and his journey to Japan in a submarine; the last shows his leadership of the Indian National Army, the battles and that fateful plane trip out of Saigon.
Bose…The Forgotten Hero will air on 15 August at 11 am.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
