GECs
‘Jeet’ to replace ‘Khullja….’ from 10 Oct.
MUMBAI: Jeet, a new one hour drama based on Fox’s Boston Public, will fill the 8.30 pm slot vacated by the Aman Verma hosted game show Khullja Sim Sim currently on Fridays on Star Plus from 10 October.
Khullja Sim Sim ends its over two year run in the first week of October, to be followed by a series of the Best of Khullja Sim Sim on weekends.
The Indianised version of the behind-the-scenes look at the personal and professional lives of teachers working at a midsize high school, Jeet has been entrusted to the relatively young production house Rose Movies. The Goldie Behl-Srishti Arya promoted production house ventured into TV software creation with the daringly different late night drama Lipstick on Zee last year. While Lipstick has run successfully for over a year, having gained an extension of 100 episodes recently, Rose Movies was recently entrusted with the creation of fresh episodes of children’s serial Shaka Laka Boom Boom by Star Plus, a series nurtured thus far by production major UTV. While Shaka Laka… was handed over to Rose on a piecemeal basis, Jeet is the first full fledged prime time creation by the production house for Star.
Jeet is the first experimental theme Star has toyed with since the demise of Josh… Aktion Unlimited, the action packed drama series that was supposed to have revolutionised weekly television shows, but ended up as a 13 episode damp squib.
Jeet will have Arun Govil, Ankur Nair (last seen in another ill fated Star experiment, Kashmeer), Mrinal Kulkarni, Pawan Malhotra and newcomer Aparna Tilak in the lead roles.
GECs
Sebi sends show-cause notice to Zee over fund diversion, company responds
Regulator questions 2018 letter of comfort and governance lapses; company vows robust legal response
MUMBAI: India’s markets watchdog has reignited its long-running scrutiny of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, issuing a sweeping show-cause notice that drags the broadcaster and 84 others into a widening governance storm.
The notice, dated February 12, has been served by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to Zee, chairman emeritus Subhash Chandra and managing director and chief executive Punit Goenka, among others. At its heart: allegations that company funds were indirectly routed to settle liabilities of entities linked to the Essel Group.
The regulator’s probe traces its roots to November 2019, when two independent directors resigned from Zee’s board, flagging concerns over the alleged appropriation of fixed deposits by Yes Bank. The deposits were reportedly adjusted against loans extended to Essel Group entities, triggering questions about related-party dealings and board oversight.
A key flashpoint is a letter of comfort dated September 4, 2018, issued by Subhash Chandra in his dual capacity as chairman of Zee and the Essel Group. The document, linked to credit facilities availed by certain group companies from Yes Bank, was allegedly known only to select members of management and not disclosed to the full board—an omission SEBI believes raises red flags over transparency and governance controls.
Zee has pushed back hard. In a statement, the company said it “strongly refutes” the allegations against it and its board members and will file a detailed response. It expressed confidence that SEBI would conduct a fair review and signalled readiness to pursue all legal remedies to protect shareholder interests.
The notice marks the latest twist in a saga that has shadowed the broadcaster since 2019. What began as boardroom unease has morphed into a full-blown regulatory confrontation. The final reckoning now rests with SEBI—but the reputational stakes for Zee, and the message for India Inc on governance discipline, could scarcely be higher.
