GECs
Life Ok’s big Bachelorette bet with Mallika
MUMBAI: The City of Lakes just got more famous. The popular tourist destination is where the opening episode of The Bachelorette India – Mere Khayalon Ki Mallika, Life OK’s brand new non-fiction series featuring Mallika Sherawat of Murder fame has been shot.
The 27-episode series, produced by SOL Productions, will see the actress hunt for the perfect mate, a la Rakhi Sawant and Rahul Mahajan in NDTV Imagine’s Swayamvar, from among 30 suitors, including an older man – all of whom will try every trick in the book to woo the sexy siren.
The battle to win Mallika’s heart starts on 7 October and while the channel hasn’t fixed a time slot, it will be a week day property.
The filming of this war of love has begun since mid-August. The entire maiden episode was shot at the Lake Palace in Udaipur and nine to ten episodes have already been canned at exotic locations including the Taj Mahal, Chittorgarh and Fatehgarh for the most part. Hosting the show will be the dashing and handsome Rohit Roy, who has played several roles in his career on camera and also behind it as a producer for shows on Zoom TV.
Speaking about the new show, Life Ok general manager Ajit Thakur says: “We want to become more visible and talked about as a channel. I want people to know that we also have drama apart from Mahadev and Savdhan. We want to create buzz and hence, we’re coming out with The Bachelorette.”
Apparently, Mallika wasn’t the channel’s first choice and they had approached celebrities like Ekta Kapoor and Salman Khan but couldn’t get them on board.
So why her then? “We thought she would be very appropriate for this kind of a show. She has the spunk and has achieved a lot. She has come from a small town and is a role model for many girls. It is not easy what she has achieved in her life, and we wanted people to know her journey through this show,” reasons show producer Fazila.
According to Thakur, there were two reasons. “Firstly, when you are doing a public wedding, desirability is very important. So it had to be a very desirable male or female character, and she fits in perfectly. And of course, all men would like her to be a part of their life,” he explains. Apart from her desirability quotient and star value, Life OK also wanted to showcase her epic journey.
Says show director Rishi Tyagi excitedly: “There is nothing much to direct when it comes to reality shows. For me, it’s an exciting and challenging task to direct Bachelorette because it’s difficult to bring realism in such a show.”
Indeed, the channel is betting big on its upcoming series and despite Mallika’s presence, wants it to be a family oriented one. Thakur feels the series will definitely inspire young men and women and create buzz for the channel. And so, a lot is being invested in the series.
“By far, it is the most expensive show for the channel”, says Life OK marketing head Pratik Seal, adding that the entire cost of the show including setup, but excluding marketing and other activities would be around Rs 30-40 crore. An aggressive promotion through outdoor, digital and traditional media is on the cards. “We are planning to come out with a unique initiative where we will be running buses across UP and Gujarat across more than 37 towns. Though this will take some time to execute, the dates are locked for post 15 September,” says Seal. While the names of the sponsors haven’t been revealed yet, Life OK says it has managed roped in seven to eight of them, and the hunt is on for more.
But there are negatives riding against the basic concept of the show of a celebrity looking for a partner on air it, say media observers. Previous participants on the franchise – apart from Rahul and Dimpy Mahajan – did not end up getting hitched; in fact, they split up post the series.
“The franchise has been witnessing dropping ratings over the previous seasons on Imagine because viewers had begun to view it as a gimmick as fake or tamasha; they had felt cheated when marriage was not the end result,” says a veteran creative director. “The challenge for Life Ok is to remove this sense of disbelief from audience’s minds. Or maybe the team should just play up on the fun element of the search for a partner, rather than on the marriage vows. Let the channel executives remember that the viewer is not a moron, she is your wife. If the team finds this fine balance, then TV viewers might tune in, but in how many numbers we don’t know.”
With so much riding on Bachelorette, let’s just hope Mallika finds her match…
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
