News Broadcasting
New shows, feature films in BAG Films’ kitty in ’04
MUMBAI: After lying low in 2003, (just one soap Kum Kum- Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan), BAG Films is gearing to return to the reckoning After reformatting Haqeeqat on Sahara Manoranjan recently and launching Koie Jane Na on Star Plus last week, the production house that went public last year is getting ready with a kitty of new shows and feature films and lots more… to be launched in 2004.
According to BAG Films Mumbai head Rajesh Chaddha, a large amount of last year was spent in conceptualising the shows and waiting for the right slots to get vacated. Said Chaddha, “The audience tastes are changing and the shows need to be pitched perfectly; else the entire hard work would go down the drain.” Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Chaddha said, “We just completed a telefilm Gol Maal Ghar for Sahara. The title Gol Maal Ghar is yet to be approved by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association. It’s a two-hour comedy film, starring Manav Gohil and Gauri Pradhan, to be telecast in April. Sahara is starting a new two-hour slot called Home Theatre on Saturdays and Sundays; it would be meant for tele-films. On this new slot, we expect to make many more such ventures.”
If starry shows have failed to set the cash registers ringing, BAG Films is not perturbed by the fact. He says, “We are getting ready with a big daily titled Ek Muthi Aasman for Sahara. The show has been sanctioned. The shooting will begin in May and the programme will be telecast by July or August. The story was ready since one year, suddenly we found that a new show on a rival channel, had elements of what we had developed for this particular show. So, a few changes had to be made. For a change, the Sahara soap, unlike all others, will have the male as the protagonist, who is a big Bollywood name.”
The company is producing a 26 episode musical show – a half-hour weekly on Sundays, the shooting for which begins on 23 March and the first episode will go on air from 4 April. Well known artiste Brian Sellers would be playing popular songs from Hindi cinema on the piano with Rajeshwari Sachdev as the anchor.
BAG Films has targeted Star Plus as well. Apparently, the good equation built by the long running Kum Kum- Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan holds strong.
Keeping with the times, BAG Films will produce an election based show for Star News. “It would be an update on elections, with forecasts, debates, results, analysis and everything under the sun related to polling,” informs Chaddha, saying that the title of the show and the choice of the anchor are being worked upon. The show will be shot in Delhi, where BAG Films will hire a studio and employ an extra force of 150-175 people, specially meant for this programme.
BAG Films is also coming up with their own studio in Noida, which would be spread over a complex of 1.5 acres. The studio, which would kick off in May, would be a one-stop shop for shooting with the best equipment possible. “We are looking at shooting cookery shows, political shows, films for corporate and ministry – which would be a good segment of our future agenda- to be shot in this studio. The complex would also comprise of an institution which would involve teaching of technicalities like editing and directing shows, among many others.”Says Chaddha, “We are also coming up with a very spicy and saucy half-hour show (untitled as yet) on Star Plus. It would involve talking about all the grapevine of television industry- who has signed whom, who has chucked out whom, who is sleeping with whom… something like Lehren of yesteryears, but restricted to television. We may title it as Tellywood. Though the show has not been commissioned still, the first round of talks are over, and from my knowledge I expect it to be on air from mid-April or early May.”
“Though nobody has been approached as yet to play the anchor, we would be looking at either Sanjit Bedi or Hussain if it’s going to be a male anchor or Shweta Tiwari, Juhi Parmar, Gulrez or Gurdip Kohli if it’s a female anchor. The final call would rest with the channel; it could be someone else who is called in,” he added.BAG Films has also started their operations in Kolkata, recently. “One daily and one reality based show is on air on Tara Bangla, the other one is coming up any moment on the same channel,” said Chaddha.
Last, but not the least it seems, BAG Films is set to enter film-production. Mejoo Khan, who worked with MAD Films and Metalight Productions, has joined the company from mid-February. Informs Khan, “We now have a films division in the company. We are looking at probably announcing two or three films at the same time. It will be premature to shoot off the concepts now, because they have not been exhaustively streamlined as yet. We are going to have a multi-portfolio approach, where different directors can picture their concepts to us. We intend making masala films as well as cross-over films. We have not finalised the cast of any film as yet. But yes, we should be on floors with our first feature film in August.”
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
