News Broadcasting
Santaan takes up cudgels for the girl child
Santaan, a weekly family soap that premieres on Sahara on 23 November, explores the biased attitude of traditional Indian families toward the male heir.
Directed by Chander Behl and scripted by Achla Nagar, the serial that will occupy the 9.30 pm slot on Thursdays, revolves around a conservative Rajasthani joint family that has a surfeit of granddaughters in the family, but no male heir to carry the family name forward. The family's elation at the discovery that the elder daughter in law is expecting a child is diminished when the male heir is born, instead, to the son and daughter in law, who have been expelled from the household.
Producer Dinesh Bansal who is known for churning out hit serials like Kurukshetra, Basera and Alvida Darling says Santaan is not only about anger built up over time over depriving the fairer sex of complete freedom, but also about a journey into how this orthodox approach affects family members. The serial doesn't aim at hurting the male ego but the idea is to uncover these charades, he says. "Santaan highlights the absurdity of the fact that often daughters turn out to be the better offspring," says Bansal.
Meteor Films has a 26 episodes contract with Sahara, of which 12 episodes have been shot in the production house owned studio at Chandivili in suburban Mumbai. According to a Sahara spokesperson, the contract will be extended for a further 26 episodes, depending on the serial's performance.
Sahara TV publicity and PR head Priya Raj says this serial will give them the scope to cater to a variety of viewers and will help the channel do its bit by touching upon a social issue presented in an entertaining manner.
News Broadcasting
News18 India to air Sabse Bada Dangal on 4 May counting day
Channel promises fastest results, live trends and analysis across five states.
MUMBAI: Ballots will do the talking and screens will do the shouting. As counting day approaches for high-stakes Assembly elections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, News18 India is gearing up for an all-day broadcast of its flagship election show, Sabse Bada Dangal, on 4 May from 6 am onwards. The Hindi news channel plans to deliver continuous, real-time updates as votes are tallied, combining live counting data with on-ground reporting and studio analysis. With political fortunes set to shift through the day, the coverage will track every swing, surge and surprise as trends turn into results.
The broadcast will feature a mix of senior political leaders, analysts and experts, offering instant reactions and decoding the evolving electoral picture. Expect heated debates, quick takes and detailed breakdowns as the numbers settle across all five states.
For News18 India, counting day has long been a high-visibility moment. The network is banking on its reporting reach, editorial bandwidth and technology-driven coverage to stay ahead in what is often a fiercely competitive news cycle.
With multiple battlegrounds and shifting narratives, the day promises both drama and data in equal measure. And if all goes to plan, Sabse Bada Dangal will once again turn the counting of votes into prime-time spectacle.
