GECs
Zee announces film ‘Race’ with ‘Cinestar Ki Khoj’ winners
MUMBAI: Zee’s first ever Bollywood talent hunt had organised a grand finale in Mumbai, on 29 November 2004. And amidst a glitterati event held at Goregaon Sports Club, Sarwar Ahuja from Hyderabad and Aditi Sharma from Lucknow were crowned as India’s Best. But their actual journey towards stardom begins now with the baton in director Sudhir Mishra and producer Nitin Keni’s hand.
The chosen two who were being groomed till now will be introduced to the daily grind of silver screen. Zee will be producing two movies, on a budget of Rs 100 million. At the occasion, Zee Telefilms formally announced the launch of its new movie Race with winners of India Best, Sarwar and Aditi.
The event also saw canning of a mahurat shot, with film star Hrithik Roshan giving the clap shot, producer Smitha Thackery breaking the auspicious coconut and producer director Ashutosh Gowarikar directing the first shot of the movie.
As for now, India’s Best Cinestar Ki Khoj’s grand final will be telecast on 3 December 2004 at 9 PM on Zee TV.
Zee TV’s India’s Best-Cinestar Ki Khoj finale saw some eminent personalities from the film and television industry, like Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Jagjit Singh, Boman Irani, Amrita Rao, Sachin, Kulraj Kaur (Kareena Kareena fame), Niki Aneja Walia amongst the others. Mrs. Smitha Thackery, Brijmohan Munjal (Managing Director – Hero Honda), Punit Goenka (Director – Zee Telefilms) and Amit Goenka (Director – Zee Telefilms) attending.
Commenting on the success of the India’s Best, Zee TV business head, Abhijit Saxena, as quoted in the release said, “With India’s Best, Zee TV has achieved yet another milestone. History has been created on the path untrodden. Today this grand ceremony brings an end to the hunt for India’s Best and the birth of the two new superstars in the Hindi film industry.”
“It has been our endeavor to connect with viewers, be it through our programmes or ground activities. But for the first time ever the activity of this magnitude with a perfect combination of both on and off air has been conducted. We look forward to provide more entertainment for our viewers and also ensuring that we contribute to the society in some way or the other,” he added.
While the evening was hosted by Roshan Abbas and Rakshanda Khan, the show flow saw the winners performing. Ganesh Acharya – ‘the acharya of dancing’ gave a live performance. With all the 32 finalists present to perform live the audiences were in for a treat. They cheered constantly for all there favorite contestants.
The jury comprising Sudhir Mishra, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ken Ghosh, Satish Kaushik, Vivek Vaswani, Vikram Phadnis, Ahmed Khan, Ganesh Acharya and Shiamak Davar helped to zero down the 32 finalist to the final two.
The other celebrities who attended the show were directors like N. Chandra, Sachin, Ajai Sinha, Ayub and Niharika Khan, Ketan Mehta.
Here is the complete list of the winners
India’s Best Male
Sarwar Ahuja (Hyderabad)
India’s Best Female
Aditi Sharma (Lucknow)
India’s Best Face
Male – Bhoumik Sampat
Female – Yuvika Choudhary
India’s Best Screen Personalities
Male – Vipul Roy
Female – Sudeepa Singh
India’s Best Dancer
Male – Abhishek Awasthi
Female – Ankita Lokhande and Amruta Khanwilkar
India’s Best performance in comic
Male – Vishal and Naveen Sen
Female – Priti Ameen
India’s Best Screen Pair
Bhoumik Sampat and Yuvika Choudhary
India’s Best Most Popular Contestant
Male- Mohit Dagga
Female – Aditi Sharma
GECs
Samsung TV Plus launches Kings of Comedy channel
New free FAST channel brings iconic Hindi comedy shows to millions of Samsung Smart TV owners.
MUMBAI: Samsung TV Plus has just turned up the laughter volume and it’s completely free. The leading free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service in India has launched Kings of Comedy, a premium comedy channel featuring some of the country’s most beloved primetime shows. Available exclusively on Samsung TV Plus, the channel delivers back-to-back hits including Comedy Nights with Kapil, Khatra Khatra Khatra, and Comedy Nights Bachao, with no login or subscription required.
The launch marks a milestone for free streaming in India, offering audiences a dedicated comedy destination directly from their Samsung TV home screen. It arrives as Samsung TV Plus India celebrates its 5th anniversary, during which the service has grown its monthly active users by 42 per cent and more than doubled its total viewing hours. The platform now offers over 180 free channels across 14 languages.
Samsung TV Plus India general manager and head of business development Kunal Mehta said, “Comedy is the heartbeat of Hindi entertainment, and Kings of Comedy brings together the shows Indians already love, completely free on their Samsung TV. Our focus remains the same take the content people know and make it effortless to access.”
Globally, Samsung TV Plus has surpassed 100 million monthly active users across more than 4,500 channels, solidifying its position as one of the world’s leading free streaming services.
Kings of Comedy is now available on all compatible Samsung Smart TVs. For viewers seeking non-stop laughter without any cost, this new channel delivers a royal treat proving that sometimes the best entertainment really does come with no strings (or subscriptions) attached.
