MUMBAI: After putting into effect some human resource reorganisation, Sahara Samay has readied to launch three programmes that have been conceptualised on tried and tested formulae. The three shows go on air after the assembly election results are out.

Sahara Samay Rashtriya, the national news channel of the group, is planning to introduce a show called Crime and Punishment (not a serialisation of Fyodor Dostoevskys classic it needs noting), a crime-based show to be produced by Suhaib Ilyasi who shot to fame after Indias Most Wanted on Zee TV.

Though Sahara’s Crime and Punishment is not about young man Raskolnikov’s journey through insanity and the lives affected by it,Ilyasi would attempt to cover high profile crime cases delivering true tales.

For example, one of the episodes explores the gruesome murder of a Delhi woman, Naina Sahni, allegedly by her employer-cum-friend Sushil Sharma, a small time Congress politician, in 1995. The case came to be known as the `Tandoor case’, taking its name from the big earthern oven (tandoor) often used by hotels, in which Sahni’s body was roasted

Realising that crime shows do rock the charts, Sahara Samay is employing Ilyasi’s services for the show. However, because of an existing contract that Ilyasi has with Rajat Sharma’s India TV, he would not anchor Crime and Punishment.
          
What with everybody talking cricket these days, including the Courts, Sahara Samay is also looking at roping in former flamboyant cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan for a cricket show. Former Indian cricketers Ajay Jadeja, Kirti Azad and Ashok Malhotra will appear in pre and post-match highlight shows for the one-day internationals to be played between Pakistan and India in March and April.

And with NDTV having made a success of satirical programmes like Gustakhi Maaf, using puppetry, Sahara Samay, too, is looking at introducing Cartoon Show to provide relief to viewers.

This programme will air before or after the breaks at prime time hours only. The bi-weekly 10-minute show, with two repeats, will showcase caricatures of an invited guest and include segments like profiles of top players in politics and sports. The show wil be hosted by Delhi-based cartoonist Irfaan.

In an another development, Sahara’s various region-specific channels are creating a business time band that will air at 7 pm or 7:30 pm from mid-March. As there are a plethora of news channels carrying information on the stock markets, Sahara channels will concentrate on small towns and businesses that affect the lives of people living in such places.