| MUMBAI:
Undeterred by the impact of IPL that is bound to impact home viewing audience,
Hindi movie channels are going ahead with their regular programming except for
Star Gold that has tweaked its programming strategy. The
channel has introduced a new slot, Happy Klub, that will showcase super
hit comedy films starting 15 March and will last for six weeks. Films
that will be screened in the 'Happy Klub' slot are Maine Pyaar Kyun
Kiya, Wah Tera Kya Kehna, Aloo Chat, Hum Hain Kamaal Ke,
Deewana Mastana, Khullam Khulla Pyaar Kare, Biwi Ho To Aisi,
Shaadi No 1, Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya, Style, Raja Babu
and Chal Chala Chal. Says
Star Gold general manager Sameer Rao, "We believe that, during IPL audiences
would like to catch their favourite shows and movies in the afternoons apart from
watching cricket in the evenings. Accordingly, we have programmed Happy Klub,
a weekday afternoon movie festival with our audiences' favourite comedy titles,
throughout the 6-weeks of cricket bonanza."
Are
the other movie channels also going to follow suit? "No," says Zee Cinema
business head Mohan Gopinath, "Our programming remains the same. We are concentrating
on Lady Raaj that we had introduced on Women's Day. In this, we are showing
films like Maine Pyar Kiya, Bobby Bol Radha Bol, Dhadkan, Ram Teri Ganga Maili,
Aitraaz and Chaalbaaz." Avers
Max EVP and business head Sneha Rajani, "Look, the mainstay of Max for the
coming few weeks will be the IPL. Our film slots till the start of the match of
the day remains the same and there is no change in our programming. And we are
not showing non-descript films." Since
on 13 April the IPL has three matches, Max is going to show only one film Karan
Arjun while on Monday, the channel has lined up films like Mr Natwarlal and Deewane
Huye Paagal. And on 16 March, they are showing Koyla. On
the other hand, Filmy channel has started a new programme, Indian Bollywood
League (IBL), in which every day at 8 pm it shows well-known films like Devdas,
Guru. The
slot that will be on air from Monday to Friday at 12 pm will showcase films that
are otherwise aired in the prime time slots on the channel. | 
