| MUMBAI:
Colors has announced the replacement of its reality show Bigg Boss Season 4
that ends on 8 January. Starting
10 January, the Viacom18’s Hindi general entertainment channel will launch
two individual-centric shows - Phulwa and Mukti Bandhan. The shows
will air at 9 pm and 9.30 pm band from Monday-Thursday respectively.
The channel
claims that both Phulwa and Mukti Bandhan are shows from two extreme
worlds with stories that pan out from an 11-year-old playful girl living in the
ravines of Chambal to the plush lifestyle of an egoistic top-rung 50 something
businessman in Mumbai. Colors
head – programming Ashvini Yardi said, “Bigg Boss Season 4 has
given us the eyeballs and we now plan to sustain the same and take it to the new
level. With the launch of these two new shows, our effort is to present varied
set-ups that will intrigue the audience across demographics.”
Phulwa,
produced by Swastik Pictures, is a story of a young bubbly girl trapped in a ruthless
spat between the villagers. In her fight against injustice created by the Thakurs
of Chambal, she loses her innocence at the tender age of 11. The story is set
against the rustic backdrop of Chambal ravines known for harbouring dacoits or
beheads in its rustic valleys for centuries. Meanwhile,
Mukti Bandhan is the adaption of Harkishen Mehta’s famous Gujarati
novel Mukti Bandhan, and is produced by Shobhana Desai Production.
The
story gives a distinct feel of the life of Dhirubhai Ambani; it is the story of
an ordinary man, IM Virani, with an extraordinary sense for business.
However, Yardi
said that the show is based on the book and there might be parallels as it’s
a rags-to-riches story and the protagonist is a 50-year-old man. Incidentally,
this is the first time that Colors is going to air a Gujarati culture-based show
with a larger than life production. “For
the first time on Indian television, there will be a 50 year male protagonist
in a prime time show. We are confident that our viewers will like the two offerings
for their fresh concepts and unique stories,” Yardi adds. In
order to promote Mukti Bandhan, the channel has tied up with Mid-Day newspaper.
The paper will cost one rupee less on the launch date of the show, thus saving
one rupee for the customers. The idea is to ask what you can do with one rupee,
which was the only money with Virani, when he came to Mumbai to build his business
empire. | 
