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NEW
DELHI: The Hindi GEC Pragya's latest serial, Ahsaas
(Realisation) on reformed convicts will be screened specially
in Tihar Jail and talks are on with the Jabbalpur (Madhya
Pradesh) jail authorities for a similar arrangement, as an
effort to push its agenda of being positive.
In
the next step, Pragya officials have talked with Tihar authorities
their plan of giving a dedicated TV set to convicts, on which
only the spiritual and "Life Positive" programmes
of the channel will be shown, and left to prisoners what they
want to watch, any other channel on the jail's existing TV
set, or Pragya.
Pragya
has taken this branding initiative as it falls within its
mission statement emphasising "alternative spiritualism",
since most of the convicts shown in the series have come to
realise their crimes and have taken to spiritualism and service.
"We
have been doing this sort of alternative spiritualism programmes,
minus Gods and godmen, but seeking inner truths, and we feel
that it will be affirmation of our brand positioning if we
show the return to truth and honesty by some truly fearsome
criminals," Meena Tiwari, Managing Director of Pragya
told indiantelevision.com.
This
is targeted to help others reform themselves with examples
being upheld from among their own jailmates, Tiwaru says.
The
next step would be to show the channel in Jabbalpur and a
jail in Uttar Pradesh as well, for which discussions are being
initiated.
"It costs us nothing to give away a TV set, if that helps
in a certain targeted way," said a channel official,
adding, "It is a win-win concept, because if more people
are reformed, they win and we get a better brand positioning."
The
series has been shot inside jails with the convicts narrating
why and how they came into crime and how they reformed themselves,
and includes a murderer and a doctor, the latter now out on
bail and running a school in Noida in the philosophy of Subhash
Chandra Bose.
Pramod
Negi is a young man who says he went into crime because he
was 'inspired' by the action pictures of Sunny Deol and others.
He
initially only had small fights in gangs, but gradually become
a professional criminal on the run, till he was caught when
he shot dead a policeman in Delhi.
Negi
says he accepts he has committed a crime and repents, and
he spends time praying and undertaking Vipasana, and is likely
to be sent out on bail for good conduct. His tale, the first
in the series was shown to indiantelevision.com exclusively
and was moving.
Doctor
Arvind Akela went into crime starting with neighbourhood fights,
then into arms smuggling, kidnapping and finally murder, when
he killed three persons in one single incident.
He
says now that the sight of death at his hands got his goat
and he wanted to get back to being a spiritual person with
social activities that would benefit people, hence the school.
Akela
is an under trial convict and he says that admitting the crimes
on TV could lead to him being hanged, because after the this
the police need no further evidence, but says that he is not
afraid of that.
"I
have seen the truth and if I am hanged, so be it, and my wife
will carry forward the work I have started," he says.
Interestingly,
as Rishi Kumar, Senior Producer, brain behind this reality
show, says: "We have chosen the subjects of our show
according to the causes that led people to crime, like Negi
by watching wrong films, Akela because his mother always encouraged
his violent activities in childhood, and another person who
came to crime due to bad politics."
Pragyan
Bhattacharya, Director Content of Pragya channel says: "This
is a crime show, but we have changed the paradigm completely
and in keeping with our philosophy, have taken the positive
side of it."
The
show goes on air from 26 January, at 10.30, for as Bhattacharya
says: "We want to take the other crime shows head on
and hence it will be aired at the same time as the other shows
on different channels."
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