MUMBAI: Actors of yesteryears came up on their own merits and not through pushing, according to lyricist Javed Akhtar. He was speaking at the promotion of Zee Classic?s new show Classic Legends.

The show will premiere on 11 December and Akhtar will be hosting it.

Talking about the stars of the ?Evergreen Age? that ranged from 1940 to 1970, Akhtar said that many of them like Mehboob Khan, Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor started their life from scratch, working as junior artistes, finally to become legends in their own rights. "I can cite the example of Mehboob Khan and Raj Kapoor who rose to become the country?s respected filmmakers," averred Akhtar.

Elaborating his role as an anchor in the show Akhtar said, "Given the decades that I have spent in the film industry and the talented creative minds that I have the good fortune of meeting and learning from, it is only fitting that I pay a tribute to the personalities whom I have come to greatly admire over the years."

Classic Legends will cover all those who have left inedible footprints into the collective memories of an enchanted nation. It will showcase the works of 13 of the most admired and respected legends like Raj Kapoor, RD Burman, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kishore Kumar, Nargis, Bimal Roy, Vijay Anand, Ashok Kumar, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Mehboob Khan, Madhubala, Guru Dutt and Shammi Kapoor, the channel said.

Zee Cinema business head Mohan Gopinath said, "There are many shows that talk about the current lot of actors and directors in the industry. And while some dialogues or songs from certain films of the black and white era many be popular among the masses, not many know anything about the people behind those iconic works.

"Classic Legends will introduce people to the creative geniuses in the background from the Evergreen era. People tend to forget legends of the past, but through our content on Zee Classic, it?s our endeavour to ensure that we strive in our very own small way that they remain immortal forever."

Launched in April 2007, Zee Classic is a classic Hindi movie channel that boasts of over 500 exclusive titles from 1940 to 1970 with classics like Awara, Mother India, Shree 420 and the works of Raj Kapoor, Kishore Kumar, SD Burman and Guru Dutt amongst others.

MUMBAI: The Emerging Giants season on BBC World is a themed series of news reports and programmes exploring two of the world?s most dynamic countries, India and China. The series will run globally from Monday 22 May to Sunday 28 May on the channel.

The highlights of the season will include "hard-hitting" news reports and analytical programming to reflect where the economies of the two emerging countries are headed over the course of the next 20 years, and their potential impact on the rest of the world, states an official release.

The season will present an overview and bring an international perspective on what the world?s opinion leaders foresee as the real picture regarding the state of the economies of the two nations.

Presenter Nisha Pillai, Delhi-based correspondent Sanjeev Srivastava, Mumbai business correspondent Karishma Vaswani, and South Asia correspondent Navdip Dhariwal will be conducting interviews and reports from India for Asia Today, Asia Business Report, World Business Report and News bulletins. There will also be packages produced by Washington reporter Jonathan Beale, correspondent Humphrey Hawksley, and Shanghai-based business reporter Quentin Sommerville among others. There will be two extended World Business Reports every weekday at 4 pm and 7 pm, which will include live reports from the London, New York and Singapore studios.

Four special editions of HARDtalk presented by Stephen Sackur will be recorded in India. The line-up of guests include: Praful Patel, Civil Aviation Minister; Joakim Arputham of Mumbai Slum Dwellers Association; Dr Vandana Shiva, Environmental Activist and well-known industrialist Rahul Bajaj. HARDtalk extra, presented by Noel Thompson, will also be interviewing Shabana Azmi, actress, Manmohan Shetty filmmaker and producer and Javed Akhtar, writer and lyricist.

In addition, BBC World?s US-based business reporter Tanya Beckett will front The World Debate from New York to offer the US perspective. Panellists include: Paul O? Neill, former US Treasury Secretary, Rob Blackwell, Chief Economist, AFL-CIO, Brian O?Shaughnessy, CEO, Revere Copper and Robert Peston, BBC Business Editor.

As per the release, BBC World has also commissioned its biggest ever poll for the launch of the Emerging Giants season. It has asked 10,000 respondents across 10 of the world?s largest economies what they think of the rise of India and China. Throughout the season, the results of the poll will be discussed on the various programmes. Viewers are encouraged to tell us what they think about the results at bbcnews.com/haveyoursay.