MUMBAI: Ficci Frames, which kicked off with much aplomb in Mumbai today, saw the Zee Network hogging the limelight with an overpowering brand presence at Hotel Renaissance, the venue for the three-day convention.

The Subhash Chandra-promoted network, which recently underwent an image makeover and change of logos for all its channels, surely made its presence felt. Be it the hotel corridors, convention halls, media center, the driveway or even the Gala Night celebration, which was held at the end of the first day, Zee (logo and branding) was all over.

The new logos of the various Zee channels (Zee TV, Zee Marathi, Zee News, Zee Bangla, Zee Gujarati, etc.) were displayed at regular intervals throughout the main hall of the convention.

On the ceiling of the hotel corridors one saw innumerable hanging displays, sporting various Zee logos, along with the Ficci Frames logo.

Incidentally, if you haven't got it still, Zee Network is the official convention partner of Frames 2005 and even covered the day's proceedings extensively on Zee News, including live coverage when Chandra and I&B minister Jaipal Reddy were addressing the gathering, which had a fair share of glamour and beauty amongst the business-minded ones.

The network had also put up a wide flat screen television set with the Zee channels airing on it in the hotel corridor where different companies had their stalls displayed.

The Gala Night, which wrapped up first day's proceedings by honouring two stalwarts of the Hindi film industry -- Waheeda Rehman and Shammi Kapoor --- also saw an all-pervasive presence of Zee.

Even the acts performed were managed in a manner that conveyed the Zee message throughout. Singer Shaan, who performed at the Gala Night, was introduced by the emcee (again a Zee person) as the host of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, which airs on Zee TV. Not only that, there was also an act by the two winners of Zee's talent hunt -- Cinestars Ki Khoj.

Though critics might carp that no other media partner of Ficci Frames had displayed such fondness for such a public display, it cannot be denied that Chandra does command attention and certainly has a knack for hogging the limelight in an environment that was full of stalwarts from various walks of life. That's, probably, called the rub-off effect --- from Chandra on to his company.