In a clever bid to combine cricket and movies- the two greatest crowd-pullers in India, SET Max has come up with a programming innovation called Kapil Dil Se.

The show traces the life of cricketers, film stars, prominent personalities and other celebrities and peeks into their personal lives, philosophies, successes and failures. Of course, it is former cricket great and now Sony ambassador Kapil Dev who takes us into the lives of these personalities.

The NDTV show that premieres today will air every week at 8.30 pm on MAX, promising to provide viewers with interesting and informative nuggets on the life of stars - as perceived by their fans, friends, neighbours and the chaiwalla in their lanes.

Indiantelevision.com had the chance to be present during the filming of one of the episodes that features Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor. It was a treat to watch the two heroes - one newly adjudged Indian Cricketer of the Century and the other a top rated actor - converse in an informal and affable manner on issues related to cricket and those not so cricketing at the actor's Juhu residence. NDTV had added a touch of Mumbai monsoon to the edition by sprinkling water down plants in Anil's garden to create a rainy effect in the background.

Kapil set the ball rolling by dwelling on the lighter subject of how Anil dealt with intrusive female fans. Even as Anil was slightly sheepish answering the poser, Kapil vaguely hinted at the kind of answer he was expecting by talking about a incident he had been involved in. Kapil said he had to hide himself from an unrelenting female fan who had barged into his hotel room once by locking himself inside a cupboard. Taking the cue, Anil followed suit by talking about an incident where a female fan brazenly hugged him, little realizing that Anil's wife was standing right next to him. Both, however, agreed that having understanding spouses really helped in getting past these "embracing" moments.

Kapil took good care to ensure that the talk stayed on the cricket course after some light hearted banter. Care was taken to ensure that both spoke about real experiences in a manner as uninhibited and honest as possible.

Anil, an ardent cricket follower himself, revealed that he had been an all-rounder in his college days at St. Xavier's, Mumbai and counted Viv Richards and BS Chandrashekhar among his favourite cricketers. The actor, who admitted to having run away from the recording studio at the eleventh hour when he was to have hummed a song for Karma years ago, acquiesced to Kapil and sang a ghazal for the camera. Later, Anil took Kapil around his gym and talked about his fitness regimen.

MAX's latest offering on cricket combines to good effect the best of the cricket and film worlds- two of Indian public's strongest obsessions. Moreover, the nature of conversation - friendly heart to heart banter, only unravels newer and unexplored facets of these personalities and makes the show all the more engrossing.

Later, during a media tete-a-tete Anil took a few shots at Kapil by asking him how he coped with distractions during his heyday, only to evoke some candid answers from the cricketing legend. Said Kapil: "Life is beautiful and there are so many times when one gets bowled over by someone but then once you are already in a relationship or are married you've got to control these distractions."

Not one to let Kapil get away easy, Anil continued, "But how far have you been able to control yourself?" The repeated query had Kapil stumped, as he answered sheepishly, "Well, I've tried my best." He added, " But I enjoy flirting. Life would be boring if one did not flirt around."

Kapil confessed that as a TV anchor, he was rather nervous and was consciously working on his voice and diction and that he would any day prefer coaching the national cricket side. When this correspondent asked Anil what he would encourage his 11-year-old son to take up, should he have to choose between cricket and movies, pat came the reply, " Cricket, any day. I think doing something for your country can give you a rare high, unmatched by acting in movies."

Anil's answer sums it all. Even though cricketers and actors qualify as the most hero-worshipped professionals in the country, if one were to still pit cricket against movies, cricket would evoke much greater excitement from the masses given the fact that national sentiments are involved with it. Hence MAX's strategy of getting into the lives of actors and other celebrities through a cricketing icon and getting them to speak about cricket among other things has the potential of striking the right chord with the sporting audience.