MUMBAI: Colors has extended the telecast of three of its fiction shows - Sasural Simar Ka, Balika Vadhu and Madhubala.

The weekly shows that used to air Monday to Friday at 7.30 pm, 8 pm and 8.30 pm respectively, will now air on Saturdays as well.

With this expansion, Colors beefs up its weekend programming band as the three shows are the most successful properties on Colors. As per the latest TAM ratings (week 51, HSM, C&S, 4+) Sasural Simar, Balika Vadhu and Madhubala notched 4.2 TVR, 4.8 TVR and 3.9 TVR, respectively.

According to the channel the change will complement the current line-up of weekend shows - Bigg Boss-6 and Shaitaan.

The shows will be replacing Sahara One?s singing reality show Sur-Kshetra that Colors used to simulcast from 7.30 pm- 9 pm on Saturday and Sunday. The show aired its finale on 29 December.

Colors weekday programming head Prashant Bhatt said, ??Our move to expand our 7.30-8.30 pm slot to weekends is a humble new year gift to our loyal viewers. We invest a lot of time in creating sticky concepts for our viewers and it?s heartening to see they?re loving it and wanting more. In the new year, you?ll see more drama, emotion and romance on Colors with more interesting twists and turns that will keep audiences glued to TV??.

MUMBAI: Colors is launching a new mythological show titled ?Jai Jag Janani Maa Durga? on 17 December.

The new show will be replacing its fiction property ?Kairi Rishta Khatta Meetha? which will go off air to open up the 7 pm slot.

?Jai Jag Janani Maa Durga? will showcase Durga?s different avatars in various stages of her life. It will compete with Star Plus? ?Saathiya Saath Nibhana? and Zee TV?s Afsar Bitiya.

The new offering from Colors? bouquet is being produced by Sagar Pictures, the makers of epic shows like Ramayan, Alif Laila and Shri Krishna.

For the record, Colors had earlier aired mythological show ?Jai Shri Krishna? in July 2008 which ran till September 2009.

MUMBAI: Colors is aiming to build its Sunday morning band with a Japanese animated show titled ?Suraj ? The Rising Star?. This will mark Colors? entry into the animation genre of programming.

Jointly produced by Kodansha Inc, TMS Entertainment, Hakuhodo and DQ Entertainment, ?Suraj - The Rising Star? will air every Sunday at 10 am, starting 23 December.

The show is targeting not just kids of the house but the whole family. ?The show brings to light all the elements of family, action, fantasy and emotions that will appeal to family audiences,? Colors said.

?Suraj: The Rising Star? is a cricket remake of the Japanese baseball animation show ?Kyojin no Hoshi?(Star of the Giants). It is the tale of a 16-year-old boy, Suraj, who sets on a journey to be trained as a young cricketer. The show focuses on the hardships and challenges he faces towards attaining this goal.

Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, ?Suraj ? The Rising Star marks a step towards strengthening the Indo-Japan cultural relationship by amalgamating Indian culture and Japanese technology. We are proud to partner this relationship and help spread the message to the larger audience. Colors has always presented audiences with variety entertainment that includes unique content that caters to adults, families as well as kids. And now, with this show, we have done yet another first and extended our offering by foraying into a new genre using animation for story-telling. The series will present viewers an inspiring story of a young boy who dares to chase his cricketing dream. We are positive this will resonate with our audiences and is apt for a Sunday morning primetime 10 am time-slot."

For the record, Colors had recently aired a three part series on Yuvraj Singh?s battle with cancer titled ?Zindagi Abhi Baaki Hai? at 11 am on Sunday.

MUMBAI: Joining the brigade of channels which are airing crime shows, Colors is coming up with a new investigative series titled ?Shaitaan ? A Criminal Mind?.

Starting 1 December, the new show is replacing ?India?s Got talent? and will air every Saturday and Sunday at 10 pm.

Colors had earlier forayed into the crime genre with ?Wanted-High Alert? that aired in 2011.

The popular crime shows on Indian television are Sony Entertainment Television?s ?Crime Patrol? and ?C.I.D? which have been successfully running over years. Life OK has recently launched a crime thriller based on bomb blasts in the country titled ?2012?. Star Plus is also launching a new show ?Kaali-Ek Punar Avataar? based on crime while it already runs ?Arjun?.

Produced by Miditech, ?Shaitaan ? A Criminal Mind? is a fusion of documentary and drama of real life cases, the episodic series aim to understand the mindset, circumstances and the reasons which lead to the crime taking the psychologist route along with dramatisation to give a view of the mindset of the criminal.

Anchor Sharad Kelkar will take the audiences through the complex crime and the mind behind it.

Colors weekend programming head Manisha Sharma said, ?The series combines mystery, drama, thrill and horror while putting an emphasis on the emotional connect associated with every act of crime. There is always a sense of ?what happens next? and has a strong investigative thread.?

Miditech co-founder Nikhil J Alva said, ?Shaitaan - A Criminal Mind profiles the criminal and not just the crime; it undertakes a complete behavioural analysis that makes for good viewing. The show is backed by in-depth research and a support team of psychologists, psychiatrists, experts on forensics, criminology and law, before each story is etched out.?

MUMBAI: Colors has acquired the broadcast rights of American political action series ?24? from Anil Kapoor Film, the Bollywood actor?s production house.

The show is slated to go on air in the summer of 2013. It adds to Colors? portfolio of international formats which includes ?Bigg Boss?, ?India?s Got Talent?, ?Khatron Ke Khiladi?, and ?Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa? in the recent years.

Kapoor had acquired the rights of ?24? from 20th Century Fox a year ago to remake the popular series for Indian audience. The actor is believed to have paid between Rs 850 million to Rs 1 billion for the rights.

?24? will mark the launch of Anil?s Kapoor first television production under the banner Anil Kapoor Film. The actor will also play the protagonist, Jack Bauer, in the India version. Kapoor had played the role of Omar Hassan in Season 8 of the international series.

Kapoor said, "While scouting for a perfect partner we were in talks with 2-3 leading channels. We chose Colors as in them we see the right platform that not only had a solid connect with the audiences but also enjoyed the reputation of providing futuristic entertainment. 24 was my destiny. I was offered to play a role in the international series, and then I had made up my mind to bring this show to India. In less than a year I bought the rights to produce an Indian version."

?24? is a new hybrid genre of entertainment that will see amalgamation of fiction and reality.

"?24? is a show that brings Anil Kapoor?s mass appeal and Colors? mass audience together to create history in Indian Television. It?s an honour to bag 24 for Colors; in fact it?s a reward for our efforts and our firm belief in continuously providing disruptive content to our audiences. I am confident the show will set new standards in entertainment and further strengthen connect with Indian audiences," said Colors CEO Raj Nayak.

The Indian adaptation of ?24? is being penned by Rensil D? Silva with Abhinay Deo as its director. The duo will work together with the Colors programming team led by Colors weekend programming head Manisha Sharma.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has directed the central government to take action within a week against television channel Colors for using the national anthem to promote its reality show `Bigg Boss 6` - the Indian version of the British ?Big Brother? - in cinema halls across the country.

A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw gave the directions after hearing a public interest litigation against the channel for running a commercial of the Salman Khan-hosted show wherein an audio demanded that all present in the halls should "stand up for the national anthem" as Big Bigg Boss wanted it.

The judges said: "In the wake of serious allegations levelled by the petitioner that the national anthem is disrespected, we direct the central government to treat this PIL as a representation and the grievances be dealt with in accordance with the law."

The court added that "necessary action would be taken by the Ministry concerned against the respondents within a week".

"The allegations will be looked into and action will be taken", Additional Solicitor General Rajeev Mehra told the Court.

The PIL filed by lawyer Jeetender Gupta alleged that Colors has "disrespected" the national anthem by using it to promote the realty show in various PVR multiplexes in the city as well as in other parts of the country.

"The Colors channel randomly displayed an advertisement inside the movie theatres and the said advertisement was in the form of a visual displaying the logo of its programme `Bigg Boss 6` followed by an audio demanding all present in the hall to stand up for the national anthem.

"`Bigg boss chahte hain ki aap rashtriya gaan ke liye khade hon`, (Bigg boss wants you to stand for the national anthem) and then the Indian National Anthem was played," the petition stated.

It further added: "The respondent (TV channel) is trying to associate itself with the national anthem solely for commercial purpose of promoting its latest TV programme."

The plea said: "The acts of TV channel and PVR amount to possible violations of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act 1971 and the Emblems and Names (prevention of improper use) Act 1950."

"We have utmost respect for national anthem, and we don?t see any violation when ?Bigg Boss? in his voice asked audience in theatres to stand up for the national anthem" a spokesperson of COLORS said.
Earlier also the reality show had run into controversies with the I&B Ministry asking Colors to telecast ?Bigg Boss Season 5? after 11 pm last year when complaints were received about violent gestures and inappropriate language used by the participants.