KOLKATA: Bengali general entertainment channel (GEC) Aakash Aath is launching a new format called Ek Maasher Galpo, which will showcase stories that will end within a month.
The half hour show format goes on air today (2 February) and will be aired from Monday to Saturday at 7 pm.
“We have been doing dailies and weeklies and now we thought of doing monthlies. People are bored of the mega serials. The stories we will showcase are from novels by famous writers. Stories all some eminent writers would be aired from 7pm till 7.30 pm, six days a week,” said Aakash Aath director.
When queried on the new format, Surana said that with this, the channel aims to educate people. “I want to entertain them with short monthly stories,” she said.
For instance, in the month of February, famous Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin’s Jhumur would be aired. “We have 24 episodes, which will be directed by Sushanta Basu. The cast includes Kaneenika Banerjee, Pijush Ganguly, Bhaswar Chatterjee, Rajashree Bhowmick, Anamika Saha and Tulika Basu amongst others,” she said.
Similarly, in March, the channel will air Abul Basar’s Musafir, which will have 26 episodes. This series will be directed by Debidas Bhattacharya. The cast includes Neel Mukherjee, Debdoot Ghosh and Monami Ghosh amongst others.
For the months of April and May, the channel has planned Pratibha Basu’s Sahasa Kuyasha Chhire (26 episodes) and Syad Mustafa Siraj’s Point Zero (26 episodes) respectively.
“All shootings have been planned for the next four months and if the show format clicks with viewers, then we will shoot further and look for other good short stories and writers close to any Bengali’s heart. It all depends on the response. If the viewers like the content and concept, we would love to make many more,” Surana added.
The channel is looking at Bengali writers only as they are close to Bengali hearts and have the Bengali feel, she reiterated.
Speaking about the marketing initiatives that are being planned by the channel around the new format, Surana said, “We would be promoting this through our own channel, paper ads, SMS and Whatsapp. We are doing extensive promotion on the channel and the teasers are already on air,” she concluded.
