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No clone this!

Menka Shivdasani

These days, the buzzword on television is glamour. As the channels try to outdo each other in the race for viewership, it's big names, star glitter, beauty and Bollywood that can make all the difference -- or that's what the channels seem to think anyway.

While Zee throws in a Manisha Koirala for Sawal Dus Crore Ka, and Sony battles Kaun Banega Crorepati with the help of Govinda in Chhappar Phaad Ke, one channel has a unique advantage over all the others when it comes to Bollywood -- B4U.

If you've been watching the channel lately, you will have noticed that they have launched several new shows and expanded their one-hour prime-time band from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. to three-and-a-half hours from 7.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Monday-Thursday). Most of the programmes boast of a Bollywood presence -- or at least a fading Bollywood presence.

`Apne Paraye' has Rajesh Khanna and while, personally, I would rather remember him as the good-looking, hugely talented superstar of yesteryear and not the blowsy-looking, sulky-faced pot-bellied person who appears on TV today, B4U is clearly thrilled at getting him on what is supposed to be his first TV serial. (The contrast is particularly noticeable when you see one of his old films running simultaneously on another channel!)

B4U has also got other stars to debut on the small screen. Zeenat Aman is doing a talk show, `In Conversation with Zeenat', and she would have told us more about this except that she did not turn up at the function the channel organised to announce the new shows. Neither did Rajesh Khanna, come to think of it.

Neena Gupta was there, looking stunning and talking about how rare it was that a channel should provide an opportunity to do a programme like `Manthan', which takes an in-depth look at people's personal problems, ranging from the search for women's emancipation to impotence -- which she's discovered is a major issue. ``In these days, when there are so many soaps, so many shows about mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, I'm glad B4U has given me a chance to do a serious show. You g et less money for such programmes because advertisers are difficult to find and you have to work that much harder, but it's worth it,'' she said.

The person who took everyone by surprise that evening was Shabana Azmi. She walked in very late, still dressed in the wig she was wearing for `Anupama', her television debut and apologised because she had been delayed at the shoot. Getting Shaba na to do a television serial is quite a coup for B4U; it took her one-and-a-half years to agree to do work for television, she said. You can be sure she will do justice to her role, though; it is just right for her. ``The Indian audience is ready t o see a new Indian woman,'' she said, ``one who is recognisable as the housewife or the ordinary working woman, but whom we don't really see too often.'' Anupama promises to go beyond the stereotype to the true, tough woman beneath.

Since B4U is a new channel, it still has a way to go before the programme-makers perceive it as the first choice. This was quite apparent judging by veteran director Lekh Tandon's reaction. Tandon, who is directing Khushi, one of B4U's new seria ls, said he was a little taken aback when he was told it would be telecast on this channel. ``Then I realised that a new channel will work much harder than the established ones,'' he said.

B4U Multimedia International Ltd. was launched in the United Kingdom in August 1999. The B4U Music Channel was launched in India in May, and the second offering in the bouquet came in September 2000 in the form of B4U: The Digital Ente rtainment Channel. Soumitro Mukherji, Chief Marketing Officer, says the task now is to consolidate the channels that already exist instead of trying to launch new ones in a hurry and, at a time when channels appear and disappear like shoot ing stars, this is certainly a wise decision. The launch of the six serials in addition to the nine already being aired is a step in this direction.

There's something for everyone here. The other new shows on B4U are Sukanya -- ``a true-to-life saga'' written by Shobha De, romance in the form of Kinare Milte Nahin, an unrequited love story, and comedy, as in Saas Pe Sava Saas, which stars Bindu.

The strategy that B4U is using to attract viewers is to have lots of soaps. ``Daily soaps are excellent loyalty builders,'' says Mukherji. On B4U, there are three daily soaps at prime time, while Vinta Nanda's Papa runs in the afternoons.

So will they join the game-show bandwagon too? ``No doubt Kaun Banega Crorepati has created history,'' says Mukherji, ``and hats off to them. I would not like to comment on clones because the results are there for all to see. But if we can't make something good, we will not repeat a mistake.''

It's a brave channel that would dare to keep away from the game-show battleground. Hopefully, B4U will keep its word. If it does, it could truly be a winner, and not just another clone.

The author can be contacted at menkashivdasani@hotmail.com

Picture: A still from `Apne Paraye' on B4U