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Celebrating life

Menka Shivdasani

When the competition gets hot, smart marketers turn on the heat. Last week, several channels went into overdrive, trying to grab the viewers' attention, and in the space of 48 hours, there were at least four mega television events being held in Mumbai.

It began with Set Max announcing a relaunch. The channel, which is clearly desperate to get viewers, has hit upon two of our national weaknesses -- films and cricket. It's not greatly intellectual stuff -- what do you say about a show that's called One T wo 123 (Tuesdays, 8 p.m.) which has ``cute and touching messages for loved ones'', and Birthday Burps, among other things -- but you can bet it will be popular because it's so lowest common denominator.

If you're a film buff, however, MAX could make you very happy indeed. There are blockbusters such as Mohabbatein, Mission Kashmir, all the Yash Chopra films and a special three-month festival from June to September of 14 of Amitabh Bachchan's movies. Plu s, there are a whole lot of film-based shows, such as Biographies: Ek Kalakaar ki Kahani, presented by Om Puri, who brings you Bollywood legends in what he describes as a ``labour of love''. On the cricket side, there's over 123 days of action including The Left vs Right Series of One Day Internationals, 18 Test Matches and action from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The new schedule has prime time starting at 4 p.m., starting with a film, followed by the film-based shows between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. and then Prime at 9, showcasing another film. On weekends, the first Prime movie airs at 5 p.m., the second at 9 p.m. The y are also promising no prime-time repeats, and lots of interactivity with viewers. You can log on to the MAX Web site and let them know which movie you would like to see.

Then last week there was the MTV-Citibank bash. The invite came in the shape of a Citibank card bill, ``a complete record of your illegal activity during the past month''. The items included a lobotomy operation -- at a piles clinic (Rs 137,900), one ton of manure fertilizer (Rs 21,213), and an evening at the Topaz Dance Bar (Rs 27,100). ``We got a call,'' announced MTV veejay Nikhil Chinnappa grinning widely, ``from a gentleman who was disputing the bill -- he said the Topaz bill date was wrong!''

Melissa Tham, Singapore-based network communication manager, MTV Asia, was also at the party, telling me about how she was discovering India -- ``especially the chicken tikka and the potholes!''. This was her first time at an MTV India event, and she mad e an interesting point: MTV in India, she said, was very different from MTV in other countries. Because the Indian channel was only reaching out to one market, it could afford to be localised -- witness the Bakra show -- in a way that none of the others could. The others had to be more standardised, she said.

Nickelodeon also got into the act last week, and since the channel has been taken over by MTV, you can expect quite a few fun and whacky events in the near future. Nickelodeon's been pretty much in the doldrums -- it's been in India for a year now but fe w people seem to get the channel. Now, they are promising to change all that, and the screening of The Rugrats Movie in Mumbai last weekend was just the beginning. The children loved it, shaking hands with oversized cartoon characters, clutching on their balloons and winning prizes if they wore the Nickelodeon colour orange. The movie was especially brought in to India for that one screening, a Nickelodeon representative said, and is not going to be shown in this country for at least another six months. ``But we have many more events planned,'' he added, so Cartoon Network had better watch out!

The most memorable event of the week, however, was the Hallmark celebrity-studded evening, announcing the launch of Women's Week, a festival of women-oriented films being held from May 7 to 13. The channel's most visible face in India is a lady called La xmi Hariharan, who's Associate Director -- Marketing (Asia Pacific). She was there that evening, looking stunning, playing host to the likes of Gautam Singhania, Suresh and Devika Bhojwani, Leslie Lewis, Bipasha Basu, Suchitra Pillai, scriptwriter and ph otographer Sooni Taraporewala and several other big names from the corporate and glamour world.

All eyes, however, were on Jaaved Akhthar and Shabana Azmi that evening -- what a pity that only the men were called up to the dais to talk about women (And some pretty inane things they said too, such as ``Women are perfect. We couldn't go wrong without them!'') I wish Shabana Azmi had been asked to say a few words on the theme; when she was called up to the dais, it was only as Jaaved Akhthar's better-half. Nobody thought about this, however, once Usha Uthup came on the scene to sing some wonderful so ngs -- if there is anyone who symbolises the fact that women can have staying power and pack quite a punch, it's her!

Hallmark, which has recently reinvented itself, has now decided to `celebrate life', and last weekend, it certainly got the point across. Tune in to the channel this week -- it should be worth your while.

The author can be contacted at menkashivdasani@ftnetwork.com.

Pic.: Left Usha Uthup at the Hallmark-sponsored event.