“Star ONE” is No More…

Star One is closing its operations today, 16-Dec-2011. The channel will get replaced by a new channel “Life OK” which will be launched by Star Network. The new channel will be launched sans any “Star” connection (read logo) and with a complete set of new shows on 18-Dec-2011.

As all say “All good things need to come to an end”, so has the end of Star One arrived too. This channel was initially targeted to the youth as it broadcasted many youth based shows which became a cult amongst the youth and made the channel instant hit. The channel when launched 7 years ago improvised and introduced shows that were targeted to the youth, and with that the channel broke that times current trend of shows that were only targeting the women folk, especially the housewives, generally centering around issues relating Saas-Bahu, husband-wife, and in general family based issues.

This channel came in as a reverence for the youth when it introduced shows like Remix, which became an instant hit amongst the college and high school going youth. Honestly, this was one the shows that got me hooked to the channel. Apart from Remix, the channel also got in a concept of introducing a weekly show during the weekdays, by introducing Special Squad, Siddhant, Hotel Kingston, and Instant Khichadi, all one hour shows that were shown on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday respectively at probably what was the prime time. All these shows gained popularity as there were all based on completely different concepts and were also far away from the normal trend, and brought in a new freshness on television. Later such became the popularity of the shows that even their reruns later were highly viewed (something I don’t think any of the other current channels have been able to do).

Another innovation that worked highly for them was that the channel broadcasted all the repeats of the shows on weekends for those who missed out on them during the weekdays due to the shows on other channels. This concept actually created a huge viewership for the channel and its shows.

And then Star One introduced probably their most successful series, “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge”, a show that got all the people, diversified in all age groups, hooked to the channel. There was a phase when Friday nights were only meant to be for Star One, and more so for the Laughter Challenge. And probably in no time Star One reached to be one of the top channels, even rivaling against Star Plus which has shows like “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” and other similar shows which were running successfully for years, and had created a huge following base.

After this show Star One seeing the popularity the channel was gaining, the channel introduced many family shows, which were not the typical kind of family shows, and they too turned up being very successful. One of them being Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, a show that had humor as well as touched to the family issues like Saas-Bahu fights and stuff but in a very much hilarious way. 

Then the channel introduced very popular celebrity dance shows like the Nach Baliye series and then later the Zara Nack ke Dikha series. And after running successfully for about two-three years, when it started losing some of its popularity came in shows like Dill Mill Gayye, Miley Jab Hum Tum, and the Koffee with Karan series. Dill Mill Gayye probably went on to become probably their most popular show, as it connected directly to the youth, and by now when the internet media was at its boom, and with youth being the major part of the viewership and the media, these shows excelled everywhere especially Dill Mill Gayye. On the blogs and other forums one could easily notice the craze of this show, and this probably became the silver lining for the show. Such was the impression of this show on mind of the youth that no other show could actually replace it, and probably that has what has happened. It has been more than a year DMG was closed, and since then the channel also started losing its popularity and to such an extent that the channel had to go for a revamp.

Another new concept that worked for Star One was that they did not hang onto a show for too long. The shows ran on for about a year or two only whether they were successful or not. Probably this was the USP of Star One and with this they managed to create a huge fan base and then by ending the shows and introducing new ones they tried to bring freshness after regular intervals. This also meant that the reruns of the show were also highly viewed because of the craze they had created and nostalgia of course.

This worked great for Star One for almost 7 years, but after closing Dill Mill Gayye things really did not go too well. In fact last month or so I saw DMG being rerun on the channel all over again, and I thought that Star One has come back to get its prime viewership (the youth) back to the channel, but the sudden news of the channel shutting down has left me in a disarray. With the closure of the channel also means that the possibility of getting to see the shows like Special Squad, Siddhant, Dill Mill Gayye, and Remix has also vanished. There is probably no chance left to see these shows again.

Probably as a youth, I could relate to Star One a lot, and I guess everyone who loved watching television could. I don’t know what the new channel Life OK is aiming at, but yes with the promotional videos, it hardly looks that it has anything for youth in it. And now in despair I can only say that let’s hope that the channel comes back after some break, or they introduce the old shows back on the channel.

Is Shilpa Anand Leaving DMG Now?

Well again the questions are out, something what I had written in my earlier post as well. I have found a few articles over the net that raise questions like what exactly is going on the minds of the creatives. For example why was Shilpa Anand called back on the show? I guess the writers themselves don’t know what is going in story, or what needs to be written ahead. It looks like plan each episode after the previous one has been shot. I really don’t want to write more on this, I would rather just put those articles here for everyone.

Here is the first artice:

”TellyChakkar had earlier reported that there were problems cropping up on the sets of Dill Mill Gayye as actors were reportedly not happy with the way their tracks were moving. The latest is Sid’s character will now be shown negative in the show.

A little birdie informs, “Now the show will introduce a new twist and Sid will be shown negative. The track will focus again on Armaan and Riddhima and the latest promo being aired hints at the adultery angle. Riddhima will probably commit a mistake and will admit it to Sid and that will prompt him to turn negative. It has also been shown that Riddhima probably has a soft corner for Armaan. The new track will also mean sidelining Shilpa’s character even further. However the production house has not completely nailed this track down but in all probability Sid will turn negative. This will mean more complications in the lives of Riddhima and Armaan.”

We called up Karan Wahi who plays Sid to confirm the news but he seemed totally clueless. Says Karan, “I have absolutely no idea about this track. I have not been shooting for the past two days with them and I don’t know where the story is heading because I haven’t been informed about it yet.” When quizzed about the promo and the adultery angle, Karan says,” I have shot for a promo which is on air but I do not know why or what is it that makes Riddhima apologise! I am just aware of a possible triangle in the show. Even if Sid were to turn negative they would have informed me.”

Palki Malhotra Creative Head, Cinevistaas remained unavailable for comment.”

Here is the second artice:

”Is Cinevistaas set out to make mockery out of marriage?

Cinevistaas’s Dil Mil Gaye airing on Star One has recently undergone some changes in their story lines. After the first marriage sequence of Siddhant and Riddhima, the couple was set out to re-marry again with their own consent. The second marriage sequence had been aired last week. Unfortunately, there have been many rumors coming out in regards to the upcoming track within this popular youth based show.

Recent rumors indicate that Siddhant and Riddhima’s future is going to be short lived. Well where did the rumors come from? Well according to a video posted by the Creative of Dil Mil Gaye, Amita Devadiga on Cinevistaas’s Official Facebook Fan Page, indicate that the second marriage of Siddhant & Riddhima’s is about the break! According to a statement made on the Facebook page by Amita Devadiga, hey guys, here is the new dmg promo which is not on air as yet…pls have a look cause it says that ur fav couple armaan and riddhima are going to be together forever….!!!”, the promo seems to pose various different questions and predictions. The promo questions whether Armaan and Riddhima will have an extra marital affair, which is the prime reason for Riddhima’s marriage breaking up.

Rumors have also presented a question on whether Siddhant (Karan Wahi) will be shown turning negative. Where does this leave Dr. Armaan and Dr. Shilpa’s track? Well that is a major question to be asked! The show has already made a mockery out of marriage, which is a pure and sentimental bond between a man and a women. The show has questioned the feelings of Indian Women who believe in marriage. Will Indian Society be able to accept Riddhima’s future affair being a “pure mistake” during her married life?

As of now the show Is this track really going to take place or is just to create the hype to gain television ratings? Will the Amita Devadiga and her team continue with the “rumored storyline” or will they go on to provide their audience with a sensible and mature track which abides by Indian Society today?”

Dill Mill Gayye – an Update!

The story of Dill Mill Gayye seems to have haywire. I really don’t know what everyone is up to over there. The creatives are destroying the show more and more after every episode. There is a lot of confusion let in the minds of the viewers after the end of the episodes.

For a start why are Sid and Riddhima getting married again? And why is Anjali being called back for the marriage episodes. Why have the old new interns Yuvi (Sehban Azim) and Naina (Neha Julka) back on the show. So far Shilpa’s role is not looking any substantial; in fact it looks as if it is getting reduced even further. Agreed that Karan Singh Grover is not available for a few days because he is participating in another reality show, but this does not mean that the creatives don’t move the story ahead, and just buy time by showing stupid and unnecessary stuff.

Well I am now really frustrated watching the show, which at one time I could not miss at any cost. The character of the leading character Riddhima has been sabotaged so badly that I don’t think that the original viewers are interested in watching the show anymore. Then on top of all this there is news of Karan Wahi quitting the show, and many others. All I can say is that the show seems to be going anywhere.

I can go on writing all this down but I would prefer to just add a few updates from various sites, which I have found out to be good information. One of those sites is here.

“I GOT A NEWS DON’T KNOW WHETHER IT’S TRUE OR NOT
Riddhimma herself will leave the marriage n search for Armaan n this will result in More problems between sidmaa n the marriage wont happen eventually…

Riddhimma will accept that she still loves armaan……!

This Track has been introduced cos Sid has decided to quit the show permanently n they will be showing triangle love story between armaan shilpa n ridhimma……..!

This Triangle love story wasnt supposed to happen but because Karan wahi has decided to quit suddenly n Cvs are not in any mood to get another character to play sid,they have decided to end the character itself.

Sid will be truly pissed off by riddhimma’s reaction for Armaan n this will pave a way for an end to their relationship.”

Another News:

“MANY IMPORTANT NEWS FOR ALL
1.Their are 85% chances that karan wahi is leaving the show.It will maximum take him 1 month for which he won’t be their in dmg
2.The old dmg gang is back-
on fb the news is given that a gal from dmg fanclub contacted the cv nitin and got a news that old dmg gang will be back soon and also in sbs yuvi had appeared .
3.sidma marriage won’t happen
this is a flyin news but it is confirmed by many sources.
a. nitin .m the cv of dmg himself said that sidma marriage won’t happen,their will be a major twist ….. armaan will get sad with their remarriage he will leave all of them and riddhima on the day of marriage itself will run to find armaan.
b.this news was even given of fb.
c.this news was also given by few fan clubs and also from some fb groups.
d.one of my frnd’s sis works in dmg crew and she too informs me the same.
e.I had sent few messages to the cv’s to unite ar and they replied me the same as I have introduced be4.
SO HOPES ARE UP FOR ARMA UNION.
they are also giving a thought of making shilpa riddhima becoz after she has returned many ppl have been asking for it sayin they cannot accept her as other character.
and MOST IMPORTANTLY AS PER SBS KARAN SINGH GROVER IS ELEMINATED FROM KKK3,BEFOR HIM MILIND AND CYRUS HAVE BEEN ELEMINATED AND HE IS BACK TODAY(31 ST AUG) AS HIS TICKETS WERE BOOKED TODAY”

Another News:

“Sid and Riddhima are all set to tie the knot in Star One’s Dill Mill Gayye and with Sehban, Neha and Anjali returning to the show it feels like a ‘happy family’. But if gossip mongers are to be believed there is trouble brewing between the actors. The latest buzz that we hear is Jennifer Winget and Karan Wahi were not happy with the way their tracks were heading and had allegedly threatened to quit the show.
A little birdie tells us, “Ever since Shilpa Anand returned in the show, her track had been gaining a lot of importance. Jennifer and Karan were not happy with the way their tracks were progressing and felt they were not getting enough screen presence. They demanded more footage from the production house and even threatened to quit the show if the need arose. The current wedding track has been added keeping their demands in mind whereas Shilpa’s track has been cut drastically. She is just a mere figure in the show.”

Jennifer rubbished the rumour and said, “I wonder where you get all this news from? There is no truth to it.”

Palki Malhotra, creative head, Dill Mill Gayye echoed Jennifer’s words and said, “This is absolutely wrong. Nothing of this sort has happened.”

Shilpa however agreed that her track no longer had any importance in the show. Shilpa says, “I don’t know anything. I don’t know what has been happening but yes it is true I have no track left in the show now. I think it is the channel that should decide the track changes and not artistes. I don’t get into all of this. I come, work and leave.” “

DILL MILL GAYYE – Will Riddhima leave Armaan?

Well Dill Mill Gayye is back in business. Although the episodes are still disappointing, still with all the suspense of what wil happen next, the show has certainly garnered great TRPs. Also with the return of Karan Singh Grover back into the show, a lot of the viewers are also back. Though the track so far after his return has been disappointing, as everyone is expecting much different than what is happening, also it looks as if the producers are wasting a lot of time here and there in the show rather than showing any substantial content. Now there is only one quetion on everyone’s mind, Will Armaan and Riddhima be back together again?

I have been trying to get as much information I can on this. In the meanwhile I have found this article on the internet, so I am pasting it here for everyone to view.

“Karan Singh Grover’s return has created a new twist in STAR One’s Dill Mill Gayye and also upped the show’s TRPs.

Now when Riddhima and Armaan have come face to face, everyone is thinking as what will happen and if Dr.Riddhima will leave Sid for her first love- Armaan.

An Indya source tells us, “The return of Dr. Armaan in Sanjeevani has already made Dr. Ridhima ( Jennifer Winget) a bit tensed as she is now married to Dr. Siddhant (Karan Wahi). Now Armaan wants to propose her so that they will get married very soon. Even Dr. Sid wants that Riddhima should get back her love. She is now slightly developing a soft corner for Sid.”

Further our source said that, “Armaan is in shock about Riddhima and Siddhant’s relationship and their marriage. His dreams of getting married to Riddhima will be over.”

We spoke to Jennifer Winget aka Dr.Riddhima, “She is an Indian woman and knows the values of marriage so she can’t dishonour this marriage with Sid. But at the same time she is also confused as what to do next because she hasn’t yet forgotten Armaan but at the same time she can forget all what Sid has done for her as he has saved her life during the marriage ceremony. Many fans of Dill Mill Gayye are asking me this same question whether I will break the marriage for Armaan. Well, now at this point, even I don’t know the script ahead.”

So don’t forget to watch Riddhima’s dilemma about choosing Armaan or Sid on Dill Mill Gayye every Monday at 8 pm only on STAR One.”

Dill Mill Gayye – Karan Singh Grover is back!

Well now Dr. Armaan is back on the show. Thats great news for the fans who just watched the show because of him and Dr. Riddhima and also to the fans who kept on watching the show believing that their favourite stars will be back. I have found this update from the source I completely believe in. This will possibly explain the story that is in store for the viewers in the coming days.

“It’s Confirmed – Karan Singh Grover Back To Dill Mill Gaye 
Finally, the wait is over, and Karan Singh Grover gets back to Star One’s Dill Mill Gaye.

This time around, the loyal fans of Karan Singh Grover can surely rejoice as their favourite Dr. Armaan is getting back to Star One’s Dill Mill Gaye, produced by Cinevistaas.
Even the last time around, We had written a story which said that Karan would get back to the show, right on time to stop the marriage of Riddhima (Jennifer Winget) and Sid (Karan Wahi). But things did not fall in place for Karan then, and his comeback did not happen.

But now, he is certainly coming back and news has got a confirmation on this.

According to our source, “Talks about Karan Singh Grover’s comeback were on for quite a while now. But things got finalized day before yesterday, and the higher authorities from the channel and production house got into a consensus that they will bring Armaan back into the show”.

Now that Sid and Riddhima are married, and when Riddhima is gradually getting closer to her husband, things will take a drastic turn when she comes face to face with her first love, Armaan.

Elaborating on Armaan’s comeback our source states, “Armaan had been suffering from a psychotic disorder all this while, and he was not at all responding to treatment. He believed that Riddhima had not survived the accident, and this very thought of losing her had made him physically weak, and he did not have the urge to survive and fight the battle against the illness. But things took a different turn when Armaan saw Riddhima in Panchgani; this motivated him to get better in health. Even when the doctors thought that Armaan would never get back to sanity, Armaan’s health condition improved, and he is now back”.

“After getting fit, Armaan organizes this Nationwide Concert where his aim is to raise funds for people who suffer from such psychotic illness, and his last destination happens to be Mumbai. This is where he gets back to Sanjeevani”, adds our source.

“Armaan being what he is, comes back to Sanjeevani all excited, with a hope of getting back the love of his life. But he is completely shattered when he gets to know that Riddhima has in fact married Sid. The moment he realizes that Riddhima is married, he will want to leave the place forever. But it is Dr. Shashank who again makes him stay in the hospital, and Armaan joins Sanjeevani as a doctor”, further informs our source.

The coming track will see some breathtaking chemistry between Armaan, Riddhima and Sid. Now that Riddhima has transformed into the typical wife, she will also not be comfortable in the presence of Armaan. On the other hand, Armaan too will not like to come between Riddhima and Sid. But Armaan and Riddhima chemistry being so powerful will compel them to revisit their past memories, which can never be forgotten.

We got a confirmation from Palki Malhorta, Script Head, Cinevistaas, “Yes, Karan Singh Grover is back to the show. He will be starting shoot with us in a day or two. His comeback will really bring some great sequences between Armaan-Riddhima-Sid”.

As per the latest reports, Karan has already shot for his comeback promo that will go on air very soon. He will be starting shoot either today or tomorrow.

We also got to know that the news about a love track emerging between Armaan and Suvarna (Madhura Naik) is not true at all, and this development is not on the cards. Palki Malhotra too accepted that this was false news.

We tried calling Karan, but he remained unavailable.

The countdown to seeing Armaan on screen begins for sure now!!”

Well it is great to see the old stars back in the show and specially after the tragic end of season one. The promotional video shows Dr. Arman coming back with a bang, which is exactly the way he should have specially after the way he had left from the show few months back. But somehow I am not very happy that he is back. Well I know many people would not agree with me on this, but I do have a valid point. Well I have a been an ethusiastic viewer of this show from the very start. When the first season ended on atragic note and that way the second season started many people left watching their favourite show. I still hung with it in hope that the creative heads will bring back the main story (Armaan – Riddhima track) back at some point of time. But the way things turned out, I mean they way Dr. Riddhima returned and then whatever happened between her and Dr. Siddhant has left me very dissapointed. I was watching the show till their marriage took place and since that has happened and by reading all the articles of how Dr. Riddhima’s heart changes for Dr. Siddhant i have been heartbroken and have said goodbye to the show. But some how in just a couple of weeks, with the return of Karan Singh Grover onto the show I am back. But I just am not being able to connect with the show i used to about a year back. I am feeling that something is missing. May be Karan will get it back when he returns or maybe he won’t. All these questions are haunting me for the past few days. This is also one of the reasons that I had this news of his return almost 10 days back but I haven’t written about it as yet.

Once Jennifer returned I was very happy and was hoping for something great to happen, but to my shock something happened that I had never expected to happen. I felt like I had been cheated, in fact on the forums and other sites I read many people felt the same way. Now they are bringing back Karan on to the show. Their were rumours that now he will be paired with Suvarana Naik, the one who plays Dr. Siddhant’s sister. I just hope that all this is not true. Also the creatives claim that not with the show having three main characters that is Armaan, Riddhima and Siddhant, it will be great to see the chemistry between the three of them. Well I don’t believe in all this. I just feel that they have ruined a great love story. I always believed that it was like an ideal love story, a story that I would like that it would happen in my life.

I just hope that all goes well and in the end we have a happy ending, with that I mean both Armaan and Riddhima get back together. But for the moment i can only say that I am happy that now Karan is also back on the show, so I welcome him back with a mixed feeling.

Star One Channel is Looking for a Makeover!!!

While searching over the internet I came across one of these articles that speak about that Star One channel is looking for a makeover and possibly try to shut down quite a few shows and start others that will attract a little wider generation. I am pasting the article here for everyone. I am not sure this is true or not but it comes from a source that I trust at least.

” Star One shows which have been centering around youth based subjects have not clicked too well with the masses!! While COLORS, the #1 General Entertainment Channel sits cozily with a soaring GRP of 314, Star One lags far behind with a GRP of a meager 51.

According to our source, “The channel is now looking for a major reconstruction in terms of its programming. This includes plans of considering the closure of youth based shows Dill Mill Gayye and Love Ne Mila Di Jodi”.

It is heard that the Shakuntalam Telefilms show Love Ne Mila Di Jodi has recently been served a notice to better its ratings. However, when we called Chandana Sharma, the lead girl of the show, she denied the news.

Producer Shyamashis Bhattacharya, Shakuntalam Telefilms too denied having received any notice and said, “Lots of high points are coming up in the story, with which hopefully the ratings will go up”.

Coming to Dill Mill Gayye, sources say that this long running medical drama might wrap up in December. Earlier, it was suggested that the creatives may attempt to resurrect the once highly popular Cinevistaas show with the return of Karan Singh Grover. But with his recent bad publicity owing to the problems in his personal life, the channel is skeptical if he will again click with the audience. Also, chances of Karan and Jennifer Winget working together look dim after all that happened between them.

An insider who is part of Dill Mill Gayye, on terms of anonymity said, “It is fine if the channel wants to take off the show. It has lived its life, but you cannot blame it on the TRP, as the channel’s ratings itself don’t rock”.

Another insider further added that no decision has been taken as of now, but if the ratings of Dill Mill Gayye don’t improve, then anything can happen.

It is also speculated that the channel is looking for a complete image change. “In place of the current youth based content, the channel may opt for social and family drama based shows which are popular with other GEC. In such a scenario, even the new property Hum Dono Hai Alag Alag might end. The only show that might survive the purge is Miley Jab Hum Tum, as it is doing well, and of course the newly introduced show Jaane Pehchaane Seh Yeh Ajnabbi”.

Another source said that the reason why the above college based show rocks is the freshness of the story and the college back drop, which is nowhere to be seen on television.

Well, let’s see whether the existing shows on the channel manage to pass the acid test or not!! “

Well this article disappoints me further. I had just somehow started to like the new interns and then I read this article. Another disappointment is that Love ne Mila Di Jodi is a show that I had started liking as it has got a lot of twists and turns and the story here is moving quite fast. But one can never say what exactly is in the mind of the channel heads. Anyways Star One is known to end its shows abruptly and this is not something new to them. The number of shows it ended abruptly is endless starting from the days of Remix. This is one of the reasons why no show has continued for a long time on the channel. Remix had stayed for about 1 and a half years or a little more and now Dill Mill Gayye has stayed for more than two years making these the only two shows that have survived for such a long time on the show. This is sad and I guess that is one of the reasons why the channel does not get high GRP. Otherwise this channel had good shows running, for example, Remix, Siddhant, Special Squad, Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai, India Calling and now Dill Mill Gayye and a few more to add to this were shows that did click with the viewers.

Now talking about the makeover of the channel, I think it’s not really correct as this only one of the channels apart from Sab TV that I think have a large variety in their shows and most of the shows do attract the youth and the younger generation as well not like the other channels. In really shows aspect as well they have shown Great Indian Laughter Challenge, one of the concepts that are taken by a lot many other channels now.

I definitely feel that they don’t need a makeover. They just need to put a few things in the minds of the show’s producers and creative’s that they should stick around their original story line and not experiment too much with it and definitely the shows will rock amongst the viewers.