MUMBAI: Star Choice is the first programme in Malayalam television to be anchored by a famous film actor/actress, in which the star presents a collection of his favourite film songs and explains the reasons why they have left such deep imprints on his heart. Starting 27th December it will be telecast every Sunday at 11.30 am.

A virtual torrent of ‘special songs‘ may breach the dam of the Star‘s memories, but he can pick up only 5 from the lot. These cherished hits- which can be from Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil or English - should be drawn from five different phases of his life :one that caught his fancy in childhood ; another that appealed to his adolescence ; a third that captivated him in his youth ; one which he finds fascinating now, at the present moment ; and the last, a song that bewitched his ardent heart during the days of his courtship in his ‘season of love‘ . Each song is prefaced by an introduction that clearly shows why these 5 are his chosen ones - it may be the wording of his lyrics; the magic of its melody or some precious memory associated with it. 

A young Jayaram was slated to sing the song ‘Poovum Prasadam‘ on stage for his School Day, but the 8 year old was so awed by the occasion, he forgot his lines and stuttered through the lyrics. The next day, his friends had a whale of a time teasing him with a new nickname ‘poo poo aa aa‘. Though the song was an embarrassment then , Jayaram looks back with laughter through this number.

‘Sanyasini nin Punnyasramathil‘ makes Navya Nair recall her childhood when current cuts were a regular part of the evening schedule. When the house was plunged into darkness and the family gathered around the dim flicker of the lamp, her father used to sing this Vayalar classic to while away the time. This song which brings back the sweetness of her childhood, holds pride of place in Navya‘s list.

Star Choice is thus an unusual film song based show, wherein a star from the celluloid world plays anchor on the small screen and hosts a selection of his personal preferences with anecdoted explanations for his choice, that gives us brief autobiographical sketches from the pages of his past life.

MUMBAI: Its celebration time for the star cast and crew of Maniben.com as the show successfully completed its 100 episodes on SAB, India?s leading family comedy entertainment channel. Stars from the show including Smriti Irani and Nitin Vakharia who play the two essential characters of Maniben and Jaman Patel along with Manini De-Mishra, Simple Kaul, Sharad Vyas, Dolly Bindra, Dilip Rawal, Sudha Shivpuri and Bijal Batavia amongst others were present for the mega party held at Raheja Classic Club, Andheri, Mumbai.

Commenting on the 100th episode of Maniben.com, Mr. Anooj kapoor Business Head SAB, said, ?With the completion of 100 episodes, the show has reached a new high. Maniben.com is a show that is often looked forward to when one wants to sit back, relax, enjoy and laugh together with the entire family after a hard day?s work?.

Maniben.com is the story of several Mani?s existing in our society; it?s a journey of Maniben from Bhuleshwar to Peddar Road, which brings with it new dreams, new ambitions, and retains hope in humanity. Maniben.com airs every Monday to Thursday, 8 pm only on SAB

States Smriti Irani who plays the role of Maniben, ?My heartiest congratulations go out to SAB, all my co-stars and the Maniben.com team. I thank the channel and the producers for giving me this wonderful opportunity to play the character which is completely unique from the role that I have played in other shows. I have to say that I have enjoyed being Maniben. My stint with comedy as a genre has been exciting and enriching.?

SAB has been gradually and steadily increasing its hold in the general entertainment genre. It has successfully managed to entice the entire family to watch television together with its unique light hearted content.

MUMBAI: The new documentary series ?World? on NDTV Profit redefines reporting and brings quality work to the mainstream that has remained confined to the fringes of film festivals.

This week watch Please Vote for Me in which Director Weijun Chen chooses Wuhan city in Central China, about the size of London to conduct an experiment on democracy. Class third students at Evergreen Primary School have their first encounter with democracy by holding an election to select a class monitor. 

The documentary brings forward how eight-year-olds compete against each other for the coveted position, abetted and egged on by teachers and doting parents. In China, elections take place only within the Communist Party but recently millions of Chinese voted for their version of Pop Idol. The purpose of Weijun Chen‘s experiment is to determine how democracy would be received if it came to China.

Catch this exciting experiment with democracy in China on Please Vote for Me this Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 10:00pm with a repeat telecast on the following Sunday at 5:00pm only on NDTV Profit.

MUMBAI: Your chance to catch Mr. Dr. Narendra Dabholkar candid with Nikhil Wagle on Saturday 19th December 2009 at 9:30pm when the positivist gets up-close on his experiences as the working president of ?Maharashtra Anddha Shraddha Nirmulan Samiti? (MANS) in Great Bhet on IBN Lokmat.

Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, who formed ?Maharashtra Anddha Shraddha Nirmulan Samiti? (MANS) with like-minded individuals in 1989, is a social reformer who always considers reason as the supreme authority in matters of opinion, belief and conduct. Viewers can watch him debate about sciences such as Astrology, Fengshui, Numerology and Vastu as he goes on to prove their dubious and deceptive nature backed by scientific proofs.

Having taken up the cause of eradicating superstitions, Dr. Dabholkar shares some stunning anecdotes and brings to light certain facts that continue to stagnate the Indian society. ?Anddha Shraddha Nirmulan Samiti? (ANS), a voluntary organization working through 170 branches located in rural and urban Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa, is a People‘s movement working solely on support of the people and for the people. Great Bhet brings to light the 20 year journey of ANS as Dr. Narendra Dabholkar proudly reviews its activities and shares the mission ahead.

Dr. Narendra Dabholkar is also the editor of the weekly ?Sadhana Saptahik?, a collective effort which was started by Sane Gurujee and hosted many programmes on the occasion of its diamond jubilee year in 2007.

To view this attention-grabbing and myth shattering discussion, tune in to IBN Lokmat‘s GREAT-BHET on 19th December 2009, at9:30pm.

You can also watch this interview in ?Great Bhet? on Sunday @ 12:00 pm & 5:00 pm and hear Dr. Narendra Dabholkar speak his mind.

MUMBAI: A lovely surprise awaits one and all this festive season on Star CJ Alive. As part of its programming activities and in recognition of the upcoming festive season, the channel has decided to reinvent Santa Clause.

We‘ve all grown up knowing a Red Santa Clause but Star CJ decided to reinvent the jolly old man and turn him a bright and sunny yellow this festive season. Traditionally, Santa has always been Red but STAR CJ has invented a new icon for this festive season i.e. The Yellow Santa.

Commenting on the reasoning behind the yellow Santa Clause, Donald Kwag, Head of Marketing says, "Yellow depicts the warm, sunny and jovial disposition of Santa and given that yellow is our brand logo color, we thought why not have a nice and cheery yellow Santa Clause on our programmes to welcome our viewers this festive season."

As a part of the festive celebrations on Star CJ Alive, the sets on all the programmes will be sporting a bright yellow colour and the yellow Santa Clause will be a part of all the programmes. He will have loads of exciting gifts and offers for the viewers, keeping his trademark of gifting and delivering surprises.

Star CJ Alive on Star Utsav has unique episodic-themed entertainment segments to feature their three clutter breaking categories - Digital Life dealing with quality electronics products, Beautiful Life representing the latest trends in fashion& beauty and Wonderful Life catering to exclusive home appliances and accessories.

STAR CJ believes in surprising people and transforming their lifestyle with their products and cutting edge programmes. Hence, it is but natural that the company transforms the grand old man "Santa" from Red to Yellow.

This festive season, the Indian consumer will be spoilt for choice with a range of gifting options consisting of some of the finest and premium brands available on Star CJ Alive at great value in a hassle-free, secure and entertaining shopping environment.

MUMBAI: Get ready to witness the wickedest journey ever on ?MTV Hero Honda Roadies Season 7? as the final 14 were flagged off at the 1st ever Roadies concert! As India?s hottest reality series goes on air, VJ Rannvijay has made his selection of the final 14 roadies from among the shortlisted 24 riders. The special guests to announce the final 14 Roadies were R. Madhavan & Sharman Joshi ? ?3 Idiots?. Don?t miss the ultimate Roadies concert as it will showcase performances by Agnee and MTV?s very own Saadhak ? winner of ?Rock On?, This Sunday, December 29th at 7pm only on MTV!

With a brand new surprise spin on the Roadies Theme as well as the smash hit Splitsvilla Theme Song, Agnee - the new face of Indi-Rock - set the stage on fire. There?s a lot more in store for all those who could not get enough of the hit musical reality series ?Rock on with MTV?! The winning band Saadhak performed a mix of hits.

The Roadies concert has announced the final 14 Roadies; Gaurav Gill, Meghna Mirgnani, Ameya Ravindra Kadam, Amritpal Singh from Mumbai, Mohit Malik, Nisha rana, Ravneet kaur, from Chandigarh Priyanka R. Roy, Anwar Syed, Eric Roy from Kolkata Vikas Ambwani from Rajasthan, Charlie Chauhan, Zaid bin Nazir from Bangalore, and Bharti Nagpal from Delhi. For all those who missed the action on ?Ride with Rannvijay?, now is the time to get updated! The round of auditions chose 24 ?riders?, beginning with online auditions moving on to group discussions and personal interviews on ground. These ?riders? then went on to the next level ?Ride with Rannvijay? and performed the toughest tasks from the past 6 seasons. For the first time in Roadies history, 10 riders will be eliminated before the journey kicks off, purely based on their performance.

Brace yourselves as the journey of a lifetime has begun! Catch all the action, on December 20th, Sunday at 7 pm on MTV!