Surabhi, the cultural show that once enjoyed cult status in the country, may soon be back.

This time on a satellite channel, with a more upmarket look, an urban slant and a young, dynamic style. Siddharth Kak's Cinema Vision India is in talks with Star India for relaunching the show in a new avatar later this year, says the producer. The task should not be difficult, considering the massive amount of research material and audio visual archives that are currently at Kak's disposal. The star anchor team of Kak and Renuka Shahane however, will not be gracing the programme anymore. "Its time for youngsters to take the show forward, to give it a new image," says Kak. "The generation that grew up on Surabhi is no longer the show's target audience," he points out. The Best of Surabhi is currently running on Star Plus on Sundays.

While the finer details of Surabhi's second phase are still being worked out, Kak has already firmed up plans for a Surabhi Foundation, an audiovisual archival treasure trove built up during research for the serial. The Surabhi Foundation is envisaged as a multimedia multiple platform for training events, discussions, workshops and screenings can take place. Part of the Foundation's exercise is Akshaya, a culture resource base envisaged as a single window offering, which will bring citizens over 20,000 hours of footage from the fields of dance, art, craft, music, culture, personalities, religion and architecture.