MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television, the official exclusive broadcaster of Lakme India Fashion Week with Liberty shoes (LIFWL) 2003, will in all probability, showcase the event on 10, 17 and 24 August 2003 (all Sundays) at 9 pm.
The event which kicked off last Friday is currently underway at Mumbai's Jamshed Bhabha auditorium at the NCPA in south Mumbai.
The channel will use the footage of the LIFWL 2003 to develop three special one hour capsules. Sources reveal that SET India's plans are to broaden the base of fashion and ensure that the 'fashion revolution' reaches people in different parts of the country.
SET India's stall at Jamshed Bhabha auditorium had hair stylists, make up artists, tarot card readers and accessories and jewellery designers who catered to visitors even as sequences from Sony TV's serials flashed in the background. In fact, sister channel MAX's popular anchor Mandira Bedi was also seen making her appearance felt at the stall and the venue. Other popular Sony serial stars were also spotted.
The channel has plans to leverage its strong distribution network and introduce fashion concepts to people who live in places other than the four metros, say channel sources. Each of the three one-hour episodes will have different themes and will adopt a magazine style storytelling format interspersed by 'fashion messages' by popular television icons. The idea is to maintain the tempo and sustain interest in fashion even after the LIFWL 2003 comes to an end.
NAFISA JOSEPH TO ANCHOR SHOW ON FASHION
The channel plans to use TV celebrities to communicate fashion trends and precepts. Nafisa Joseph will be an anchor in a show on fashion that will be on air soon after the telecast of LIFWL. The show will seek to demystify fashion concepts and present them to the C&S audiences in different parts of the country. Joseph teamed up with fashion designer Raghavendra Rathore to conduct "Fashion Quiz - Fashion Grill" on Sunday, 20 July 2003 at 10 am at the LIFWL 2003 venue. This was part of the FDCI-DHL business fashion seminar series.
SET was supposed to organise a surprise for fashion enthusiastics during the Liberty Revolutions show scheduled for Sunday 20 July 2003. Channel officials were trying to get leading Sony TV stars such as Simone Singh Heena, Gauri Pradhan Kutumb, Naam Gum Jayega, Shilpa Kadam Naam Gum Jayega, Rahul Bhatt Heena and Nafisa Joseph to walk the ramp.
However, the one-of-its-kind sequence was shelved as the stars couldn't commit their presence due to previous engagements. This was unfortunate as the Liberty Revolutions show really rocked and had the audiences drooling for more. In fact, it was one of the high points of the weekend sessions.
Despite being the official broadcaster, SET is not airing the proceedings of LIFWL 2003 on a daily basis - unlike several other news and general entertainment channels. All the other channels are bound by restrictions as per the terms and conditions put forth by the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) - for instance news channels can only air three minutes of LIFWL footage per 21 minutes of original programming during LIFWL,
However, several rival TV channels indulged in "ambush telecasting" over the first three days of LIFWL 2003. Zee Turner group's Trendz was very much a part of the proceedings and even held some gigs prior to the commencement of the LIFWL 2003 event at popular Mumbai hotspots. Prannoy Roy's NDTV managed to exclusively tie up with certain designers who had their nocturnal private parties at popular hotspots.
The NDTV channels (24x7 and NDTV India) beamed the happenings 'live and exclusive'. On 20 August, sports channel Star Sports made its presence felt between 5 pm to 7 pm when giant screens showing the live telecast of F1 London were put at Foster's Pitstop (Foster's is the official partner for LIFWL 2003) within the premises of Jamshed Bhabha auditorium as well as Sidewok restaurant within the NCPA premises.
Looks as if SET will have to urge the FDCI to incorporate several new clauses so as to counter this "ambush telecasting" as the channel has bagged the official rights for the next three years.