The festive season is upon us, and it is not just the film industry that plans its big releases as a treat for movie lovers. Unlike the past, the preferred mode of entertainment has drastically changed. The audience largely remains at home to celebrate the festivities while watching scores of special programmes and blockbuster cinema on TV. This Gowri Ganesha, one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India especially Karnataka, is seeing Kannada TV channels ready with several programmes to make it even more special, and the audience is seriously spoilt for choice.
“When there was only one regional channel, it served a limited audience as technology and the reach was a great challenge. Then, it was films which were the first choice to mark any special occasion with family members. As a kid, I still remember that after celebrating any festival, most family members would get ready to head to the nearest theatre on foot, and then one of us would fight it out in the queue to get tickets to watch the grand release of a star film. Now, it is completely different, as the number of special programmes and shows keep the TV audience busy with their remote,” says Srinivas, a serial director.
This Gowri Ganesha, almost every Kannada TV channel has a surprise for their audience. If Putgowri of Putgowri Maduve showcases dance moves welcoming Ganesha, ace singers Vijay Prakash and Rajesh Krishnan will be performing special numbers along with several classical singers for more than three hours. The show will go on air on August 25, 26 and 27 on Colors TV with singer Vijay Prakash hosting the show, and R.K. Padmanabh, B.Jayashri and Varijashri who will sing songs on a Vinayaka special. For the first time, Vijay Prakash’s wife Mahathi will be joining him in a song on Ganesha Swarabhisheka on 25 August. Chowdeshwari Mahime, a devotional movie is also being telecast on the day of the festival.
Fans of Brahmagantu teleserial, a Zee Kannada show will air a special programme Brahmagantu Ganeshotsava which will go on air at 4 pm on Sunday. “We have a special programme on the Ganesh festival on Friday at 1 pm where Golden Star Ganesh and director Yogaraj will revisit ‘jog falls’ and share their journey from Mungaru Male to Mugulu Nage,” says Raghavendra Hunsur, programming head of Zee Kannada.
Even Star Suvarna is welcoming Gowri and Ganesh with a special Dance Dance Juniors programme this weekend where the fictional artists from its channel are joining the kid’s reality show to perform dance numbers along with the little ones.
On Udaya TV, Ganesh Chaturthi is getting crazy with Crazy Star V Ravichandran launching the trailer of his elder son Manoranjan’s debut movie ‘Saheba’. There are more crazy surprises as well, watch on at 12 pm. This will be followed by Real Star turned politician Upendra talking about Ganesh celebrations and sharing his thoughts of entering into politics. Next on will be the team of Sarayu and Aramane who will be celebrating the festival.
