Colors adds more shades to its bouquet

The channel will launch three new shows - 'Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi', 'Shastri Sisters' and 'The Anupam Kher Show' soon.

After successfully launching the seventh season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa on June 7, Colors is readying itself for three new shows, two fiction and one non-fiction.

The first one is a fictional love story-based show, titled 'Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi'. Launching on June 24, the show will occupy the 10 pm slot from Monday to Friday, replacing 'Uttaran' which is being shifted to the 10.30 pm slot as Colors' Bani goes off-air.

Post that, the channel will launch 'Shastri Sisters', a story of four sisters. In the promo, the sisters are seen migrating from Kanpur with their parents. 'Shastri Sisters' will showcase the bond between the sisters as they go through trying situations while leaving the house they have grown up in and the associated memories.

The non-fiction show in the pipeline is 'The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai', an extension of Kher's autobiographical play 'Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai' where he has openly spoken about his failure and how he has manipulated his destiny.

Through conversations with Bollywood's celebrities, Kher plans to uncover the hidden chapters from their book of life, stories of their resilience, heartbreaks, triumphs and how they've turned every obstacle into a milestone just as he had resurrected his own life.

Colors, launched in 2008, has been perceived as a channel that airs shows pertaining to social issues. It is trying to change that. "Its our constant effort to offer viewers a wide variety of content. I think the perception started changing since 'Madhubala'. We now want to pick the best of every emotion and present shows that cater to every viewer. With 'Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi', while we want to attract more audiences, we also want to expand our bouquet of offerings," says Prashant Bhatt, weekday programming head, Colors.

'Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi' is the fourth love-story based show by Colors, the others being - 'Madhubala', 'Beintehaan' and 'Rangrasiya'. According to Bhatt, though the main genre of these shows is the same, the narrative style of all the shows is different as every show has its own DNA.

Produced by Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms, 'Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi' addresses the anguish of one-sided love, narrated from the male protagonist's point of view. Set in present-day Mumbai, the show narrates the story of close friends Ranveer (played by Shakti Arora) and Ishaani (played by Radhika Madan), and talks about the thin line of difference between true friendship, loyalty and love. This is the fourth show that Balaji is doing with Colors, after 'Koi Aane Ko Hai', 'Bairi Piya' and 'Parichay'.

Kapoor adds, "The USP of the show is the emotional journey that the audiences will trace with Ranveer, as his feelings for Ishaani pull at their heart strings. Every actor in the show has been carefully chosen for the character they will be portraying, making them the perfect fit as they play crucial roles in taking the storyline forward. Our characters are relatable and if viewers are able to feel the pain that Ranveer feels every time his heart breaks a little more, it will be an ultimate win for us."

Of late, viewership for almost all the fiction shows of the channel are deteriorating. It will be interesting to see if Colors can bounce back with these four new shows. Colors, the No.2 or No.3 player in the Hindi GEC hierarchy for long, has been struggling and has been pushed to No.4 by Star India's second Hindi GEC, Life OK.