MUMBAI: Ashish Golwalkar, who had quit Zee TV as non-fiction head in August this year, has joined Star Plus to head the non-fiction content of the channel.

Golwalkar has replaced Vaibhav Modi who had quit Star Plus in September this year. He will report to Star Plus general manager Nachiket Pantvaidya.

Golwalkar had a stint of 12 years at Zee TV before joining Star Plus.

He was credited for shows like Dance India Dance.

MUMBAI: Star Plus is launching a new show titled ‘Veera‘ that will narrate a story about a brother-sister bond.

Starting 29 October, the new show will air from Monday to Friday at 10.30 pm.

‘Veera‘ is replacing Star Plus‘ long-running show ‘Pratigya‘ which is going off-air this week. The new show will compete with the leader of the slot Sony Entertainment Television‘s (Set) Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Zee TV‘s ‘Punarvivaha‘ and Colors‘ Parichay.

Star Plus GM Nachiket Pantvaidya said, "Veera is a story of complex human relationships narrated through a loving brother Ranvijay, who becomes a motherly-figure for his sister. ‘Veera‘ is a heartfelt story of a brother and sister bond that will give viewers hope and will highlight the importance of nurturing old bonds with their siblings. The relationship between siblings is unique and has a special place in our lives."

Produced by Beyond Dreams, the show is being directed by Waseem Sabeer.

According to the channel, Ranvijay and Veera‘s (lead characters) story is set to provide a ray of hope to all its viewers who often found themselves tangled in their complex daily life which is replete with strained relationships, rocky marriages, troubles family ties, routine pressures and hollow and materialistic existence.

‘Veera‘ will fill an important void that is created by existential battles to survive "extremely busy" and "stressful" lives. The show will sensitively reinstate one‘s faith in family ties that now suffer from monotonous and hectic lifestyles, the channel said.

MUMBAI: Star Plus, the leading Hindi GEC, is beefing up its weekend primetime where it lags behind rival networks Sony Entertainment Television (Set), Colors and Zee TV.

The channel is launching two one-hour fiction shows at the 8 and 9 pm band from 11 August.

?Teri Meri Love Stories? will occupy the 9 pm slot on Saturdays and Sundays, a time zone where Star Plus was airing repeats. It will compete with reality shows like ?Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa? (Colors), ?DID lil Masters? (Zee TV) and ?Indian Idol? (Set).

?Arjun? will replace ?Gumrah?, a Channel [V] property, to air at 8 pm. It will have to encounter Set?s crime-based property ?Adalat? that airs from 7.30-8.30 pm. Colors, on the other hand, telecasts special episodes of one of its fiction shows every Saturday. Meanwhile, Zee TV airs repeats at this slot.

?Teri Meri Love Stories? is a collection of "heartfelt" stories of people who surrender to the pressures of life and are letting love fade. Knocking on their inward eye, the realisation that comes with small incidents helps them rekindle love in their lives. Each story shown is a depiction of the re-discovery and re-colouring of fading love or a missed opportunity to find love in the chores of modern day existence.

?Arjun? is an action/crime investigation series that will see the lead character, Arjun, to solve crime-based cases. He, along with the Emergency Task Force Team, will aim to free the world from all crimes.

Produced by Four Lions Productions, Arjun is directed by Gorkhy.

Star Plus GM Nachiket Pantvaidya said, "We hope to get spikes from our weekend properties. We want to make the weekend fiction programmes more of a habit for the viewers. We aim to project ourselves as No. 1 in the weekend with the launch of ?Arjun?, ?Teri Meri Love Stories? and ?Lakhon Mein Ek?."

?Lakhon Mein ek?, which has replaced Aamir Khan?s Satyamev Jayate, features stories of real life people who rose above the ordinary through choices they made. The show features inspiring tales of courage that has the potential to change entrenched mindsets, the channel said.

Mumbai: Star Plus that had opened the Sunday morning slot with Amir Khan?s Satyamev Jayate is replacing the big-budget show with another show that focuses on issues of social consequence, ?Lakhon Mein Ek?.

Starting 5 August the show will air every Sunday at 11 am. Satyamev Jayate, which went off air on 29 July, rated an average of 2-2.5 TVR.

?Lakhon Mein Ek? will feature stories of real life people who rose above the ordinary through choices they made - be it a young girl helping her widowed mother find marital bliss yet again or a father, who lost his son to ragging, start a sustained campaign against such abuse or a mother lend her womb to bear her daughter?s child. The person behind the story would be introduced at the end of each episode. The show will feature inspiring tales of courage that has the potential to change entrenched mindsets, the channel said.

Produced by Big Synergy, the show will be hosted by Pooja Gor who plays lead in Star Plus? fiction property ?Mann Ki Awaaz Pratigya?. Being the ?Sutradhar? of Lakhon Mein Ek, she will be introducing each story and guiding viewers with the key message from each episode.

Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, "Excellence and distinctiveness are values that are very often ignored. Satyamev Jayate reinforced what we knew about our viewers. They have an appetite for compelling stories that are built around the communities that we live in and that have a material impact on the kind of country we want to build and live in. Lakhon Mein Ek is consistent with that philosophy. The show itself is part of Star?s efforts to use TV?s reach and power to shape society?s outlook and mindset by making examples out of individuals who influence change."

Star Plus head Nachiket Pantvaidya added, "It?s Star doing its best to deliver content that helps transform mindsets through programmes that are sensitively made. Lakhon Mein Ek showcases people who are real heroes and who have dealt with difficult circumstances. Star Plus is committed to talking to masses and hence we are coming up with another show that relates to them. This is a new slot we are investing in and we want to create an area where we tackle issues that will touch people?s lives in multiple ways."

MUMBAI: Star India has elevated Nachiket Pantvaidya to head its flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Star Plus as its general manager.

Prior to this, Pantvaidya was heading Star India?s Marathi GEC Star Pravah.

Star India spokesperson has confirmed the development to Indiantelevision.com.

Pantvaidya is replacing Nitin Vaidya, who had quit following his 14 months stint at Star India.

Pantvaidya had joined Star Group in November 2009 as MD of Fox Television Studios India. Later he was moved to Star Pravah as EVP and GM.

Prior to that, Pantvaidya has worked with Balaji Telefilms, BBC Worldwide, Disney and Sony Entertainment (now Multi Screen Media).

Also Read:

Nitin Vaidya quits Star India