MUMBAI: Maharashtrians eagerly await one festival every year- Ganesha Chaturthi. Preparations begin days ahead of the 11 day long festival. While homes are busy preparing for the occasion, Marathi TV channels are all set to attract viewers by lining up special programmes.
Zee Marathi has lined up a special series for the festive season called ‘Jallosh Ganarayacha’ that will be aired at 6pm from 29 August, Monday to Saturday. The series will see performances by TV artists as well as darshan and prasad distribution.
The tradition has been staunchly followed by several Maharashtrians after Lokmanya Tilak popularised it during the freedom movement. A part of that will be shown on Zee Marathi on 9 September. This apart, its regular shows will have Ganapati special such as Home Minister and Aamhi Saare Khavayye. A new show Ram Ram Maharashtra has been introduced at 8am.
The channel logo will have a Ganesh incorporated into it. Branding activity will be taken up across the state specially Mumbai and Pune in big and small pandals in the form of banners and hoardings. Through this the channel will give festive greetings to people.
Star Pravah viewers will see aartis being conducted on shows such as Pudhcha Paaul while Gauri pooja will be visible in all shows. Devyani will see the establishment of an eco-friendly Ganapati. An anchor based reality show Jallosh Bappacha will be telecast at 6pm all days. With Siddharth Dandekar, the show will travel to various mandals across the state as well as highlight the festivities that took place years ago.
Meanwhile, ETV Marathi will show a three hour long private celebration with its TV stars on 7 September at 7pm. In between shows people will see Ganeshotsav wishes from the channel for all days. Six times a day, every day, a three minute video with various artists performing aarti will be shown. This apart, it will also have branding across pandals in Mumbai and Pune.
Zee 24 Taas has been preparing for the season from the last two weeks. It has begun showing 1000 Ganapatis across the state. The channel has organised contests for best household Ganapati’s, mandal Ganapati’s and eco-friendly Ganesha. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has tied up for the third one to promote awareness about eco-friendly idols. Prizes will be distributed during a private function post the 11 days.
The first and the eleventh day will see the channel focus fully on the festival. Anchors will be dressed traditionally covering topics such as shopping and food preparations. Packages of how celebrities celebrate the festival will also be aired at various slots reserved in the morning and evening. Live telecast will be shown from all beaches of Mumbai on all the immersion days. New advertisers for the season include real estate companies, banks and agarbattis.
IBN Lokmat has various shows including Bappa Morya Re that will show idols from across the state, Gauri Aalya Ghari that will show celebrities performing pooja, Ganesh Nidhi that will be based on an NGO, Kalaganesh will show celebrity Ganapati idols and Naivaidyam will feature special recipes for preparing prasad. Here too, female anchors will be seen in sarees and male in kurtas. The channel has issued advertisements in leading Marathi papers for the same. On immersion days, it will show live telecast of the procession.
Channels surely are hoping to make a mark with these 10 days.
