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Cultural extravaganza to mark launch of CPI-M backed TV channel

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

A cultural extravaganza, with over 3,000 artistes including a galaxy of film stars, will mark the launch of Kairali, the TV channel of the Malayalam Communications Ltd, on Wednesday evening.

The stage show, claimed to be the most spectacular in Kerala, is to be held at the Chandrashekharan Nair Stadium at Thiruvananthapuram and telecast live. The floodlit stage built as per traditional Kerala architecture will come alive at 7.30 pm with 5,000 watts of sound and a 7,000 lumens projection system. A colour beam laser show is also planned.

Though the organisers planned to invite Miss World Yukta Mookhey to add glamour to the show it was shot down by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, which is backing the channel. Similarly, plans to bring leading Tamil and Bollywood stars were also shelved.

However, almost all Malayalam actors will line up on stage. They include Mamootty, who is the chairman of the venture, Mohanlal (director), Suresh Gopi, Madhu, Nedumudi Venu, Jagdeesh, Jagathi Sreekumar, Innocent, Kalabhavan Mani, Divya Unni, Abhirami and Chanchal.

The programme comprises a musical evening, a dance fiesta, jugalbandhi, Bharatheeyam and a grand finale. The musical evening will be led by K J Jesudas, Jayachandran, M G Sreekumar, K S Chithra, Sujatha etc. The dance fiesta consists of a recital by Shobhana and a team of 30 children, a programme by the 199-member troupe of Kala Master, Madras and classical dance recitals by the 200 member team from the Regatta Dance Academy.

The jugalbandhi in Hindustani and Carnatic styles will feature 200 artistes led by Ramesh Narayan. The grand finale will have specially choreographed recital combining Kathakali, Mohiniattam, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Odissi and Manipuri and also a dance drama combining Theyyam, Padayani, Arjunanritham, Garudan Parava, Velakali and Kavadi.

Bharatheeyam will be performed by 1,500 school children trained by the Sports Authority of India. The cultural programmes will be directed by Soorya Krishnamoorthy.

The channel will start regular telecasts Thursday morning. The channel will have its programmes uplinked from Kochi using a unique digital-analogue fusion technology. This is the first Malayalam channel to have uplinking facility in the state. Asianet and Surya TV are currently uplinking programmes from Madras.

The digital-analogue fusion technology envisages uplinking programmes through the digital mode and downlinking through the analogue mode. The technology, being used for the first time in India, will help in better quality transmission and wider reception, said V Krishna Kumar, chief operating officer of the channel.

The channel will have the usual commercial masala to attract viewers. However, the promoters say that they will devote more time to news and current affairs. There will be hourly news bulletins, besides three main bulletins.

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