MUMBAI: Zee Marathi will be airing the "Zee Gaurav Awards" on 31 March at 7 pm.

"Zee Gaurav Awards" is a television and cinema award show in India initiated by Zee Network to reward excellence in the Marathi entertainment world. The awards were presented on 22 March in Mumbai.

The show was anchored by Nilesh Sabale and Abhijeet Khankekar. Legendary Music director Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar was honoured with Lifetime achievement award by Pandit Jasrajji on this occasion.

Gauri Shinde received the Special Gaurav Puraskar ?Marathi Paul Padate Pudhe? for her grand entry with "English Vinglish " into Bollywood.

This year, in the film?s category, ?Balak Palak? received seven awards in different categories.

The best actor Sachin Khedekar and best actress award in films went to Priya Bapat for ?Kaksparsh?.

Bollywood director Balki, Ritesh Deshmukh, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Mahesh Kothare, Sonali Kulkarni, Ashwini Bhave, Varsha Usgaonkar, Dr Jabbar Patel, Suresh Wadkar, Sadhana Sargam, Sachin Khedekar, Mrunal Kulkarni, Aishwarya Narkar, Sandeep Kulkarni, Chandrakant Kulkarni and Kavita Medhekar were among those who graced the event along with several small screen celebrities.

MUMBAI: Zee Marathi is set to launch a new sitcom titled ?Shejari Shejari Pakke Shejari?.

Starting 27 February, the show will air every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 9.30 pm.

The show is about the lack of clarity when a Maharashtrian B. L. Pathak meets his match in another B.L. Pathak from U.P, which will lead to utter confusion.

According to the channel, the show is embellished with a plethora of quirky characters who will add to its humour quotient and situations that is bound to get the audience rolling on the floor with laughter.

The show features Anand Ingale and Vaibhav Mangale.

The show?s launch is being marketed across Maharashtra with on-air campaigns on network and non-network channels, a Radio campaign and reinforcement of tune-in on Print.

The show?s potential to cut across audience profiles and also its viral nature is being leveraged to market the show across social media platforms, the channel said.

The story begins with two strugglers Ballal Lambodar Pathak, an aspiring poet from Pune and Brij Laal Pathak, an aspiring actor from U.P coming to the big city. Sheer coincidence makes the namesakes come
together as tenants of an old man Bapu Damle. They become best of friends and also Bapu?s only family.

The genesis of the feud between Ballal and Brij Lal begins when Bapu leaves his huge house to one B.L. Pathak. The problem was that he did not specify the first name. And now there is no way to find out which B.L. Pathak was Bapu referring to. What ensued was a fight between two friends and the house getting split in two parts.

Ballal who is still a struggling poet and Brij who has now built a ?raddi? empire, have built a wall right in the centre of the house which divides it into equal halves. The wall not only divides the
house but also their hearts. Both of them can?t stand each other and the sole purpose of their existence is to oust the other from the house.

Their daily squabbles, their devious plans and the competition between each family constitute the spice of this show.

MUMBAI: Zee Marathi said Saturday that two of its shows, ?Dance Maharashtra Dance? and ?Home Minister?, have been selected in ?Greatest Shows on the Earth? series by RDF Television from Britain.

RDF Television has been commissioned to make ?The Greatest Shows on the Earth? by Channel 4, one of the four terrestrial broadcasters in the UK.
 
Zee Marathi business head Nikhil Sane said, "Zee Marathi has always launched shows that have inspired and set trends in Marathi Entertainment. Each show has catered to range of emotions; love, pride, honor, fulfillment, joy, tears of compassion. The shows are receiving great applause from nationally and internationally which boosts our enthusiasm. It gives us great pleasure and encouragement to give innovative and best quality entertainment to our viewers. Zee Marathi always believe on quality entertainment and chose to focus on the interpersonal relationships that reflects the ethos of region."

"?Dance Maharashtra Dance?is a show that is evidently well loved in the region and offers a window onto the very heart and soul of Indian life. Home Minister is a show that fascinates us in the way it celebrates the typical humble Maharashtrian housevives. We do not have anything like this in Britain," RDF Television- London executive producer of Greatest Shows on the Earth Teressa Watkins said.

Dance Maharashtra Dance is a dancing talent hunt show judged by Urmila Matondkar and mentored by Swaroop Medara, Devendra Shelar and Soniya Parchure.

Meanwhile, Home Minister is a game show where two families participate and compete with each other.

MUMBAI: Zee Marathi is all set to give a stage to dance lovers by introducing a dance reality show ?Dance Maharashtra Dance?.

The channel has taken the cue of launching the show from ?Dance India Dance? that is a very popular property of sister channel Zee TV.

?Dance Maharashtra Dance? will start auditioning people in the age group of 15-30 in Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nasik, Kolhapur, Pune, Thane and Mumbai.

From the auditions conducted in these seven cities, 18 finalists will be selected for the show and after which the "Dancing Superstar" will be crowned.

The show is expected to go on-air in the second week of December and will air bi-weekly at 9.30 pm. However, the final date of launch of the show is yet to be decided.

Zee Marathi business head Nikhil Sane said, "?Dance Maharashtra Dance? is the ultimate platform to showcase the talent and charisma of Maharashtra?s most gifted dancers. In a bid to attract the finest dancing talent from every nook and corner of the Maharashtra, Dance Maharashtra Dance?s creative team has been conducting auditions across 7 cities in Maharashtra. The show is shaping up beautifully and we are confident that it will see a fabulous innings with passionate aspirants!!"

MUMBAI: Zee Marathi is launching the new season of its chat show ?Khupte Tithe Gupte? on 7 November.

To be hosted by Avadhoot Gupte, the first episode of this new season will witness Narayan Rane as the guest.

In an unusual act, Rane will be seen expressing his respect towards the Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray on the show.

"I have utmost respect for Balasaheb Thackeray. I call him the king of Maharashtra and Marathi people. I had to leave Shiv Sena as my presence in the party was causing rifts between Balasaheb and his son. Being an honest party worker, I was ready to obey Balasaheb but I could not do the same for his son. So, I moved out in order to maintain peace between the father and son", Rane said when asked about his reason behind leaving the party.

The show will air every Wednesday and Thursday at 9.30 pm.