KOLKATA: Aakash Aath, a Bengali general entertainment channel (GEC), which had launched The Legends towards the end of last year is riding high on the success of show. Last week there was a growth in viewership by around 45 per cent.
The tribute to The Legends was launched by Aakash Aath from 3 November to be aired from Monday till Friday at 9.30 pm, where songs of the ‘golden era’ are sung by the singers of this era.
Every day, the show is devoted to a legendary singer like RD Burman, SD Burman, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Rafi among others. Popular singers of today’s times like Srikanto Acharya, Rupankar, Shubhomita, Ustad Rashid Khan, Monomoy and Amit Kumar would be singing these songs.
“The program is doing well. Few weeks ago, there was a growth in viewership by 45 per cent. The show is giving a lot of positive response. Legends never die and this show is a true example of that,” said Aakash Aath director Eshita Surana.
The show has an up market and classy look on the lines of Coke Studio. Mostly hit film songs of yesteryears or the would be sung in the show. The songs would be both Bengali and Hindi. Special relevance would be outlined to songs which have gone from Bangla films to Hindi films and vice versa, views Surana.
On what made Aakash Aath to launch this music show in the 9.30 time band, she said that old songs are an all time hit. “We feel at this time of the day people want something soothing and light hence came this idea. Gameshows are a tried and tested thing in this time slot. We did not want to become a ME TOO so thought something different,” Surana said.
When being asked to comment on the number of shows, she said till now at least 80 episodes in the first lot is planned and the rest depends on the viewers’ response. Till now, the GCE has aired more than 70 shows.
"We are doing the third lot of shooting for more 30 episodes," she said.
“Many new and repeat artists are calling us that they really want to perform on this show. Renowned artists like Srikanto Acharya, Madhura Bhattacharya and Raghab have also mentioned on the show that till now they have not got a better platform to perform like The Legends. They have all the freedom to sing whatever they like. We attempt to take music to the next level," concluded Surana.
