Indian Idol in the rating race

ZOOMING IN

SONY ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION has announced for the first time ratings for the channel's biggest reality show, Indian Idol.

Sunil Lulla, executive vice president, Sony Entertainment Television confirms, "According to TAM research the first episode bagged an average rating of 5.8 and pulled in nearly 15 million viewers through the subsequent episodes. The viewership has increased by 113 per cent in the launch week as it entered the top 50 slots."

Sony's strategies for garnering viewer interest for Indian Idol have been fantastic. Picture this: Kkusum, that airs on the prime-time slot on Sony showed an episode where the main character watches snippets of Indian Idol.

Similarly, on Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and Yeh Meri Life Hai, episodes have been dedicated to Indian Idol where characters announce their desire to be a part of Indian Idol. Lulla admits, "The idea was to create an aggressive marketing campaign to ensure a good sampling for the show."

How optimistic is Sony about the show? "In all other countries, the opening ratings of Idol as a format show have been softer. The pick-up really begins in the fifth and sixth week of launch. We have had a much better start and I'm sure we'll only improve from here," is what Lulla says.

The episodes so far have shown the search for the Indian Idol in New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. Frantic queues of youngsters, in one case a septuagenarian posing as a 29-year-old, a mother abusing judges on being told that her daughter couldn't sing and many other episodes have made this programme extremely entertaining.

The judges have trimmed the number to 130 contestants who have gone through the 'theatre round' of the show. "There are many more interesting rounds coming up and after the number is further trimmed down to 30 the fate of the Indian Idol aspirants will be in the hands of the viewers," says Lulla.

Nokia, Silk & Shine, Godrej Ambi-Pure, Airtel and Rejoice shampoo have sponsored the show and already the SMS queries requested on the show have garnered over 100 million responses.

An emporium and a cafe

THE NEW Ravi Bajaj emporium in New Delhi's Greater Kailash I is the latest in a long line of treats for the pampered Indian man who, according to Bajaj, "never had it so good".

Not only have they started invading salons with their new-found love for facials and manicures, not only have they tried to get a foot in on the jewellery market with diamond-embossed ties, now men are storming the last defence women had: they are going shopping.

The Ravi Bajaj Menswear Emporio, opened October 27, caters to three kinds of looks: formal wear, casual wear and sports wear, each to a floor. On the top floor, Ravi Bajaj displays his made-to-measure premium clothing, the Ravi Bajaj Gentlemen line.

Smacking of old world gentility, this line comes to Delhi from across the globe; there are finely cut suits from Italy, cashmere sweaters from Scotland and English cuff links. The Indian gentleman of leisure somehow also manages to squeeze in here, among classic bandgalas and sherwanis.

Continuing with its slightly continental air, the emporium also includes a coffee shop, Le Café, on the top floor. This comes to you from Diva's Ritu Dalmia, who promises everything from the standard cup of coffee to pasta to what she describes as "innovative quiche".

Bajaj carries on his eclectic, if slightly bewildering, mix of the home and the world with his newest line of women's wear. Besides his classic black and white line, he has mixed colours such as fuschia that are far more appropriate to a summer picnic.

With Bajaj's flurry of styles from across the globe, and colours from across the spectrum, his line has no one overarching theme; he tries to tie any loose ends together by making all of his creations share the one quality of style.