TV boomtown

ICE MASALA

India Today Group. Apparently the company will move its broadcasting business "" news channels Aaj Tak and Headlines Today "" to the new venue. Reason? The company is expanding and a city-specific channel is on its way.

Media industry sources say that the company's current office and studios at the Videocon Towers in Delhi's Jhandewalan are already bursting at the seams. The new owners will have Dainik Jagran Group's news channel, Channel 7 as their neighbour. Last heard even CNBC was contemplating shifting out of Jhandewalan to Noida Film City.

Radio GA GA

TV Today may be kicking off its metro channel, but it seems Mid-Day has put the idea of launching its channel for Mumbai on the back-burner. Broadcasting industry has been abuzz with rumours that the channel was to be called 022.

The company's chief financial officer Manajit Ghosal rubbishes the suggestion. "The TV channel is not top of the mind for us. The market is overcrowded. Besides the new FM radio guidelines are in place and that is the area we'd like to expand in," he says.

Whatever will be

Is Anil Ambani's company buying out the television software and film production company K Sera Sera? It is well known that Ambani's company had picked up a 5 per cent stake in K Sera Sera some time back. But now the entertainment industry sources say that K Sera Sera may be selling out to Ambani.

Executives in the two companies refused to confirm the development (a top K Sera Sera executive said that the company was faring well on its own) but sources insisted that the deal is in offing.

Hollywood act, finally

After much song and dance in the Indian and international press about the proposed film offers, former Miss World and the ravishing Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai seems all set to do a real Hollywood flick.

Ash will play the female lead in the $70 million period drama Last Legion co-starring Ben Kingsley (who played Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough 1982 film Gandhi) and Colin Firth.

The film will be directed by Doug Lefler, who in the past had directed TV serial Hercules and was the first assistant director of Spiderman. Last Legion will begin to roll in August this year and will reportedly be shot in Tunisia, Italy and Slovakia.