Entertainment - Star India's Marathi GEC to be launched

Sapna Nair

STAR India will soon roll out its Marathi general entertainment channel (GEC). JC Giri, executive vice-president and general manager, STAR India, says that the process is in its final stages and the channel should be launched by October end. The network launched its Bengali general entertainment channel, STAR Jolsha, in September this year. It was the second regional GEC from STAR’s stable after STAR Vijay, a Tamil GEC.

While there is no confirmation on the name of the channel, a source aware of the developments said that it might be called ‘Jalsa’ like its Bengali counterpart. It is believed that STAR wants to retain the name for its forthcoming Gujarati GEC as well.


JC Giri
The network carried out a research to identify the needs of the audience in Maharashtra. STAR’s Marathi GEC will have deep cultural roots. “What we realised from our research is that the Maharashtrian viewer likes to watch realistic stuff and does not like too much melodrama,” Giri said. The programming and packaging of the channel has been designed in accordance with these findings.

The channel will be positioned as one that reflects the pride and culture of Maharashtra and its people. A multi media campaign will roll out in a few days to announce the launch of the channel.

Next in the pipeline is the Gujarati GEC, which will be launched in November, followed by a Telugu GEC. STAR had firmed up its regional plans early this year and has plans to foray into other genres as well. The company plans to officially announce the launch of its Marathi GEC in the next two weeks. Some of the existing Marathi GECs on television are Zee Marathi, Mi Marathi by Sri Adhikari Brothers and Saam Marathi by the Sakal Group.