Post Swayamvar, Imagine launches Pati Patni Aur Woh

Ankit Jain -Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
NDTV Imagine has some good reason to smile. In the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space, the final episode of its marriage-based reality show, called Rakhi Ka Swayamvar, clocked in ratings of 8.4 TRPs on August 2, 2009. This is the highest score for a non-fiction show till now in 2009.

To maintain the performance consistency of the channel via the Rakhi factor, the channel is coming up with yet another show centered around marriage theme. Rakhi Sawant and her 'official husband' Elesh Parujanwala are getting ready to take their relationship to the next level, by playing parents on a new reality show, called Pati Patni Aur Woh.

Pati Patni Aur Woh is being launched after Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. Nikhil Madhok, vice-president, marketing, NDTV Imagine, explains that in the GEC space, its the innovation that has gone up drastically to maintain the lead position.

Madhok says, "Some time back, there were two-three shows being launched annually and these shows were being replaced after a long period. Now every other month, there is a new launch as channels have at least six-seven new shows lined up for a year."

Meanwhile, Rakhi has even decided on a name for her child. "I will call her Khushi," she says. When asked about the concept behind the show, she says, "I don't know. All I know is that I am going in a house just to have a picnic for one month."

Rakhi and Elesh will be joined by four other celebrity couples - Shilpa Saklani and Apurva Agnihotri; Juhi Parmar and Sachin Shroff; Mouni Roy and Gaurav Chopra; and Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Chaudhary.

The show's format is borrowed from The Baby Borrowers (BBC Worldwide Productions), in which five couples, aged 16 to 19, start off by attempting to look after a baby for three days, before moving onto toddlers, preteens, teenagers and finally an elderly person.

In the Indian version, the couples will spend an entire month in a closed environment, monitored by cameras all the time, which will also capture their journey as they embark on a new life of discovery as first-time parents.