Bipasha Basu

The Bengali beam is going to get a new player by next week. Mahuaa Bangla, an off-shoot of Mahuaa Bhojpuri, is all set to kick off with a football reality show with Brazilian soccer legends Romario and Branco, and Bipasha Basu as the channel’s brand ambassador.

Mahuaa Bangla has commissioned Endemol India (makers of Bigg Boss and Khatron Ke Khiladi) to produce the high-profile show, The Match, for which Romario and Branco will camp in town and train budding footballers handpicked by former East Bengal coach Subhash Bhowmick from across the districts. A team of 48 players will be whittled down to 11, who will then be trained to take on a professional soccer team.

“It’s going to be the biggest football reality show on Indian television,” said Gitanjali Sehgal, senior vice-president, strategy, Mahuaa Media. “We want to revive various facets of Bengali culture through our programmes. We are trying to introduce some documentaries and tele-serials on Bengal’s heroes.”

Also in the Mahuaa Bangla basket is Sur Sangam, a reproduction of a popular music show on Mahuaa Bhojpuri. It will be judged by Bappi Lahiri and Alka Yagnik, and anchored by Debojit Saha. The other show to watch out for is the kids’ dance contest Twinkle Twinkle Dancing Star, featuring Raima Sen and choreographer Baba Yadav as judges, and Soham as the host.