Mumbai, Feb. 20 :
Mumbai, Feb. 20:
No lithe models undulating down the ramp in bikinis. No topless beauties sunning on the beach.
Under pressure from information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj, the Paris-based FTV has decided to stop broadcasting from next week its evening lingerie shows in India. Other revealing shows will also not be telecast on the channel between 6 and 10 pm.
This was part of a compromise FTV today made with the BJP-led government to ward off a ban, which channel director-general Francois Thiellet said would have been 'really unfortunate' because 'India has such a huge market'.
But this was not all. Thiellet said the channel would in a few months go native, concentrating on Indian fare and avoiding nudity. Well, as much as possible to avoid offending the minister.
'We want to give the channel an Indian feel, but it will take a few months because I need to confer with my partners and my bankers,' the FTV boss, who arrived in Mumbai this evening to search for a veejay for his music channel, told The Telegraph.
Accompanied by his programme director and a French embassy official, Thiellet met Swaraj in her office in New Delhi for about 40 minutes today. He said they mainly discussed how to 'sober up' the channel to avoid hurting Indian sensibilities.
They also talked at length about FTV's proposed Indianisation. 'The minister was very very open,' Thiellet said approvingly.
The FTV boss said Swaraj told him she had nothing against fashion or the channel. 'She said her attention was drawn by complaints that there is too much nudity on FTV.'
Thiellet agreed, though partly. 'There are underwear shows, cabarets and some New-Year shows, where you have some nudity, but the rest of the shows are pure fashion.' He said the channel decided to sensitise its evening offerings in India because 'we don't want to be seen as provocative'.
Swaraj suggested that the lingerie show ban continue from 6 to 11 pm. But the channel did not quite agree. 'We will definitely not broadcast lingerie shows till 10 pm, but we haven't decided what we'll show between 10 and 11 pm in India,' Thiellet said.





