Zoom is hot + happening!

Zoom is a very smart move made by the Times of India group of publications. After the stupendous success of Bombay Times, which was mainly due to the page 3 section, the top management has read the signs and launched the lifestyle channel. The channel essentially caters to the up market section of society with the parties, the fashion dope, and everything-glitzy and glam. What I like about Zoom is that it is completely a page 3 concoction and makes no bones about it.

Zoom had a very well publicized launch with billboards all over the city announcing its foray into the television world. As many people know the voice of Zoom is Sushmita Sen, whose voice announces the tagline of the channel ’Zoom, Isko Dekho’ Zoom has a pretty snazzy presentation style, something I believe that has been modeled on the lines of a foreign channel.

The shows on zoom that do make for interesting viewing are Popkorn, Kya Kahein, Price tag (which is a filler actually), and the Manish Malhotra show.
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Popkorn gives the entire grapevine about the Indian television industry. It has daily updates on who is in, which serial or personality is out and all the related controversies. The show is telecast on weeknights at 10. A new touch to the show is that nowadays it has a different television personality hosting the show on the weekends. (P.S. last week our made-over gal Jassi hosted it)

Price tag is cool because we get to know the actual worth of the attire of the featured actor/actress. It was astonishing to see Tanushree Dutta (who was last year’s Miss India) whose attire totaled one lac rupees(sheesh..I could buy lots of stuff with that kind of money).

The Manish Malhotra show is somewhat a poor cousin of the Koffee with Karan show. The reason I say this is because although he also gets the A-list celebrities on the show, he finds it very difficult to make them talk on awkward questions. (Manish, run to Karan bhaiya for tips on that ability).

I am not too fond of ’Kosmic chat’, which is hosted by Sunita Menon and Simone Singh. But for tarot card aficionados, this show would be a must watch. It also features celebrities who shuffle the tarot cards and ask questions about their future. Sunita does give some serious believable answers and then again it’s finally up to the viewers to decide. One very irritating show on Zoom is ’Not just page 3 ’ hosted by Pooja Bhatt. The hostess is extremely irritating and guests also look bored on it. She has started another show ‘Just Pooja’ on Zoom that needs to be avoided like crazy.

’Kya Kahein’ hosted by Irfan ‘underrated’ Khan has episodes dealing with the supernatural. Some of the episodes were good and some so-so but it lacks consistency. ‘Page 3’ telecast daily at 7.30 P.M, is essentially the guide to the parties and happenings in town. It is hosted by two PYTs who dish out all the dope on the happenings.

Lately the channel has also started showing crossover films on Saturday nights. Although this is a nice concept, what I feel is that they could also start screening old Hollywood classics that are not seen much on any channels.

The channel also has tie up with E! Entertainment because of which they get to telecast E! Entertainment features like ‘Celebrity homes’, ‘Its good to be’ etc. Both the shows show the lifestyles of the rich and famous people in Hollywood. So if you haven’t had your fill of upper crust ‘phoren’ glamour, this is what you should be tuning into.

If you want more information on the timings of the various programs and more details you can log onto zoomtelevision.indiatimes.com. Bombay Times needed a media representation and Zoom has fit the bill quite nicely. To sum it up, Zoom has lots of beautiful people, nonstop party roundups and glamour. Enjoy or rather tune in till the party lasts.