SABC dumps Eastern Mosaic; beloved Indian entertainment and lifestyle magazine show on SABC2 cancelled after 14 years.

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The SABC has dumped yet another iconic brand with the long-running Eastern Mosaic on SABC2 which has been quietly cancelled after almost 14 years on the air.

A new show for Indian viewers, Mela - named after the Sanskrit word for market or fair - was supposed to start this past Sunday 31 August as a new Indian entertainment and lifestyle show on SABC2 but didn't and will now start this coming Sunday, 7 September at 10:30.

There's been no notification from SABC2 that Eastern Mosaic had been cancelled, nor any explanation as to why the storied brandname has been dumped.

Although Eastern Mosaic has been cancelled and no further season or new episodes have been commissioned, SABC2 is not using the word cancelled.

SABC2 told TV with Thinus on Thursday in response to a media enquiry that "Eastern Mosaic was not cancelled, the season ended and therefore the channel took the decision to commission a brand-new lifestyle-inspired magazine show called Mela".

For nearly 14 years Eastern Mosaic, produced by Saira Essa and Mark Corlett from Red Carpet Productions, was the voice of South Africa's Indian community, with viewers tuning in for presenters Imraan Vagar and Candice Moodley who became households names.

Several new presenters were added during presenter searches in later years and last year Imraan Vagar left as anchor of Eastern Mosaic but remained involved as creative director behind the scenes.

Eastern Mosaic was actually much older than 14 years, following a reset in 2000 to rejuvenate the show into what viewers knew it as over the past years.

Like a lot of the few remaining longrunning SABC programming, Eastern Mosaic was also subject to the vagaries of the SABC's programming department. The show was moved and shunted between various timeslots and eventually also moved from SABC1 to SABC2.

In a Facebook posting Imraan Vagar noted the cancellation of the show, saying "Eastern Mosaic was of great significance to me personally, but I also feel that it was an important show to countless others because it did so much to celebrate and highlight the Indian community in South Africa - a community that had felt largely overlooked and marginalised by the mainstream media and the broader South African public in general".

"Naturally it's always sad to see an iconic brand reach the end of its run but I believe that the show's goodwill will live on in the memory of the people who welcomed it into their homes and hears - and the benchmark that it has set for similar shows in the future".

BREAKING. SABC2's Eastern Mosaic Indian magazine show celebrates a decade and ''10 magical years'' on the air.

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Eastern Mosaic, SABC2's weekly Indian entertainment and lifestyle magazine show produced by Red Carpet Productions is celebrating a decade on the air with its long-running presenters Imraan Vagar and Candice Moodley.

In today's special milestone edition, the show celebrated its 10th anniversary on the air on South African television. ''On 12 November 2000 the new-look Eastern Mosaic was launched with high hopes and great enthusiasm,'' said Candice Moodley. ''We don’t think the TV audience or the production team could have anticipated at the time just how Eastern Mosaic would grow over the decade that followed.''

''It's been 10 magical years for Eastern Mosaic,'' said Imraan Vagar. ''Ten is the number associated with the cosmos – completeness and perfection. To the Eastern Mosaic family it symbolizes a fantastic decade on air,'' said Candice Moodley.

Eastern Mosaic on SABC2 to celebrate its 10th anniversary next Sunday with a brand-new look.

Hard to believe but Eastern Mosaic, the high-gloss weekly Indian magazine show on SABC2 on Sundays at 11:00 will be celebrating a decade on the air next weekend. I can tell you that the show, produced by Red Carpet Productions, will celebrate its 10th birthday with a brand-new look.

Next Sunday's show on November 7 will also feature the group Instant Karma. It was their music video that was shown in the very first episode of Eastern Mosaic a decade ago, and they will be back for the 10th anniversary episode.

BREAKING. First look - wedding pictures of Isidingo's Rajesh and Priya

You're seeing the wedding pics here first. Eastern Mosaic on SABC2 just had an insert on the upcoming soapie wedding between Rajesh Kumar (Jack Devnarain) and Priyanka Naicker (Leeanda Reddy) of Isidingo on SABC3 - and here's the goss and the first pictures from screengrabs I just made!

A popular honeydew garden was chosen as the location for the traditional Hindu wedding. The ceremony is Hindi itself, and a combination between a South Indian and a North Indian wedding. The wedding is Hindi, since Rajesh is Hindu and it's his family arranging and paying for it. Priya in her beautiful red sari is dressed as Tamil because she is Tamil.

Leaanda actually wrote the wedding story and scripted the wedding scenes. She and Julie from Isidingo's wardrobe department went shopping for the red wedding dress. ''I love red, she loves red, and red is so Indian bridal,'' she says. ''So we found this and our breath was taken away.''

In the pictures you can see the happy couple together in their bridal outfits (although, are they really happy?). The pictures show everything from the wedding platform, the wedding procession, even the table arrangements of the beautiful spring garden wedding.

''We've told the stories of different cultures. We've had white wedings, we've had a traditional wedding with Letti and Vusi and not it was time to do another version,'' says Pumla Hopa, executive director of Isidingo. ''So we decided to hook these two up.''

''We've always had very strong stories,'' says Isidingo director Johnny Barbuzano who directed the wedding day episode in which Rajesh finally gets married after seven years on the show.

''The wedding is important in terms of the character finally being married,'' says Jack.

''Typically Rajesh sees his cue when a woman needs help and here is Priya who is looking for someone to take care of her and take charge.'' But he warns: ''Soap marriages don't last too long in soapie land. . .''

You can catch the Isidingo wedding on Monday 21 September on SABC3 at 18:30 and Tuesday 22 September on SABC3 at 17:45.

Isidingo wedding is ''not a disaster''

I just heard back from Isidingo regarding today's earlier story here on the upcoming wedding between Rajesh and Priyanka.

Isidingo assures me that the wedding and the scheduling ''is not a disaster'' and that:

(a) The wedding will be broadcast on Monday 21 September at 18:30 on SABC3 and NOT Tuesday 22 September (when the show will be going out at 17:45, and not the normal time of 18:30).

(b) That viewers will know when Isidingo gets rescheduled because of the cricket, because the people who watches Isidingo are loyal and know when the show is on and SABC3 is flighting promos to tell viewers.

You can still catch the Isidingo wedding's behind the scenes happenings in Eastern Mosaic this Sunday at 11:00 on SABC2. I will post screengrabs at the end of the show.

I asked SABC3 and Isidingo for a normal publicity pic of Rajesh and Priyanka this morning.

If by 15:45 I haven't received it, I guess I'm not going to.