Bollywood bounces back as 4 Star Life primetime series are set to return from 8 June with new weekday episodes.

by Thinus Ferreira

Bollywood is bouncing back as international lockdowns restrictions regarding work and movement to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic are starting to ease with Star Life (DStv 167  / StarSat 550 / Openview 110) that has returned 4 series to its schedule with new episodes that will debut on 8 June.

In April 2020 Indian TV channels like Star Life, Zee World and Glow TV ran out of new episodes for several shows because of the Covid-19 international shutdowns that led to schedule disruption and schedules that were altered and shows replaced by repeats.

"Lockdowns are still in place in some form or the other in different parts of the world that is still impacting our various productions," Mayank Bharara, Star Life spokesperson tells TVwithThinus, "but we are doing everything possible to bring back our powerful shows for our audiences across Africa and so we will be bringing back 3 hours of original programming in June."

"With the reduced workforce in studios, that is the maximum we can manage for now until lockdowns completely open."

On Star Life Family Affairs (18:00 to 19:00), Kulfi - The Singing Star (19:00 to 19:30), Made for Each Other (19:30 to 20:00) and Geet (20:00 to 21:00) are all back on the primetime schedule between 18:00 and 21:00.

While all 4 of these shows are back, they're showing repeats and have been rolled back a few episodes to that viewers can get a recap of where the stories were before the shows went into repeats and left the schedule.

On 7 June all 4 of these shows will align back to the point where they were on Star Life when they stopped.

"From Monday 8 June 2020 we will have all-new episodes of these 4 shows," says Mayank Bharara.

Between 21:00 and 23:00 where Star Life had The Inseparables and A Perfect Lie, the TV channel has now brought back Game of Love from 28 May due to public demand, after the end of Chasing My Heart.

"This show launched when we launched the channel in 2018 and has been our most successful show so we should have good viewership during this timeslot too," says the channel.

Coronavirus: Bollywood goes on a break as Indian TV channels Star Life, Zee World and Glow TV switch to series repeats because of Covid-19.

by Thinus Ferreira

With Bollywood in lockdown multiple shows seen in South Africa across several Indian TV channels have been affected by the spreading global Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic with series on channels ranging from Star Life, Zee World and Glow TV that have run out of new episodes and been replaced by repeats.

On Star Life (DStv 167  / StarSat 550 / Openview 110) all new shows have the schedule skids since the studios in India and South Africa and their filming, dubbing process and distribution operations have all shuttered as part of national lockdown periods in both countries.

Star Life switched to a binge-block rebroadcast schedule from 1 April 2020 of already-aired series for the next to months until at least the end of May 2020 with A Perfect Lie, Family Affairs, Kulfi, Made for Each Other and The Inseparables that all abruptly stopped airing new episodes.

Once new episodes become available, the last few aired episodes of these shows will repeat again before new episodes are possibly shown. Star Life continues to show daily Bollywood films at 15:00

The Star Life prime time schedule has now changed to two episodes daily of The Crossroads at 18:00 until 19:00, followed by 5 consecutive episodes daily of Forever Yours until 21:30, and then 3 episodes daily of Chasing My Heart between 21:30 and 23:00.

With production and international content distribution from within India shut down, on Zee World (DStv 166) the just-started Jodha & Akbar has been removed from the schedule indefinitely. The telenovela Ring of Fire has also been removed and replaced by a rebroadcast of Gangaa at 20:00 with Jodha & Akbar replaced by a rebroadcast of Twist of Fate at 21:00.

A repeat of Mehek has replaced Lies of the Heart on weekdays at 17:00, while Lies of the Heart at 22:00 is a rebroadcast of the series.

New episodes are still available for the recently started Our Perfect Place broadcast daily at 18:00 in its usual timeslot and the second season of Deception which continue daily in the 19:00 timeslot.

The schedule of Glow TV (StarSat 570 / Openview 140) has also been dramatically impacted by the global Covid-19 national lockdowns and the inability to get content out of India.

Glow TV has switched to a programming strategy for now of repeats of the past two week's episodes of its Indian series True Love, This is Love and Young Love.

Star Networks launches the Indian-fusion Star Life channel on DStv and Openview with Bollywood content as new competitor for GLOW and ZEE TV in Africa.

Despite a crowded TV channels field already offering similar content, Star India will launch Star Life on MultiChoice's DStv and GOtv, as well as eMedia Investment's Openview free-to-air satellite-TV service, on 27 August as a new Bollywood content channel.

Star Life, from Star Networks that is wholly-owned by 21st Century Fox, will compete with channels like GLOW and ZEE TV's existing offering of impressive ZEE Africa TV channels like Zee World and Zee Bollymovies.

Star Network didn't bother to say why or how Star Life would be different than existing competitors and what it would specifically offer viewers and Star Life didn't reveal any of the actual content, on-air talent or any titles that would actually be seen on the channel.

No channel schedule was shared, with no show or film highlights mentioned, but Star Life will be in English, and will run for 24 hours per day.

Star Networks apparently created Star Life exclusively for African audiences.

The Star Life channel looks as if it originated out of the Star Life OK channel that used to be available in South Africa for a while before it was removed, and last year relaunched and rebranded under the Star Bharat name in India.

Star Life will be a high definition channel on DStv in South Africa on channel 167 but standard definition elsewhere in Africa, and will be "showcasing a fusion of the very best family dramas, celebrity dance shows and blockbuster movies from Star's famed library of A-list Bollywood movies, adapted in English for local audiences".

Star Networks says "Star Life is appealing to a broader audience and brings to Africa extraordinary journeys of ordinary people, progressive story lines, inspirational characters and compelling dramas - produced to the highest international production standards".

Guarav Jandwani, the senior vice president and business head for the United Kingdom and South Africa for Star Network in a prepared statement says "At Star we believe in creating stories for the world, stimulating imagination and showcasing the limitless power of ordinary people".

"We have seen the need for quality Indian cross-over entertainment and with Star Life we are proud to bring to Africa engaging programming, in English, which will leave our viewers inspired, rejuvenated, moved and delighted."

"We are delighted to partner with DStv and Openview, the best platforms in the region, making Star Life the most widely available channel in its genre in Southern Africa".