MUMBAI: NewsX brings exclusive interview of the cricket legend, Sir Garfield Sobers, with Bishan Singh Bedi in association with Airtel. Sobers talks from the heart about cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and much more.

A giant of a cricketer and one of the humblest people you will ever meet, Sobers is modest about his monumental achievements, achievements that have made him the greatest all-rounder ever in the game. “My job was to play for the West Indies as a team player, not as an individual. And I’ve always tried to portray that,” he says. “Runs, records and averages never meant anything to me; if they had, I would have achieved a lot more.”

Another legend of the game also came up during the conversation – Sachin Tendulkar. “Sachin is something very special. He is a great player and has a brilliant cricket brain,” says Sobers.

Comparisons between Sachin and Brian Lara are nothing new. But for Sobers, Sachin is the clear winner. “That is a man who is not only good but he thinks as well. And this is what the game is all about. This boy thinks a lot better than Brian.”

But it is not just Sachin who has taken Sobers’ fancy. “Sehwag has taken a place in my heart. I like the way he bats. I enjoy watching him bat,” he says.

However, when it comes to himself, Sir Gary would rather play with a straight bat. Asked by Bedi how he would like to be remembered by lovers of the game, Sobers replies, “As a person who played the game and tried to play it the way it should be played.”

Watch 'Sobers vs Bishan', the historic TV event, at 8.30pm on Wednesday, 10 March. Only on NewsX.

Airtel digital TV- the DTH service from Bharti Airtel - today announced the television premiere of ‘Ishqiya’, the latest Bollywood blockbuster of 2010. This movie features actors Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan, and is available on the Pay Per View (PPV) service. This critically and commercially acclaimed film will be available from March 13, 2010 on Channel No. 181 for only Rs. 25/-. Customers can order the film either for a full day or for any of the shows in a day by visiting the website Guests cannot see links in the messages. Please register to forum by clicking here to see links. Alternatively, they can send an SMS with the Movie Code to 54325 or SMS START to 54325 from their registered mobile number.

Announcing the TV premiere, Sugato Banerji, Chief Marketing Officer – DTH, Bharti Airtel said, "Ishqiya has been one of is the biggest hits of 2010 so far and we’re happy to bring this blockbuster to our customer’s door at an extremely competitive cost. The PPV phenomenon is rapidly growing in India and Airtel is committed to offering more exciting and entertaining content to its viewers."

Directed by debutant Abhishek Chaubey and produced by Raman Maroo and Vishal Bharadwaj, Ishqiya is a tale of romance between individuals caught in a web of crime, suspense and passion. Set in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, the film revolves around two thieves - Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) who are on the run from their boss Mushtaq (Salman Shahid). After every known person in the world turns them down, they seek refuge with an old friend Verma, but instead meet his widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan) who stays alone in her old house. With both men starting to fall for Krishna, a tale of betrayal, revenge and greed follows.

Ballu is thrilled to bits after finding an unusual shoe from the shop, which is a perfect hit with him. As he returns home and is lost in his own comfort zone, Mannu the neighbour’s kid steadily enters Ballu’s room, curiously he tries to fiddle with Smita’s cosmetics which looks amazing to him. But then he finds the pair of white shoes, which looks more appealing to him. He hops on to it, and enters Mr. Kumar’s room, where he fiddles with his most precious possession that’s his baton, which ultimately breaks. A shocked Mr. Kumar gets really vexed and then finds the suspect. He is sure its Ballu’s work, so he enters his room and tarnishes the white shoes which had been left behind by Mannu in his room. But then when Smita comes back she is shocked to find the haywire in her room, and immediately figures out that it can be no one else than her husband. She decides to play a trick and throw one of the pair of shoes outside but what she doesn’t realize is that the shoe has now hit their wrestler neighbor who now feels its Ballu’s work. So he is back for an answer or possibly a revenge. Accompanying him is his fat wife. An innocent Ballu is unaware of all this drama happening behind him.

Can ballu save himself from this disaster? And how does ballu’s family react when ballu is being bashed up by the wrestler? Can he overpower the wrestler with his gimmicks and prove his innocence?

Don’t forget to catch Gutur Gu this Friday at 8:30 pm only on SAB!!

After DTH, FM radio and film production, distribution & exhibition, the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) may soon get a slice of the cable distribution business in the country.

Investment banking sources say London-based private equity fund Ashmore Investment may soon swap a significant portion (over 20%) of its stake in Digicable, a leading cable distribution firm, with that of Big TV, the direct-to-home (DTH) arm of Reliance Adag, or its subsidiary firms. “Talks are on between Ashmore and Reliance on this matter,” a person familiar with the matter said.

Ashmore had picked up a 49% stake in Digicable three years ago and has been looking at restructuring its investments in the cable business in favour of the fast-growing DTH business that has over 20-million subscribers, giving higher returns, compared to 2 million digital cable subscribers.

Once struck, the deal will give ADAG access to Digicable’s cable business in several cities and a share in the Rs 2,500-crore annual cable subscription revenues.

“Owning a cable distribution business will help Reliance push its TV channels to a significant number of cable subscribers, which are five times the size of its existing DTH subscriber-base,” an analyst said.

Also, it will help Reliance get a say in the headend-in-the-sky (HITS) business of Digicable, sources say. Digicable has already applied for a HITS licence, a satellite-based system of distribution of cable channels recently approved by the government for faster digitalisation of the current analogue cable distribution platform.

This move may also help Reliance Big TV fund its expansion plans in the near future through Ashmore’s Rs 1,200-crore funds earmarked for the Indian media and entertainment sector. Also, Reliance ADAG is bullish on the broadcasting business as it has applied for over 100 television licence under the brand name “Big”.

However, when contacted, a Big TV spokesperson denied any such move. An e-mail query sent to Ashmore UK remained unanswered.

When asked whether Reliance ADAG or any of its group subsidiaries may have picked up a stake in Digicable, directly or indirectly, JS Kohli, CEO, Digicable, said: “No.” He further added: “I do not wish to respond to such baseless and speculative gossip being spread by vested interests.”

Ms. Mamta Ranasaria joins Dainik Bhaskar group as Sr. Mktg Manager. She is entrusted with the task of focusing on Divya Bhaskar the brand and work towards space sales realization. She will be responsible for sales support/facilitation, all marketing tie-ups and PR w.r.t Divya Bhaskar. Based out of Mumbai, She will be reporting to Sanjeev Kotnala – Vice President Dainik Bhaskar group.

On her assignment Mamta says "Print is a rich medium with clients and readers both impacting our performance, looking forward to learning and contributing to the team”

Sanjeev Kotnala adds, Bhaskar has always gained from insights from different Industries. We do hope that Mamta in her role will be able to provide a high level learning integration. She would focus on Divya Bhaskar and will be responsible for its perception in B2B environment.

Mamta has 8 years of rich experience in Marketing & Sales. Prior to joining Dainik Bhaskar group , she was with comes with McDonalds where she was handling Marketing & Sales- Pan India. Before that she has worked with MCX, Indica Research & McCann Ericsson.

Mamta has Masters in Marketing from Amity Business School and an Economics graduate from Delhi University.

PIX-the premium English movie channel, has always been a step ahead when it comes to unique and unmatched programming. Just when the Indian Premiere League is about to hit television screens, PIX returns with their unique property – 'PIX PREMIERE LEAGUE' (PPL). PPL is all set to launch on March 12th and will go on till April 25th. This property will showcase an exciting line up of Hollywood movies from Oscar winning performances to some of the biggest blockbusters.

PPL is a part of the channel’s new programming strategy to counter programs the IPL fever which has slowly and steadily caught the attention of Indian television audiences. The following is the schedule of the movies for March at 11 15 pm everyday –

Mr. Sunder Aaron, Business Head, PIX comments – "PPL is a very important property for us which has a unique line up of the best of the movies from Hollywood. Our property is an absolute treat for cricket lovers. The movies will be aired right after the IPL which ensures that our viewers also get to watch IPL. We are happy to showcase these for you."

Watch PPIX Premiere League starting March 12th 2010 AT 11.15 pm only on PIX.

MUMBAI: Videocon has roped in Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan to endorse its direct-to-home (DTH) service Videocon d2h as brand ambassador.

With this association, Bachchan now joins the likes of SRK and Aamir Khan who endorse Dish TV and Tata Sky respectively.

9XM the most popular channel in the music space is offering a once in a life-time opportunity to all viewers to bid and win merchandise from upcoming Hindi movies worn by their favourite Bollywood stars. Started from 4th March 2010 the viewers can bid for merchandise from their favourite Bollywood movies by sending an SMS AUCTION to 56644.

The viewers of 9XM get an opportunity to be the proud owner of a designer jacket worn by Ajay Devgan in his upcoming movie Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge. The minimum bid starts at Rs. 5000/-

All the proceeds of the auction will go to one of Give India’s NGO’s working towards the benefit of the underprivileged children

“With the exceptional success of our ongoing contests held on air and on the new and improved 9XM website our initiative ‘Auction for a cause’ is our effort to give back to the society and to reach out to the underprivileged children supported by Give India. “Auction for a cause” is simple campaign where in the viewer bids and we donate all the proceeds to the children’s initiative. We hope to continue our endeavor and support such causes in future too.” said Punit Pandey, VP Ad Sales, 9XM.

The new and improved online look of 9XM on the website Guests cannot see links in the messages. Please register to forum by clicking here to see links. provides its fresh and trendy looks of the popular cool dudes. Every character has their own page dedicated to their thoughts and expressions for better interactivity with their ever increasing fan base. The fans of these cool characters now get to know about their likes and dislikes, watch their videos and download their screensavers and wallpapers on a single page.

Starting 10 March, the extremely funny and supremely intelligent crime busters from the Santa Barbara Police force will be back in action! Catch Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster on the American criminal comedy-drama Psych Season 3 starting 10th March, every Monday to Thursday at 11pm only on STAR World!

Created by Steve Franks, the show stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department. Shawn’s "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts allow him to convince people that he solves cases with psychic abilities. The program also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's best friend, straight man, and reluctant partner Burton "Gus" Guster, as well as Corbin Bernsen as Shawn's captious father, Henry.

Astounding, thunderous, thrilling are some of the words that can be used to describe the performances displayed by the music stalwarts of the nation on Star Plus’ Amul Music Ka Maha Muqqabla! This Saturday is the last chance for the 4 semi-finalists to appeal for audience votes. The biggest music competition which had started with the six stalwarts of the industry is now coming to an end where only the two most deserving and loved Captains would battle it out for the title! Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Himesh Reshammiya, the semi-finalists, are now all set to give power-packed performances on stage to woo their audience. They have to strive hard to win over the hearts of millions else they lose the title they have been vying for so long.

Now is the time to wait with bated breaths and enjoy the final act of the 4 semi-finalists to decide who you would like to vote for. Each of the four teams are in close competition with each other on the score board but the audience votes might just turn the tables for any of them.

Catch all the action and mesmerizing performances by the Captains only on Star Plus’ Amul Music Ka Maha Muqqabla at 9pm this Saturday.

On the occasion of Woman’s Day, Zee News is all set to launch its new show 'Kiran' to celebrate the spirit of womanhood and unveil success secrets of women achievers.

Anchored by none other than iconic Kiran Bedi the show will profile a leading woman icon across various fields who has gained lot of respect and credibility and has nurtured her career with true values.

Debuting, March 14, this 13 part series will encapsulate the success stories of woman achievers and will showcase the journey of their life and the challenges that had led to the success. Additionally, it will also highlight the sheer determination with which these icons were able to carve a path for themselves despite adversity and disappointments.

Some of the eminent woman icons who will be profile in the series include Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Chanda Kochchar, Sharmila Tagore, Saina Nehwal and many more.