T E L E V I S I O N First English singing talent hunt show The Stage is an Indian talent television series, which premiered on Oct 10, 2015 on Colors Infinity. The show aired on Saturday and Sunday nights. The series was produced by SOL Productions of Kamna Nirula Menezes. Season 1 had Shibani Dandekar as the presenter and Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani, and Devraj Sanyal as judges. Yatharth Ratnum (19) of Benaras was declared the winner at the finale aired on Dec 13, 2015. He won a Renault car, a recording deal with Universal Music and a 10-city tour. First/only Indian on Masterchef Asia Priya Barve (40) of Mumbai was the only Indian contestant on Masterchef Asia in its inaugural season with 15 home cooks from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan and China, starting on Sept 3, 2015 for 17 episodes. She was however, eliminated on Nov 26, 2015. The show was aired in India on Star World Premiere every Saturday, in the Philippines on TV 5 and on Channel 5 in Singapore. Longest running sports quiz Dr Sumanth C Raman from Chennai has been anchoring BSNL Sports Quiz, a weekly sports quiz since it began on June 3, 2002. It used to be telecast live on Longest running astrology show (regional Doordarshan Podhigai language) channel every Saturday Hasmukhbhai M Zaveri (b July 1, 1943) of Surat has from 10.10 pm to 11.00 pm until March 2014. A been hosting his own show Aajnu Bhavishya on total of 736 episodes were aired as on June 30, Mitra channel every morning since Dec 15, 2002. 2016. Now it is telecast on Sunday night from As of March 31, 2016, 5107 episodes had been 9.00 pm to 10.00 pm. aired. He has also authored 10 books on astrology. LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS 2017 1 2 0 Television_2017.pmd 120 24-03-2017, 12:55 T E L E V I S I O N Longest term as anchor of a game show Star Mahila, a popular woman’s game show aired from 1.00 – 2.00 pm every day (except on Sundays) on ETV Telugu channel has been anchored by Suma Kanakala uninterruptedly since the launch on August 9, 2008. The show completed 2,145 episodes on June 30, 2015. Each episode has six participants competing for the title of Star Mahila. Longest running talk show Aap Ki Adaalat, the longest running talk show, completed 22 years in December 2015. The anchor and producer of the show Rajat Sharma (b April 30, 1956) remain unchanged since day one. When it started it was aired on Zee TV from March 13, 1992. In 2004, Rajat Sharma and his wife set up their own channel and now it is aired on India TV. Newsreader for longest duration Falguni Hiren Shah of Ahmedabad, Gujarat has been a casual news reader at Ahmedabad Doordarshan Kendra since Dec 21, 1988, when she was Falguni Kedhia before her marriage. LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS 2017 1 2 1 Television_2017.pmd 121 24-03-2017, 12:55 T E L E V I S I O N Longest-running televised quiz Prashnottari, a fortnightly quiz programme with participants from schools and colleges and the general public as the television audience was first telecast on Prasar Bharti’s Jaipur Doordarshan Kendra on July 23, 1993. Hosted by former IAS officer Dr Mahendra Surana since its inception, the quiz, touching on diverse topics, completed 608 episodes as on June 30, 2016. Surana is the show’s scriptwriter too. The show is produced in-house. In view of its popularity, it was made into a weekly programme from April 1, 2015. Most disguises by one character Shridhar Santram Watsar, who plays Dooba Dooba in the daily soap Baal Veer, a children’s super hero show created by Vipul D Shah and Sanjiv Sharma, has been disguised as 36 different characters on the show. Baal Veer, aired on Sab TV, Mon-Fri 8.00 pm, started on Oct 8, 2012. Some of the characters that Watsar has been disguised as are Rocket Singh, Charlie Magician, hippy guy, Monday etc. The series is produced by Optimystix Entertainment. Longest running daily fiction soap (Hindi) Balika Vadhu – Kachchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte commonly abbreviated to Balika Vadhu, is a television drama series (Mon-Sat 8.00 pm) produced by company Sphereorigins Multivision Private Limited, Mumbai. It premiered on July 21, 2008 on Colors TV. This show portrays various issues related to child marriage and completed 1,935 episodes as of June 30, 2016. The last episode of the saga was aired on July 31, 2016. LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS 2017 Television_2017.pmd 122 24-03-2017, 12:55 T E L E V I S I O N Quizmaster for most quiz shows Dr N Someswara is the quizmaster of ‘that anta hELi’ (answer at once) in Kannada, which is being aired (Mon - Fri) without a break since Jan 4, 2002 on DD Chandana from Doordarshan Kendra Bengaluru. The show completed 2,989 episodes as of June 30, 2016. Each 30-min episode on general knowledge with three participants consists of 12 questions in different fields. Each correct answer is Longest running crime show awarded with a book On Jan 21, 1998, Sony Entertainment Television published by Kannada Sahitya (SET) and Fireworks Productions (BP Singh and Parishad. The chief producer is Pradeep Uppoor) launched CID, a weekly N Chandrashkehar, Deputy crime thriller about a team of detectives Director General, Doordarshan belonging to the Crime Investigation Kendra, Bengaluru and other producers are Department in Mumbai. CID is an investigative Usha Kini, Arathy HN, Raghu G and Eshwara series consisting of hardcore police procedural Rao. Over the years, the show has had 8,217 stories and the main protagonist of the show is participants attempting to answer 37,084 ACP Pradyuman played by Shivaji Satam. In questions posed by Dr Someswara. The number May 2010, the show went bi-weekly. The of books distributed so far is 49,000. show has completed 18 years in January 2016 and 1,346 episodes as of June 30, 2016. Sony TV announced the Shaatir Lekhak Contest on July 10, 2015, in which three Screenplay for incomplete stories and clues were presented. Contestants were required to complete any most episodes one story out of three. The contest ended on of serial July 26, 2015. The winning story will appear in Komanapally episodes and prizes will also be given to the Ganapathi Rao (67) winner. From the total entries, the channel of Hyderabad has found three winners in Rakhi Lotlikar from been the sole Goa, Irfan Ahmad Bhat from Baramulla (J&K) screenplay writer and Vineeta Singh from Kanpur. CID even for the Telugu daily introduced a series as Aakhri Chunauti. serial Abhishekam which has been airing at 2.00 pm on ETV since Dec 22, Longest daily devotional show 2008. The show is Zee TV (Telugu) has been airing a daily produced by devotional programme titled Bhakthi Sowbhagya Media Samacharam (8.30-9.00 am) for the last 10 Ltd. Credit for the years. First aired on June 11, 2005, it showcases story line goes to one temple or pilgrimage spot every day bringing veteran film out the significance of the pilgrimage/ temple. It director Dasari crossed 3,460 episodes as of June 30, 2015. Narayana Rao. MNVR Chandrika has been the director and script writer from the very first episode. 1 2 3 Television_2017.pmd 123 24-03-2017, 13:54 T E L E V I S I O N Longest running comedy fiction show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah produced by Neela Telefilms and conceived and designed by Asit Kumarr Modi has been airing on SAB TV from 8.30-9.00, Mon-Fri (previously Mon-Sat) since July 28, 2008. The show is based on the column Duniya Ne Oondha Chashmah written by columnist and journalist Taarak Mehta for the Gujarati weekly magazine Chitralekha that revolves around the happenings of Gokuldham Co-Operative Housing Society in Mumbai, a society well known for its cultural diversity and the day-to-day life of its members who come from different backgrounds and cultures. The 1,700th episode was aired on June 22, 2016. First show on ‘power’ couples Power Couples’ was a show where the relationship of couples were tested. Money was also at stake along with trust. Ten popular celebrity couples who were featured from across fields competed with each other over various challenges. It was launched on Dec 12, 2015, produced by Colosceum India headed by Lalit Sharma and aired on Sony TV on Saturdays and Sundays. The series was the Indian adaptation of the Israeli television series Power Couple. Hosted by Arbaaz Khan with guest appearances by Malaika Arora Khan, the first season of Power Couple India was won by Naved and Sayeeda. Shahwar Ali and Marcella were the runner-up, aired on the finale episode on March 12, 2016. LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS 2017 1 2 4 Television_2017.pmd 124 24-03-2017, 13:54 T E L E V I S I O N Longest annual yatra on broadcasting & cable TV Chetna Yatra, an initiative by Aavishkar Media Group, has completed 11 annual journeys covering about 25,000 km in around 50 days every year, covering every hook and corner of the country, as of 2015. The 11th Longest running health show Chetna Yatra was from Sept 5, to Nov 1, Total Health is a one hour live phone- in health 2015, covering 450 cities.