Ananya Saha
Media

DD, BBC use Bollywood stars to talk about HIV

In a new initiative with Doordarshan, the BBC World Service Trust has tied up with Bollywood stars to create awareness about HIV/AIDS

‘Haath Se Haath Mila’ will be the first mass media initiative of its kind for HIV/AIDS awareness. Produced by the BBC World Service Trust (BBC’s charitable arm), in association with Doordarshan and the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), the reality series will feature ‘yuva’ (young) stars who have made an outstanding contribution to creating awareness about HIV/AIDS.

While the show will focus on the personal and professional lives of the youths over the course of three episodes, the ‘yuva’ stars will also be able to meet their favourite Hindi film stars and create awareness about the virus with them. The aim of the show is to help young people be better informed about HIV/AIDS and prevent transmission of the virus.

The show promises to present a new angle to the well-debated topic of HIV/AIDS in India and also a new picture of our film stars, with access to their interviews, films and songs. Some well-known actors who have already shot for the show are Vivek Oberoi, Diya Mirza, Shilpa Shetty and Raveena Tandon. Others such as Tabu, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan have expressed their desire to participate in the show.

The weekly programme will go on air from February 9 at 10.30 pm on Doordarshan’s National Channel. The programme will try to harness the impact of the two most powerful media in India – Bollywood and Doordarshan – to reach as many as people as possible.

Anu Malhotra (of ‘Namaste India’ and ‘Indian Holiday’ fame) has created and formatted the series. She is also the creative director of the show.

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