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Colors to have a 'lazy' time band soon

A reality show, National Bingo Night, which is an adaptation of an international format, will be hosted by actor Abhishek Bachchan

After roping in Amitabh Bachchan for the third season of Bigg Boss, Colors has now roped in Abhishek Bachchan for another reality show, called National Bingo Night. It is an international format show produced by Fox Television Studios India. Idea, the telecom brand endorsed by Abhishek Bachchan, is the title sponsor for the show.

The show, which will be launched in January 2010, aims to be a celebrity chat show coupled with fun and games, with a live studio audience. The format of the show is such that both in-studio spectators as well as the audience can take part live.

Colors to have a 'lazy' time band soon
Ashvini Yardi, programming head, Colors, says that the basic premise of the show is "to sit back and relax. One can win by just sitting on the couch and relaxing". The one hour show will have games, chat with a celebrity and antics by Bachchan. It includes two fast paced rounds of the popular guessing game, called Bingo, where a studio contestant plays one of many in-studio games driven by the game ball numbers. The others also participate by predicting the numbers and matching them with the tickets handed out to them.

The channel has been airing a teaser campaign as a countdown during the last few days, which shows Bachchan snoring on the bed or reclining on a chair and the logo, Abhishek Aaram Classes, inscribed on a pillow, raising the curiosity level of the audience.

Abhishek Aaram Classes is the engagement initiative created for the show, National Bingo Nights, for which a website, www.abhishekaaramclasses.com, has also been created. The website urges visitors to become an ‘aarami' and Bachchan suggests ways and methods to laze and relax.

"The show is such that by doing nothing, viewers can win. It requires no mental math, no quizzes, questions or strenuous activity. The only thing it tells the viewer to do is ‘relax'," says Rameet Arora, head, marketing, Colors.

"Abhishek Aaram Classes is the creative idea. Today we observed that watching TV is the only lazy thing we do and have forgotten to relax and hence, the big idea of ‘aaram'," he adds.

Colors to have a 'lazy' time band soon
The teaser launched the idea of Aaram Classes without the show's logo and name, with only the website URL being aired across channels. The channel claims that the website recorded 10 million page views and 50,000 user generated comments and tips on ‘aaram' in seven days.

The show name was revealed during the Grand Finale of Bigg Boss Season 3, where host Amitabh Bachchan announced that Abhishek Bachchan would make an appearance. When the latter failed to turn up, Amitabh called up Abhishek to enquire about his whereabouts. To this, Abhishek said, ‘Aaram kar raha hoon' (relaxing).

Among other marketing activities, there were men relaxing on sofas in the middle of busy railway stations and bus stops. Hoardings in five cities had a giant pillow, which said ‘Abhishek Aaram Classes'. On a hoarding at Mahim in Mumbai, a person was seen chilling with his bean bag and bowl of fruits. Innovative posters were also pasted on the glass walls of outlets of the coffee chain, Barista.

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