Akbar Asif plans TV hunt for 'Anarkali'

Mumbai, Apr 16 (UNI) The release of 'Mughal-e-Azam' in Pakistan during June will be marked by a major television hunt for a new 'Anarkali', which will be jointly produced by Akbar Asif, son of legendary Indian filmmaker K Asif and a leading Pakistani satellite TV channel.

Asif, whose father's historical epic movie Mughal-e-Azam is due for release in Pakistan on June 2, plans to follow the release with a television extravaganza 'Akbar Asif Ko Anarkali Ki Talash'.

The programme will have renowned Hollywood as well as Bollywood celebrities as judges and will be aired globally.

The winner of the reality-show will win a cash prize of Rs 11,100,000 and a film contract. There is also a Rs 2.5 million cash prize each for the person in India and Pakistan, who would correctly guess as to who would be the winner. The guessing game is billed to be as exciting as the whole show.

In a release issued here, London-based Akbar Asif said although he did not find a person to co-produce his venture, he was at an advanced stage of negotiations with a major Pakistani TV channel.

''The programmes will be broadcast throughout India in collaboration with an Indian TV network and details of that are being sorted out at this moment.'' He said major Indian TV channels have expressed keen interest in the unique concept. Asif believes his creation would be the ''next big thing'' to hit television in the subcontinent.

Asif, who had previously gifted Rs 11,100,000 to the technicians who coloured Mughal-e-Azam through Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan in 2004, revealed that he conceived the idea for the grand show in London after he realised a long-held dream of getting his father's film released in Pakistan. He hopes that his father's magnum opus would thrill the Pakistani cine goers. ''I hope it would earn as much money as possible as all the proceeds were promised to go to charity''.

Akbar Asif added, ''I thank the people of India for making my father's film a legendary creation by loving it so much. I hope the same would happen in Pakistan and I am looking forward to creating another legend. For that I would need the support and prayers of the Indian people and I hope they would offer that to me as they did to my father.'' UNI MR KU CH GC1922