NDTV launch 'Bombay Lawyers', new fiction series showcasing reality

New Delhi, July 11 (UNI) After the entertainment channels, news channels too seem to be entering the realm of fiction-based programmes.

As part of its foray into fiction-based programmes, NDTV has announced launch of 'Bombay Lawyers', a mini-series based on inspiring legal cases related to corruption, crime, nepotism and social ills rampant in India, to be aired on NDTV from July 21.

Written and directed by Satyajit Bhatkal, who has already carved a niche for himself in the film industry with his award winning short film 'Chale Chalo: the lunacy of film-making', 'Bombay Lawyers' will feature renowned theatre and television personalities like Meeta Vashisht, Murli Sharma, Rushad Rana, Jyoti Dogra and Kadambari Kadam as lawyers in the series.

Each episode of the series, to be aired every Saturday at 10:00 p.m, will be an hour long and will deal with two cases.

The serial is centred around the firm of Roy and Raghavan, a firm of lawyers committed to working with integrity and dedication and against injustice in all its forms. The lawyers are themselves a rich cross-section of society.

The programme aims to move beyond legal jargon to capture the rich hue of human experience behind every legal battle. Underlying each legal battle will be human conflict and human emotion - be it greed, jealousy, deceit, love or passion about the show.

Speaking Satyajit Bhatkal, whose short film 'Chale Chalo: the lunacy of film-making' was selected for the Indian Panorama at IFFI Goa, 2005 and its English version 'Madness in the Desert' won the National Award and was invited to the Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland, said,''the programme is a courtroom drama about real issues, real people and real conflicts, but in the emotional grammar of fiction.'' ''I am delighted to work with NDTV, a channel with an unparallel reputation for its credibility and responsibility towards contemporary social issues. The channel enjoys a very wide viewership and I am thrilled at the prospect of the show getting a platform of this magnitude to reach out to society at large,''Bhatkal said.

According to NDTV the launch of 'Bombay Lawyers' was in tune with the social vision and responsibility that distinguished the channel from the rest.

''The show is in sync with our ideology of "Jubaan pe sach, Dil mein India". The mini series is a part of our endeavour to present to our viewers a socially responsible programme without any sensationalism and obscenity,'' Managing Editor, NDTV India, Dibang said.

Added Raj Nayak, CEO NDTV Media, ''Bombay Lawyers is a concept and programme that was never seen before on Indian television.