Entertainment in abundance on TV channels this Independence Day

Movie premieres, classic films, film promotions, documentaries, cricket, football, kabaddi matches – television channels across genres are on overdrive to woo viewers this Independence Day weekend

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | August 14, 2015

Even as India gears up to celebrate her 69th Independence Day, television channels are on an overdrive with a plethora of shows to woo viewers over the Independence Day weekend.

BestMediaInfo.com takes a look at the programming line-up of channels across genres this Independence Day.

Hindi GECS and Movie channels

There are no special line-ups from Star Plus, Life OK and Colors. The 'Jhalak Reloaded' episode on August 15 will have Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif as guests on the show, who will promote their upcoming film 'Phantom'. Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be hoisting the Tri-colour in a special episode of 'Udaan' at 8.30 pm on Independence Day.

Zee TV has lined up a special episode of their long running soap 'Pavitra Rishta' at 7.00 pm, and before that will air the film 'I' at 1.00 pm.

Sony TV will have the World TV premiere of the film 'Piku' at 8.00 pm.

This Independence Day, &TV unites the people of the country – the '&DIANS' – for a unique initiative, #MyCountryMyVoiceMyAnthem. This initiative is aimed at bringing together voices from across the country to sing the National Anthem – a video of which will air on the Independence Day special episode of 'The Voice India' on August 15.

Sony's sister channels Set Max and Max 2 will air hit films throughout the day. While Set Max will air films like 'Indian' (10 am), 'Chak De! India' (5.00 PM), 'Munna Bhai MBBS' (1.00 PM), and 'Rowdy Rathore' (8.00 PM), Max 2 will air classics like 'Purab aur Paschim' (10 am), 'Yaarana' (1 pm), 'Karan Arjun' (4 pm) and 'Kranti' (7 pm).

Zee Action too has lined several films such as Salman Khan-starrer 'Jaagruti' (9.00 am), followed by 'Bhai' (12 pm), 'Tirangaa' (3 pm), 'Krantiveer' (6 pm) and 'Aan - Men at Work' (9 pm).

Zee Cinema will air the Arab Indian Bollywood Awards at 6.00 pm on August 15, which be followed by the telecast of the Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Holiday' at 9.00 pm.

In the English movies segment, Star Movies Select HD will premiere the 2014 Academy Award nominated film 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' at 9.00 pm on Independence Day. This will be followed by the thriller, 'Gone Girl'.

Movies Now has lined up back-to-back hit movies like 'The Dark Knight Rises' (7.55 am), 'Life of Pi' (11.15 am), 'Avatar' (1.30 pm) and 'Harry Potter and The Deathly-Hallows - Part 2' (4.50 pm).

MN+ will air a special series, 'Behind Wikileaks', on August 15 at 9.00 am and 11.00 pm.

Sony Pix will be running the Indiana Jones PIXathon by airing back-to-back three films from the Indiana Jones franchise – 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', 'The Last Crusade', and 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' – starting 11.00 am on Independence Day.

Sports Channels

Cricket fans can watch the first Test match between India and Sri Lanka on Sony Six.

Sunday, August 16 will also see World Cup finalists New Zealand play hosts South Africa in the second T20 at 9.30 pm on Ten Cricket.

Football fans are in for a treat this Independence Day weekend with the best of action from the English Premier League and the Bundesliga (German League), which kicks off on August 14 on Star Sports 2.

The action in the Bundesliga commences just before mid-night on August 15 as defending champions Bayern Munich open their campaign against Hamburger SV. Live action commences at 11.46 pm on August 14 on Star Sports 4. Over the weekend fans can watch both Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg in action.

Star Sports 1 will air matches between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at 6.00 pm, followed by Manchester City and Chelsea at 8.30 pm.

Kabbadi fans can watch the matches between Patna and Mumbai, and Bangalore and Hyderabad of the ongoing Pro Kabbadi League Season 2 being aired on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 3. The matches commence from 7.50 pm. On Sunday, fans can catch up with matches between Pune and Delhi, and Jaipur and Kolkata at the same telecast time.

Infotainment Channels

Not to be left behind, infotainment channels, too, have lined up some interesting shows this Independence Day.

Discovery Channel will celebrate the completion of its 20 years in India with a special line-up of its most iconic programmes on August 15 and 16, from 8 am to 6 pm. The weekend 20-Year Celebration Marathon will cover the wide spectrum of Discovery genres such as natural history, science, technology, adventure, wildlife, survival and engineering, which have entertained the viewers across the urban and rural landscapes. The special line-up will also feature the finest India stories, further enriching the television viewing experience.

The Epic Channel will celebrate the spirit of patriotism this Independence Day with back-to-back episodes (12.00 pm to 8.00 pm) of its recently launched show, 'Stories by Rabindranath Tagore', directed by Anurag Basu.

The History TV18 channel will take viewers back into history with a special series, 'The Best of India Showcase' on Independence Day starting 10 am. The infotainment network will cover Indian history through four series – 'The Mughal Empire', 'The Birth of Empire', 'East India Company', 'Gandhi', and 'India on Four wheels'.

Though not an infotainment channel, NDTV Prime will air a documentary titled 'Operation Everest', which showcases the heroics of India soldiers during the devastating earthquake in Nepal. The film will air at 1.00 pm and 9.00 pm on August 15.

Kids Channels

Children, too, will have plenty to rejoice with channels dishing out special entertainment for them.

Pogo will air 'Chota Bheem: Dholakpur to Kathmandu' at 10.30 am, which will be followed by a series of films/ shows on 'Mighty Raju' that will run all the way till 6.00 pm.

Cartoon Network will begin their Independence Day programming at 10.00 am with 'Jai Ho CN', followed by 'Oggy Independence Day', 'R21 Independence Day' special and 'Oggy and Indiawale'.

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