BBC Radio Drama Life Gulmohar Style hits several Indian cities

New Delhi, 20 February 2010: Life Gulmohar Style, BBC World Service Trust’s hit radio drama, will now be aired on Dhamaal 24- a popular Indian radio station of a media giant B.A.G Network. Dhamaal 24 will broadcast the show from Monday, 22 February 2010, according to a joint press statement issued in New Delhi.  

Already making waves in several Indian cities, the 156-part drama in Hindi, tells the story of five friends in search of a destiny. Directed by the BBC’s award-winning producer Pervaiz Alam, Life Gulmohar Style addresses a host of issues faced by girls and women in modern day India.  

Commenting on the development, Chairperson cum Managing Director B.A.G Films & Media Ltd, Anurradha Prasad said “The collaboration of Dhamaal 24 with the BBC World Service Trust is the first of its kind in India. We are happy to be broadcasting BBC World Service Trust’s show that aims to build better lives for women. Together, we hope we make a difference to the lives of Dhamaal 24 listeners”  

Reinforcing this view, National Programming Head of Dhamaal 24, Mr. Anil Kapoor said , “ Listeners in places like Karnal, Hissar, Patiala, Shimla, Jabalpur, Ranchi, Muzaffarpur, Dhule, Ahmednagar and Jalgaon will be exposed to a show that tackles sensitive issues in an entertaining manner. We are sure that the drama will hold up a mirror to society and create a buzz around gender-sensitivity. In fact, we are planning a nation-wide debate through our stations on the issues raised by the BBC World Service Trust drama.” 

Commenting on the concept, Pervaiz Alam said, “Penned by a team of six writers, Life Gulmohar Style was conceived after having a number of workshops at colleges with students and parents. Life Gulmohar Style may very well be the longest-running radio serial in India designed specially for the city-centric audiences of the FM Networks.” 

Life Gulmohar Style will be broadcast on 10 stations of Dhamaal 24 106.4 FM every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1530 IST, followed by an omnibus of the drama on Saturdays at 1330 IST.

 The BBC Radio Drama has already created waves in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur and Jalandhar since its launch last year in October. India's state-owned All India Radio is BBC's partner in these five cities. 

Over the course of the year, the BBC World Service Trust will be tracking audience reaction to the drama on a dedicated website www.lifegulmoharstyle.org and through research it will measure whether the show has had an impact on changing attitudes towards women.