Discovery Channel to premiere epic Docu-Drama ‘First Man'

Who are we? Where did we come from? What makes us human? The two hour special First Man, premiering on Discovery Channel on January 15 at 9:00 pm, takes viewers on a journey back 25 million years to explore the ancestral roots of man at the time of the great apes. Featuring stunning cinematography and incredibly realistic and accurate portrayals, First Man follows the story of one primate tribe with exceptional skills, highlighting the social, cultural and biological constructs that shaped their evolution into modern man.

First Man takes us back 25 million years, bringing the stages of evolution to life through the story of a tribe of great apes. Which of our ancestors took that first step toward becoming the First Man?

Drawing on some of the most recent, spectacular scientific discoveries, First Man provides a new perspective on humanity's common history. Among the startling new revelations: most of the great apes began walking on two legs in the trees, much earlier than previous theories had indicated; laughter is a primal characteristic, with the great apes guffawing long before modern man; and that familial and social structure were important, with evidence indicating the great apes valued relationships and were the first politicians of sorts.

The captivating film is directed by Frédéric Fougea and Jérome Guiot, with scientific direction from Pascal Picq, the renowned paleoanthropologist at France's elite Collége de France. It features strikingly realistic characters brought to life through prosthetics and makeup based on authentic fossilized skulls and teeth and performed by the special effects makeup team who worked on 2015's The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

“We are very excited to offer our viewers this fascinating docu drama which reveals that there’s much more to human being’s collective history than we ever thought,” said, Zulfia Waris, V.P Premium & Digital networks, Discovery Communications India.

First Man is produced by France's Nilaya Productions, led by Patricia Boutinard Rouelle. The 90-minute film is a follow-up to the Odyssey of the Species, Homo Sapiens and Rise of Man trilogy, which Rouelle conceived for French public television and went on to attract top audience ratings in 40 countries.

"In the decade since our first groundbreaking look at the origins of man, both the scientific knowledge and technology we have to depict this story have progressed so much. It's thrilling to present this new look at our ancestors in such realistic detail," Rouelle said. "This is the story of us, and for the first time, thanks to these incredible advances, we can truly see glimpses of ourselves in these early primates." 

About Discovery Communications India 

Discovery Communications India, the country’s leading infotainment player, is dedicated to satisfying curiosity, engaging and entertaining viewers with high-quality content through its portfolio of 12 channels including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery HD World, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Kids, Discovery JEET, Animal Planet HD World, TLC HD World, Discovery Tamil and a premium sports channel DSPORT. From survival to natural history, wonders of science to extreme jobs, motoring to travel and lifestyle, and the latest engineering marvels to live sporting events, each channel offers distinct must-watch programming to engage viewers across the country. 

Discovery Communications India is a division of Discovery Networks Asia Pacific (DNAP). For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com

ARMY DAY SPECIAL - EPIC CHANNEL ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMMING LINE-UP TO HONOUR OUR SOLDIERS

For Army Day, celebrated on the 15th of January, EPIC Channel, India Ka Apna Infotainment has just announced an engaging programming line-up. The day shall feature exclusive series that includes documentaries that celebrate the Indian army, its history and traditions, and recounts the brave who earned everlasting glory through supreme sacrifice.

The day-long special airs 1 pm onwards and features episodes from the popular show ‘Regiment Diaries’; that documents the story of the various regiments that constitute the India Army. The one hour episodes included in the line-up are Punjab Regiment, Madras Engineers Group, Rajput Regiment and the Jat Regiment.

Also featuring in the programming mix are two riveting documentaries narrated by, and featuring Kargil war veteran Major General G.D Bakshi. ‘Fall of Dhaka’ based on the Bangladesh  Liberation War of 1971, and ‘Turning Point At Tololing’ that walks viewers through the capture of the Tololing Peak during the 1999 Kargil War; are the two specials that will be featured in the curated line-up.

Content and Programming Head, EPIC Channel, Akul Tripathi said “Reality is a scriptwriter beyond compare; and the stories about the Indian army and the triumphant feats of our soldiers in times of peace and war, are more compelling than anything that could be scripted. This is our small tribute to our men in uniform.”

Tune in to EPIC Channel on 15th January from 1 pm onwards to watch stories of the legends of Indian Army.

Aaya Re Thackeray heralds the arrival of the Sena Supremo – superflick music

Orange was the colour of the day when Taj Lands End, Mumbai, was transformed into Thackeray Land with the Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, looking down at us with grace, infusing courage and raw energy. Cheerful faces in orange fetas, pretty women in nine-yard sarees, the sound of tutaris and the vibrance of Nashik dhol resonated the hall as the thunderous applause of the audience, surprised by the flash mob, followed.

'Aaya Re Thackeray', the song that heralds the arrival of the Roaring Tiger Thackeray took the stage and the nation by storm. The contagious energy of the Shiv Sena Supremo who transformed the common man into superman took over. The Marathi version Apale Saheb Thackeray was equally powerful. The next song, Saheb Tu took the audience on a journey into the times of Balasaheb.

Said MP – Rajya Sabha, eminent journalist and filmmaker, Sanjay Raut, "When both Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray heard Saheb Tu, they were both very emotional as much as they enjoyed the song. At one point, they just were totally into the song, such was the depth that all else we felt was nothingness. They saw Balasaheb in his true spirit standing in front of them... Uddhav Saheb kept getting emotional as the song moved forward. And the first thing that he said after the song was over is these lyrics are so powerful.”

Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray laughed at how Sanjay Raut had sneaked him a mobile recorded version of the song in its initial stages. Uddhav Thackeray stated how the song floored him completely! "Anyone who listens to Aaya re Thackeray will not be able to resist grooving to the tune. At the same time, the lyrics are very intense and meaningful. It moved me. I felt the presence of Balasaheb." The audience couldn’t agree more!

Ajit Andhare, COO – Viacom18 Studios declared that the film will release with the highest number of screens in the history of Marathi cinema. "There are many reasons for us to be associated with Thackeray -- the character and the subject is amazing, our unified vision with Sanjay Raut and most importantly, it is our milestone film, being our 75th Hindi film and 10th Marathi film. We are called the biopic factory, but  this is something completely different. Thackeray doesn't make you nervous; it scares you as you want to do cinematic justice to his persona. At the same time, the excitement element overrides all else."

Dr.Shrikant Bhasi, Chairman & Founder, Carnival Group, added the film has received an amazing reception worldwide, including the Middle East. Enthused he, "We have screens in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia-- in fact more than 200 screens. That is bigger than the biggest blockbusters of 2018. We will also have over 500-600 screens all over Asia including Singapore and Malaysia except China."

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui expressed that he was astounded by the picturization of the song Aaya Re Thackeray that captured the essence of Balasaheb, while Amrita Rao shared the incident where on the first day of shoot, she encountered Nawazuddin Siddiqui on the sets and he did not recognize. “Nawaz was standing right next to me. But he did not recognize me as I was Meenatai at 60!”

Aaditya Thackeray echoed the sentiments of everyone in the hall as he expressed, “Thackeray is the biggest film of 2019.” Touche!

Thackeray, presented by Sanjay Raut, produced by Raut’ers Entertainment LLP, Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Carnival Motion Pictures and is directed by Abhijit Panse. The music is by young composer-duo Rohan-Rohan with lyrics by Padma Shri Sunil Jogi  (Aaya Re Thackeray), Manoj Yadav (Saheb Tu) and Mandar Cholkar (Apale Saheb Thackeray) with music production by Aditya Paudwal, set to voice by Nakash Aziz (Aaya Re Thackeray), Sukhwinder Singh (Saheb Tu) and Avadhoot Gupte (Apale Saheb Thackeray). The special song Aaya Re Thackeray has been choreographed by Ahmed Khan.

I am ok with my attention grabbing assets, as long as I am loved for my acting: Gandii Baat 2 actress Anveshi Jain

ALT Balaji’s ‘Gandii Baat’, seems to have hit it out of the park once again. Season 2 was applauded for its out of the box content, striking performances, and enrapturing screenplay. But overshadowing every good thing about the show, the leaked lesbian lovemaking scene between Anveshi Jain and Flora Saini caught more eyeballs than expected. The show occupied number one spot on the trending list which in turn directly influenced the lives of two actresses positively as well as negatively.

While on one hand, the undue attention and obscene comments seemed torturing for Anveshi (one of the two actors), on the other she was flooded with offers for big-budget movies and television shows (both reality-based and fictional). The chemistry between Flora and her seems to be working. However, amid everything, the Gandii Baat actress is neither complaining nor basking in the attention and glory.

“I strongly believe in ‘calling of the universe’. When I read the script of Gandii Baat, my gut feeling was very positive. It just felt right and I surrendered to it. And indeed it was the right decision. I have no regrets about it because I am well aware of the fact that I have not done anything that hasn’t been seen before. I feel, for some reason, it’s just my body that’s getting me unwanted and extra attention. Moreover, immoderate comments on social media platforms including Instagram is just adding fuel to the fire,” commented Anveshi on the entire episode.

Just a single scene - which in fact is not very explicit in terms of skin show – will hopefully be seen in the positive light, as this could be a totally new career shift for this motivational speaker, dating coach, and singer.

Three generations from a family display their ardent love for Shilpa Shetty on the sets of Super Dancer Chapter 3

Super Dancer Chapter 3 is back with its super talented kids from across the country, who are already creating news with their dancing abilities. The three Super Judges- Shilpa Shetty, Geeta Kapur and Anurag Basu have the toughest task of shortlisting contestants from amongst all. Every season, we see contestants and their families having their favourites amongst the three judges and Shilpa Shetty has the maximum fan following especially amongst the fathers. 

During the audition round, the father and grandfather of Srijan one of the participants on the show this season, showed their admiration for Shilpa and wore ‘I Love Shilpa’ t-shirts to the sets. Shilpa was quite amazed and happy to see three generations in the family being her ardent fans and on their request did some dance moves also with them on stage. The family was elated on Srijan’s selection for the mega-audition round and when they came for the same, they brought sugar free sweets for their favorite Shilpa keeping in mind that she is diet-conscious and keeps a tab on her calorie consumption every day. Srijan’s mother also gifted a Bengali saree to Shilpa and the entire family grooved to the one of the popular songs of Shilpa Shetty “Shut Up and Bounce” from Dostana.

Shilpa was quite moved with the family’s gesture and so were the other two judges so much that Anurag Basu ended up saying that , “I want to get married again just like these beautiful and happy couple.” 

Tune in to Sony Entertainment Television this Saturday & Sunday at 8pm to watch the mega-auditions of Super Dancer Chapter 3.