Channel Premiere: Mannat, Colors TV Original Launches On Star Life

Star Life, a Bollywood based channel operated by JioStar has announced that they'll be launching a new series called Mannat. Known in India as Mannat – Har Khushi Paane Ki, the series will air daily at 21:30 from 19 March.

Synopsis for Mannat

The story is set in vibrant Mumbai and centers on Mannat, a talented, happy-go-lucky, and determined young chef who aspires to become one of India's renowned chefs. Abandoned as a newborn at Marine Drive by her biological mother, she was saved by a young boy and raised by her loving maternal aunt (maasi), Shruti, whom she initially believes to be her mother.

After graduating from culinary college, Mannat lands her first job at a high-end restaurant called "Mezbaani," owned by the cold, ruthless, and critical Aishwarya (her biological mother, who abandoned her) and her business partner Vikrant Saluja (the male lead, who becomes supportive and romantically involved with Mannat).

Unaware of her true origins, Mannat faces challenges in the professional world, including prejudice due to her disadvantaged background. Aishwarya, initially harsh toward Mannat and even fires her at one point, shares a deep but hidden connection with her. The narrative explores Mannat's journey to fulfill her career dreams while uncovering shocking truths about her birth, family ties, and identity.

It starred Ayesha Singh as Mannat Khanna, Adnan Khan as Aman "Vikrant" Saluja, Mona Vasu as Sonia "Aishwarya" Khanna Raisingh, Manit Joura as DCP Dhairya Kumar, Mamata Verma as Shruti Khanna and Yami Khandelwal / Trisha Sharda as Dua Saluja.

Since it's inception on Colors TV, Mannat continues to be broadcast on the channel with over 390 episodes having being filmed. It will join Noyontara: The Hidden Truth as another TV show to have aired on Colors TV.

Mannat will broadcast daily on Star Life from 19 March at 21:30 CAT replacing Sweet Love.

New Series Alert: Parineeta Coming Soon To Zee One

Zee One, a Bollywood based entertainment channel operated by Zee Entertainment Enterprises offering English dubbed content has announced the addition of a new show, Parineeta. It is scheduled to broadcast daily on Zee One from 28 March.

Synopsis for Zee One

The story begins with the contrasting worlds of Parul, an ambitious girl with a thirst for knowledge, and Rayan, a wealthy, sharp-tongued city-bred man. 

Their lives collide when a series of events—including threats from a local character named Tapoti—compels Rayan and Parul into an unwanted marriage. Rayan initially rejects Parul, harboring deep resentment from their brief, antagonistic time at university.

After moving into the domineering Basu household headed by Rayan's grandfather, Ashutosh, Parul faces constant hostility from Rayan and a complex love triangle involving Shirin, who attempts to sabotage her at every turn.

Parineeta debuted on Zee Bangla on November 11, 2024 and since then over 470 half hour episodes have been produced. It starred Parul Adhikari as Ishani Chatterjee, Rayan Basu as Uday Pratap Singh and Shirin as Surabhi Mallick.

Parineeta premieres 28 March 2026 on Zee One replacing Padamatis Love. Other shows set to rollout on the channel during the month include How Do I Say This and Undercover Love.

Has eExtra Decided To Call It Quits For Bollywood Dramas?

Before Star Life and Zee One, there was eExtra that brought India to South Africa with shows like Madhubala, Yeh Teri Galiyan and Piyaa Albela. But in recent months, it appears that eExtra's Kuiertyd is building up it's airtime on the channel.

By the afternoon, eExtra now has daily repeats of Yosef, Sout Van Die Aarde, Chrysalis and Dokter Ali. This was the timeslot used to accommodate ramp up it's rivalled offering for Star Life now that's been reduced to a one hour slot for Naagin.

Uzozisola - Regrets gave Naagin the weight it needed but after e.tv scrapped further airings. Naagin just became an outsider on eExtra as daily repeats of e.tv soaps take up the morning with Kuiertyd taking up the afternoons and primetime.

Empress In The Palace, a former show on eExtra has since found its way onto eSeries. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if eMedia Investments decided to move all its Asian stories to eSeries in order to combat with those repeats.

As for Bollywood dramas, I feel like eExtra's story had come to an end I mean it never gained much recognition. For DStv viewers, there was Zee World with Glow TV on Openview and with it's afternoon slot most viewers were probably at work by then.

It could never garner the Zee World recognition it deserved even with Star Life and Zee One only airing repeats by then.

As for Kuiertyd, that's another story as Ouma Sarie and Droomvelore's broadcast on e.tv those shows were able to attract over 3 million viewers. Their continued success led KykNET to ramp up their own portfolio with Dikker As Water and Landman.

For sometime now, several Openview consumers didn't really see the need of having eExtra air these shows. Especially since eMedia Investments had been outsourcing from their competitors who had branded channels (i.e. Zee One) on Openview.

This market as some people recall has been overcrowded on both DStv and Openview. Not that it's a bad thing but in scenarios like this it's hard for a broadcaster like eExtra to offer alternatives if there's bigger prey out there.

Development Alert: eVOD Originals uMbali And Splintered Pieces Resurface On Openview

eMedia Investments had added the first seasons of uMbali and Splintered Pieces to eSeries on weeknights at 22:15 and 22:45 respectively. The latter was produced for eVOD and eMedia Investments had limited it's reach to Openview.

Following eVOD's rollout in the market, eMedia Investments had been giving some of its content an open window on their other platforms. But for shows like uMbali and Splintered Pieces, e.tv had been struggling to accommodate these shows.

They attempted to have it take up the timeslot of the Sunday movie block on e.tv and with minimal success for its movie offering. eMedia Investments decided to yank it to weeknights at 22:00 and that too had a limited run.

Now they've limited it's reach to Openview instead of allocating it on eExtra since it's also available on DStv or try to accommodate these shows on e.tv a lot better. One of the two would have helped these shows get more ad revenue compared to eSeries.

Synopsis for uMbali

Mbali is a "beguiling beauty queen" who uses her looks and street smarts to climb the social and economic ladder. After her boyfriend is arrested and her family loses their primary financial support, she vows to do whatever it takes to escape her circumstances.

Her pursuit of "the good life" leads her to steal husbands and boyfriends, creating a trail of enemies. She eventually finds what she believes is true love with her sister's fiancé, Peter, but her past and relentless ambition constantly threaten her safety and the lives of those around her.

Synopsis for Splintered Pieces 

The series explores the lives of two friends caught in a web of secrets and blurred boundaries. It focuses on Linda, a successful therapist who is bored in her relationship with her boyfriend, Paul.

On her birthday, Paul throws a surprise party where Linda meets and sleeps with a photographer named Jade. The situation becomes more complicated when Linda also sleeps with Tebello, the husband of her best friend Tshepi.

Tshepi is struggling with infertility, and when Linda falls pregnant, the paternity of the baby is unclear. A DNA test eventually confirms Tebello is the father, leading to a heartbreaking arrangement where Linda gives the baby to Tshepi and Tebello to raise as their own. 

Canal+ Might Overhaul The Current DStv Structure And Take A Dig At SuperSport

As it is understood, MultiChoice has lost almost 3 million DStv subscribers in the last two years and this is the reason Canal+ is backing out from further price increases. The focus has shifted on returning the company back to its 2023 projections.

Post the takeover, MultiChoice reportedly had 23.5 million 90 day active subscribers and this dropped further by 11% to 18.5 million. In South Africa, the DStv Premium base (including Compact+) saw a drop of 96,000 subscribers.

Since last year, MultiChoice had been exploring the possibility of unbundling SuperSport from the current DStv offering to make the costs flexible. This isn't the first time such experiment occurred and it's not known why they hadn't pursued it earlier on.

In France, Canal+ already offers the Canal+ Sport bouquet which includes sports from rival brands like DAZN and Eurosport. There's even a base package with select sports like UEFA Champions League, Formula 1 and Moto GP.

It is currently priced at €34.99 (R671, 89).

Of course, it's Canal+ Afrique's operations uses the same model as DStv which is why there's a lot of skepticism about a SuperSport only package. Canal+ CEO had dismissed the idea stating that "everyone who has tried this has failed". 

If such exists, it's going to be almost as pricey as your current DStv Premium bouquet. It's less likely they're going to make it cheaper as the current DStv structure helps subsidies the costs.

This new structure MultiChoice has been testing out for DStv will only benefit the non sports fanatics on lower tiered packages.

DStv Premium has been in decline for 10 years so it's a safe bet that MultiChoice will gradually use this offering to phase out that market. The plan for this offering was to have 3 sports package one for football with other sports on another package.

There's plenty of Premium subscribers that don't watch football and MultiChoice would give them the option to exclude it from their offering. They'll be times where you don't feel like watching SuperSport and MultiChoice would make that possible too.

In the end, you as a Premium client can continue catching shows like Landman and Doc on M-Net while watching One Piece on Netflix. You can do all this for under R700 and still have R300 to yourself.