Laavni competition on Mi Marathi

Showing its solidarity with Mumbaikars and mainly Maharashtrians, Mi Marathi is bringing a long forgotten tradition back. Mi Marathi is inviting laavni groups to display their talents on one stage. Through this show Mi Marathi will provide the interested groups a platform to perform and get eliminated for the Number One Group in laavni performance. The show is scheduled to begin on 20th March 2008. The episode will appear every Thursday and Friday 9.30pm. The channel will begin with contestants from major cities across Maharastra, namely Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Nagpur and Aurangabad. Two teams will be selected from each zone. There will be many interesting rounds such as filmi laavni round, costume round, fusion round, question round, jugalbandi round open to age groups 18 to 35 years. Prominent personalities will be invited to judge the event. While there will be one famous personality as the permanent judge, there will be a galaxy of Marathi film stars making special appearances. Every contestant who participates in the competition shall be a face of her region. As there will be no individual performance the competition would be a group activity of 6 to 8 persons across cities in Maharashtra who are specialized for the traditional laavni dance. All the dance forms were structured around the nine RASA or Emotions, namely Hasya, Shoka, Krodha, Karuna, Bhibhatsa, Adhbhuta, Bhaya, Viram & Shanta. The true spirit of the event will come out when the voting starts and the emotions of the people are aroused as they support their favorite contestant though SMS, email etc. ‘Laavni 2008’ will be produced by Ashwini Karandikar of Antakshari and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame. The show will be hosted by Swapnil Joshi, while the entire event will be judged by Surekha Punekar.