Chitrahaar is a widely watched television program on DD National, the national television channel of India. The word literally means 'a garland of pictures'. It airs for half an hour every Wednesday on prime-time where the videos of the latest songs in Hindi film (Bollywood) music are televised. It's the longest-running film-based programme in TV history, having started in the 1960s. With the advent of cable TV, the viewership of DD has drastically dropped in urban areas, but it's still popular in the rural regions.

Lately, Chitrahaar has started using Same Language Subtitling (SLS), where Hindi subtitles of the song's lyrics scroll across the screen. The idea behind SLS is that people who are just learning to read would benefit by reading lyrics of the songs they are listening to and watching. It's an engaging way to promote literacy, especially in villages. This initiative of Doordarshan has been technically supported by Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

DD started another show called Rangoli (The name is based on Rangoli, a visual art form) that is based on the same film-music theme, and has wide rural viewership.

[edit] External links

• Article in the Indian Express on SLS

This Indian television-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e