Planning to binge watch on I-Day? Here’s your last-minute guide

New Delhi: Peering through the lens of the past serves as a timely reminder of the sacrifices our freedom fighters made for the sake of India’s Independence.

After the hoisting of the Tricolour by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his 88-minute address to the nation from the historic ramparts of the Red Fort, the time has come to start planning how to unwind through the rest of the day.

Here are some of the highlights of programmes that TV channels have planned for the 75th Independence Day. Plan your day accordingly.

The big television event of the day will be the 12-hour ‘Greatest Grand Finale’ of ‘Indian Idol 12’, which will comprise more than 40 acts and 200 songs with a host of special guests. From singers such as Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Javed Ali and rapper Mika Singh to the ‘Shershaah’ pair Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, the finale promises to be a fun fest.

(The ‘Greatest Grand Finale’ will be on till 12 midnight.)

Sony Entertainment Television show will have two hosts — Jay Bhanushali of ‘Dance India Dance’ fame will join Aditya Narayan, and together they’ll engage in musical banter with the top six contestants: Pawandeep Rajan, Arunita Kanjilal, Mohd Danish, Sayli Kamble, Nihal Tauro and Shanmukha Priya.

The judges — Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya and Sonu Kakkar — will have their share of fun as well. You can enjoy listening to your favourite tracks, such as ‘Dhinka Chikka’ and ‘Jumme Ki Raat’, and old melodies, notably ‘Beeti Na Bitayi’ and ‘Ajeeb Dastan’.

Of course, if you’re a fan of Bollywood’s favourite ‘bhai’, you could switch on to Zee TV at 12 noon to watch the television premiere of Salman Khan’s ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’, which had its OTT and DTH releases on May 13. The audience response was said to be lukewarm, but will television be able to give Salman the satisfaction of savouring the adulation of his legions of fans?

As the evening arrives, you could tickle your funny bone by watching Govinda and Shakti Kapoor in their elements in the ‘Zee Comedy Show’ (10 p.m.), which is being judged by Farah Khan.

The two Bollywood stars will be seen as special guests during the Independence Day Special episode, where all the 11 comedians, who have been divided into two teams, will come together as one, like our nation. They promise to give you ample cause to break into laughter.

In this season of the Olympics, ‘Dance Deewane’ (8 p.m.) will celebrate Independence Day with Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Mirabai Chanu, iconic cricketer Kapil Dev and his 1983 World Cup-winning teammate Mohinder Amarnath, the first Indian sabre fencer to qualify for the Olympics, Bhavani Devi, and wrestler Priya Malik.

They will all be a part of Colors TV reality show’s ‘Salaam India’ special. Joining them in the fun will be the judges Madhuri Dixit Nene, Tushar Kalia and Dharmesh Yelande and hosts Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiya.

If you are a serious movie buff, then you can stay glued to the Independence Day movie marathon on Zee Cinema up to 10:45 p.m. The showcase will include the Akshay Kumar-starrers ‘Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty’ and ‘Kesari’, ‘Krack’ with Ravi Teja and Shruti Haasan, ‘Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy’ with Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi in the title role, and Allu Arjun’s ‘Surya the Soldier’.

Also planned is the TV premiere of the Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani comedy ‘Hello Charlie’ with Jackie Shroff. Happy viewing!