The BBC World Service Trust's reality show, Haath se Haath Milaa, has won a World Award at the Asia Media Summit 2007.
In an environment where 45 television programmes were competing for the title of Best TV programme to reduce discrimination against people living with HIV, the BBC World Service Trusts Haath se Haath Milaa (Lets Join Hands) reality TV show has won hands down.
Haath se Haath Milaa played an instrumental role in Indias largest mass media campaign on HIV and AIDS. The magazine style youth-focused series, which was broadcast in 2006, attracted an audience of 51 million viewers.
On winning the award, the Trusts director in India, Andrew Whitehead, said:
Haath se Haath Milaa was unique in leveraging the power of Bollywood celebrities - big names such as Vivek Oberoi, Fardeen Khan, Tabu and Shilpa Shetty and many others - to challenge the stigma and discrimination faced by the millions of Indians living with HIV.
'The programme was ambitious, exceptionally innovative. It demonstrates the power of well made, well thought out TV entertainment in building awareness and changing attitudes relating to HIV. The mass media has to be a crucial part of the response to HIV.
Combining TV and Bollywood
Working in partnership with National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and Doordarshan TV, the Trusts team in India persuaded an impressive line up of Bollywood (Indian Hindi cinema) stars to appear on Haath se Haath Milaa.
Each episode revolved around a film star and a Yuva Star - a young HIV and AIDS activist.
The compelling factor in each Yuva Stars story was his or her dream of joining hands with their favourite Bollywood star to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS.
I designed Haath Se Haath Milaa to elicit a durable emotional response from viewers, to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and induce behaviour change.
'This was achieved by persuading Bollywood Stars to actively participate in the show, which told stories of Yuva Stars who worked in the area of HIV and AIDS.
'The Bollywood angle raised the issue profile and inspired the Yuva Stars, said Anu Malhotra, the Creative Director of the series.
The awards were presented jointly by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) and UNAIDS at the Asian Media Summit in Kula Lumpur.
Chart-topping single and video
The Haath se Haath Milaa team also released a music single and video, featuring 50 of the Hindi film industry's brightest stars, including: John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Raveena Tandon and Dino Morea.
The single made the top ten of the music charts in five major Indian cities. An album and VCD featuring the music video and the 'making of' the music video were also released last year.
The project was funded by the British governments Department for International Development.
Future plans
The Trust in India has just started a big new project, supported by the Gates foundation, using the mass media to promote condom use in parts of south and west India where HIV prevalence rates are high.
Source: BBC World Service Trust
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