We salute Lt. Colonel Mohanlal!

We at salute Mohanlal for being conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army. Later speaking from New Delhi after the ceremony at Army Headquarters, Mohanlal told �It is truly a great honor to be made a Lt. Colonel in the Territorial army, a dream come true for me as in my childhood my secret ambition was to join the army. Now I�am proud that I have been granted an honorary rank during the diamond jubilee year of the Territorial Army. I will try to serve to the best of my ability in my newly assigned role�. The Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor conferred Mohanlal with the title and said: �Mohanlal will be yet another brand ambassador of the Territorial Army. His achievements are an example of his discipline, dedication and hard work which is synonymous to the army way of life.� Later speaking to the media Mohanlal confessed: � Actually Kargil and Kashmir inspired me to join the forces and the tough time faced by the army personnel is the main motivation behind my step.� The actor also met up with Union Defence Minister A.K Antony, who said that now youth in the country, would be inspired to join the army. Mohanlal was accompanied by his wife Suchitra and son Pranav

Small town boys vs uptown girls in new reality show

Mumbai, July 10 (IANS) After a slew of music, dance and adventure-based reality shows, a new television reality dating show featuring a group of small town boys trying to woo uptown girls is going on air from Saturday.

Organised by entertainment channel Zing (previously called Zee Muzic), the show is called 'Zing Ne Bana Di Jodi'.

It will have eight couples being tested on grounds of compatibility for the grand prize of Rs.200,000 for a couple and an opportunity for them to host a show on the channel.

'We've made a gradual but distinct transition from Zee Muzic to the channel's brand-new identity Zing over the last couple of months...(and) with our latest reality show, 'Zing Ne Bana Di Jodi', our first offering as a more youthful and lifestyle channel, we are certain it will find an instant connect with the audience,' Anurag Bedi, business head of Zing and Zee Trendz, said in a statement Friday.

The series will run into 13 episodes of an hour each and will follow a pattern of elimination based on voting amongst the participants.

The participants will be seen performing a variety of tasks designed to bring them closer like giving each other image makeovers, playing slaves to their partners, giving massages and going on an old fashioned date among others.

Bollywood celebrities like Celina Jaitley, Adhyayan Suman and Gautam Rhode are also to make special appearances to play Cupid between the boys and the girls on the show.