It was Star TV's entry into Hindi programming which caused the relations between the two partners, Zee and Star TV, to go sour. In the earlier set-up, while Zee was making inroads into Hindi heartlands through its main Zee channel, its joint venture partner Star was writing its balance sheets in red ink due to its concentration on English programming. Murdoch decided to go into Hindi programming through the Star TV network, which led to lower advertising revenue for Zee and bad blood between the two partners.

Taking a dig at Star TV and its promoters, Chandra said: ``It's wrongto say Indians cannot match global channels or media networks... Zee has planned to enter all segments of entertainment and education to create shareholder value. I was sad that many Indians, including leaders from the financial world, came to me and asked me to surrender to the other party by saying Star's financial muscle was too much for us to digest.'' A divorce with Star TV will cost Chandra $ 300 million in alimony, of which $ 150 million would be in the form of Zee Telefilms shares and the rest in cash.

``This (the buyout of Star holdings) will help us focus on our respective products besides reducing solicitors' bills for both sides,'' Chandra said in a lighter vein.

On the cards is an English channel to penetrate `niche' markets, a 24-hour sports channel ``to develop sports in India,'' and of course regional language channels like Punjabi, Bangla and the Marathi channels on its `Alpha' platform. Of these, Bangla and Marathi channels have been already launched and six more would be launched byMarch next.

Chandra is also eyeing internet services to be offered by its flagship company -- Zee Telefilms -- via its Siticable network and telephone companies. ``We are investing about Rs 400 crore in the next two years to make an entry into the net services called e-connect,'' he said. The net services would start from Bangalore in the near future.

Pay channels, estimated to have a Rs 2,000-crore turnover in India per annum, are also on the priority list of the Zee chairman.