Though airing of Celebrity Choices in playback numbers is a prime-time regular, stars of the Silver screen do not usually deign to host a show on the telly. Star Choice however, boasts of a parade of superstars, character actors, comedians and villains who line up to broadcast their select list.

A virtual torrent of ‘special songs’ may breach the dam of the Star’s memories, but  he can  pick up only 5 from the lot. These cherished  hits- which can be from Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil or English – should be drawn from five different phases of his life :one that caught his fancy in childhood ; another that appealed to his adolescence ; a third that captivated  him in his youth ; one which  he finds fascinating now, at the present moment ; and the last, a song that bewitched his ardent heart during the days of his courtship in his ‘season of love’ . Each song is prefaced by an introduction that clearly shows why these  5 are his chosen ones - it may be the wording  of  his lyrics; the magic  of its melody  or some precious memory associated with it.

‘Ezhu swarangalum thazhuki varrunnoru ganam’ comes first on the list of Suraj Venjaramoodu. It transports  him to his pre-star days when he used to supply milk daily to the local teashop in the village, where this song was played over and over again. He decided to see the film for the sake of the song and was shocked when he saw the scene in which it was sung – he had never seen so dynamic  a song     picturised  in so unimaginative a manner – and so he rates this number as his favourite ! A young Jayaram was slated to sing the song ‘Poovum Prasadam’ on stage for his School Day, but the 8 year old was so awed by the occasion  that he forgot his lines and stuttered through the lyrics. The next day, his friends had a whale of a time teasing him with a new nickname ‘poo poo aa aa’. Though the song was an embarrassment  then , Jayaram looks back  with laughter through this number.

‘Sanyasini nin Punnyasramathil’ makes Navya Nair recall her childhood when current  cuts were a regular  part of the evening schedule. When the house was plunged into darkness and the family gathered around the dim flicker of the lamp, her father used to sing this Vayalar classic to while away the time. This song which brings back the sweetness of her childhood, holds pride of place in Navya’s list.

Star Choice  is thus an unusual film song based show, wherein a star from the celluloid  world plays anchor on the small screen and hosts a selection of his personal preferences with anecdoted explanations for his choice, that gives us brief autobiographical sketches from the pages of his past life.