ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Hotstar Specials: ‘Roar of the Lion’ trailer promises to be an ultimate comeback story

    Hotstar Specials: ‘Roar of the Lion’ trailer promises to be an ultimate comeback story

    MUMBAI: Hotstar Specials is delighted to present its first show “Roar of the Lion”, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni who speaks about the darkest phase of his career, when he was accused of the worst crime in cricket and Chennai lost its beloved team.

    The teaser left us wanting to know more about Dhoni’s ‘Zidd’ while the trailer sheds light on the emotions that played a big part in making Captain Cool what he is today.  Demonstrating a side of him not commonly seen, the trailer includes the soon to be iconic line uttered by M.S. Dhoni: “The biggest crime I can commit is not murder, its actually match fixing.”

    Roar of the Lion’ is a story of how a bunch of men in yellow jerseys wrote one of India’s greatest comeback stories under the leadership of M.S.Dhoni. The series follows the human emotions of not only the members of Team CSK, but also of their beloved fans, during the days that led to the CSK ban and the 2 years that followed. 

    Shot across multiple locations including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Australia, this is a finite story of 6 episodes of 30 minutes each.  Shot across locations in India from Chepauk Stadium in Chennai to Dhoni’s hometown of Ranchi, the story weaves in a narrative never seen before for been created by master storyteller Kabir Khan, making his debut in the digital space, written by Kausar Munir, and is a co-production between Dhoni Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Banijay Asia.

    While the trailer leaves a lot to be seen it brings to the screen some of the voices who have for the first time shared their opinion about the ban including the CSK management, the people behind CSK.

    Hotstar Specials presents “Roar of the Lion” will be streaming from 20th March onwards with all the episodes available for fans to watch.

    Hotstar Specials, the new label launched by India’s biggest OTT player – Hotstar- will bring big, bold, authentic stories created by some of the biggest storytellers. Featuring some of the most unconventional stories, every show on Hotstar Specials will be available to crores of consumers across India in 7 languages i.e. Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

  • Amazon Prime Video to add TV channels in India

    Amazon Prime Video to add TV channels in India

    MUMBAI: Taking an edge over its rival Netflix, Amazon Prime Video is looking at making a bold move. The OTT player wants to be a content housing platform that is soon likely to include even TV channels of India.

    The section is called Amazon Prime Channels and is already live in other countries such as the US, UK and Japan. According to a report by The Hindu Business Line, Amazon Prime Video head of international originals James Farrel said that Amazon Prime Channels is soon heading to India.

     Subscribers here can use their Prime accounts to watch channels like HBO, CBS, Starz, etc., without paying the cable bill. However, users will have to pay for every channel they choose and this will be in addition to the annual prime membership of Rs 999.

    Amazon will still have a tough fight with other streaming platforms in the country that offer channels to watch. Leading OTT player Hotstar provides access to content from all 33 channels of its parent company Star India. Reliance Jio’s TV app also has over 500 channels to choose from.

    Recently, Amazon announced a number of upcoming Originals that are going under production across the world. Some of them include Indian names such as Bandish Bandits, The Last Hour, an untitled drama thriller, an untitled drama, an untitled reality series and Comicstaan (Tamil). Amazon Prime Video India content director and head Vijay Subramaniam, in a recent interview, said that three new languages are to be added in the first six months of this year. The dropping of data rates across telecom operators has been a boon for OTT players and enabled them to go into regional content targeting rural and interior India.

  • Viu’s ‘Love, Lust and Confusion’ is back with season 2

    Viu’s ‘Love, Lust and Confusion’ is back with season 2

    MUMBAI: Expanding its popular ‘Love, Lust and Confusion’ franchise, Viu announces the launch of the highly-awaited second season of the series on March 8th, 2019. The fresh and relatable storyline of the first season led to a surge in viewership. This second outing gears up to bring double the drama and confusion to these love stories.

    While season one chronicled the character Paroma Sarkar's journey through her to-do list, including indecision, physical explorations and confusion, that every millennial can relate to, this upcoming season will see her deal with her ‘don’t do list’. Paroma will be seen working on a graphic novel based on her relationship escapades creating even more confusion between love and lust.

    Commenting on the launch Country Head of Viu India, Mr. Vishal Maheshwari said, “At Viu,we strive to tell stories that appeal to the youth of today. We created characters and a story that millennials can relate to and are glad that the show struck the right chord with them. Season 2 of Love, Lust and Confusion is our way of thanking the fans of the show for all the support. We aim to continue to expand our originals catalogue with innovative and refreshing content.”  

    The 13-episode light-hearted, realistic romantic dramedy is directed by Victor Mukherjee and produced by Mango People Media. Catch Love, Lust and Confusion Season 2 starting 8thMarch, 2019.Lead characters are played by Tara Alisha Berry, Shiv Pandit and Gaurav Chopra, along with the rest of the gang that includes a mix of new and old faces such as Meiyang Chang, Swati Vatssa, Diksha Juneja, Sanjay Suri and Rajat Barmecha.

    Viu originals can be streamed on www.viu.com and the Viu App. And for regular updates and show announcements, you can follow Viu on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • Netflix’s Leila to launch globally on 14th june

    Netflix’s Leila to launch globally on 14th june

    MUMBAI: Netflix Inc., the world’s leading internet entertainment service announced today that their next Indian Original Series Leila will launch globally on  June 14, 2019. Based on the book by Prayaag Akbar, Leila stars actors Huma Qureshi, Siddharth, Rahul Khanna, Sanjay Suri, Arif Zakaria amongst others. Deepa Mehta is the Creative Executive Producer for the show.

    Deepa Mehta, creative executive producer said “At the heart of this series is the journey of a woman, in search of her daughter Leila, but also in search of identity.  Leila is about awareness, about paying attention, about looking at the world around us and asking pertinent questions about our future. That’s what makes it so perfect on a platform like Netflix with its global reach and ability to address a range of audiences with relevant, resonant stories. “

    The six-episode series is a dystopian work of fiction set in the near future and follows the journey of Shalini, a mother in search of her daughter Leila whom she lost one tragic summer. Shalini deals with various hardships in the course of her search, in a story of longing, faith and loss. The series is directed by Deepa Mehta, Shanker Raman and Pawan Kumar.

    Huma Qureshi, on her role, said, “Leila has been a fantastic Netflix project to work on. I’m thrilled to be essaying Shalini, whose unique mix of strength, grace and optimism is what gets her through all kinds of obstacles. So it really has been an honour to portray a character that has not only pushed me as an artist but I believe will resonate with a lot of young women. It is unlike anything I have done before and I can’t wait for Netflix to take this story to the world!”

    Siddharth said “My character Bhanu is a complex one and playing him has been an intense yet fruitful journey. Although the story Leila is set in a dystopian age, it is about human emotions. The team on set was wonderful which made this journey even more memorable. I am very excited to see how a global audience on Netflix reacts to this story.”

    The series launches worldwide exclusively on Netflix on June 14, 2019.

  • Biggest Indian storytellers keen to make their digital debut on Hotstar Specials

    Biggest Indian storytellers keen to make their digital debut on Hotstar Specials

    MUMBAI: Hotstar Specials, the new label launched by India’s biggest OTT player – Hotstar- will bring big, bold, authentic stories to crores of consumers across India, in 7 languages. What has attracted 15 of India’s diverse and impeccable storytellers to tie-up with Hotstar Specials for their big digital debut?

    Speaking about why he chose Hotstar Specials, Shekhar Kapur said, “India is the new platform for global entertainment. I have passionately wanted to create content for India that can go global.  Not just for 8000 cinema screens in India, but I wanted to reach out to India’s heartland, to every Indian home within Hotstar’s reach, and with their global ambitions, it is the perfect fit for me.”

    Highlighting the reasons behind his association with Hotstar Specials, Kabir Khan said, “My venture on Hotstar specials is a documentary drama around one of the most loved teams in the country with crazy fan following. Hotstar is the leading brand in both entertainment and sports in this country and I believe that there is no other platform that complements the story as much as Hotstar Specials. The show will be available in 7 languages, directly connecting with viewers from across India, which makes the endeavour even more special.”

    Neeraj Pandey also said, “This story has been in my head for a while, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do justice to it in a feature length. It’s a massively mounted narrative that merits the longer series format. A formidable cast and crew are coming together on this one. We look forward to bringing a unique viewing experience and Hotstar’s ability to magnify digital content makes it our preferred and obvious partner.”

    On his connection with Hotstar Specials Venkat Prabhu said, “The scope of genres on Hotstar Specials will be too immense and allure all age groups. I have always had distinct perspective on content. It should be enjoyable and at the same time quirkily engrossing. Hotstar Specials has given me an exemplary spot to put that in action and reach across audiences in my very own language.”

    Besides these big filmmakers, even Salman Khan and his Production House (SKF Films) are expected to make their debut on Hotstar Specials with a Sports Biopic.

    Hotstar Specials will feature an extensive variety of Indian stories, mounted on a big scale, unconstrained by format. It will enable makers to showcase never seen before stories for a diverse audience set and every show will be available in seven languages i.e. Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, for viewers to enjoy them in a language of their choice.

    Hotstar Specials has released the teaser of their first big show starring the most popular cricketer in the country, M.S Dhoni. While speculations are rife about what this is all about, it sure looks like something that cannot be missed!

  • Netflix acquires the rights to develop gabriel garcia marquez’s masterpiece one hundred years of solitude As a new netflix series

    Netflix acquires the rights to develop gabriel garcia marquez’s masterpiece one hundred years of solitude As a new netflix series

    MUMBAI: For the first time in history, Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez’s literary masterwork One Hundred Years of Solitude is coming to the screen — as a new series for Netflix members worldwide. Netflix has acquired the rights to develop the beloved and acclaimed novel, considered to be one of the most significant works of the 20th Century, into a Netflix Spanish language original series. One Hundred Years of Solitude was first published in 1967 and since that time has sold an estimated 50 million copies around the world and has been translated into 46 languages*.

    García Márquez’s sons Rodrigo Garcia and Gonzalo García Barcha will serve as executive producers on the series, which will be filmed mainly in Colombia. "For decades our father was reluctant to sell the film rights to Cien Años de Soledad because he believed that it could not be made under the time constraints of a feature film, or that producing it in a language other than Spanish would not do it justice,” said Garcia. He continued, “But in the current golden age of series, with the level of talented writing and directing, the cinematic quality of content, and the acceptance by worldwide audiences of programs in foreign languages, the time could not be better to bring an adaptation to the extraordinary global viewership that Netflix provides. We are excited to support Netflix and the filmmakers in this venture, and eager to see the final product."

    “We are incredibly honored to be entrusted with the first filmed adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude, a timeless and iconic story from Latin America that we are thrilled to share with the world,” said Francisco Ramos, Vice President, Spanish Language Originals for Netflix. “We know our members around the world love watching Spanish-language films and series and we feel this will be a perfect match of project and our platform.”

  • Mobile-based safety service Idea Sakhi launched exclusively for women

    Mobile-based safety service Idea Sakhi launched exclusively for women

    MUMBAI: To address the increasingly-felt, safety-related concerns of women who wish to step out and do more, brand Idea has designed a unique mobile based solution, Idea Sakhi. It is free of cost service available to all women customers using either prepaid or postpaid services of Idea, across the country. Accessible on both smartphones and basic feature phones, Idea Sakhi offers three extremely useful features – emergency alerts, emergency balance, and private number recharge.

    Launched during the International Women’s Week, this service has already been made available to women customers of Idea across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Assam and North East, Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Kerala, Gujarat, J&K, Maharashtra and Goa, Madya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and Delhi. It will be extended to all 22 circles within this month.

    Launching the Idea Sakhi service, Vodafone Idea Ltd operations director – marketing Avneesh Khosla said, “Technology can help overcome barriers and solve problems in the life of the consumer. With almost half of our population being women, and 59 per cent of them using a mobile phone, we are in a unique position to extend the benefits of technology for their safety and security. With Idea Sakhi, we are taking forward our long-term commitment of driving inclusion and deploying technology to serve a social purpose.”

    Speaking about the Idea Sakhi service Idea, Vodafone Idea Ltd national brand head Sunita Bangard said, “Brand Idea has always championed causes that help change lives. With Idea Sakhi, Brand Idea wishes to give women the freedom to live their lives and pursue their dreams and understand the need for women to feel safe when they step out of their homes. On this special occasion of International Women’s Week, we are happy to offer Idea Sakhi to the women of India, to feel more confident and safe – Ab idea Hai Udne Ka.”

  • MultiTV acquires digital sports streaming service VEQTA

    MultiTV acquires digital sports streaming service VEQTA

    MUMBAI: MultiTV has announced that it has acquired Veqta in India from ITW Digital. Veqta is India’s first digital platform dedicated to streaming live sport and providing video-on-demand sports content. MultiTV looks to strengthen its offering with sports content and B2B and B2C integration of the digital sports streaming OTT platform. 

    Through its digital platform, Veqta provides access to live coverage of sports action from around the world to fans in India.

    Commenting on the development, MultiTV founder Vikash Samota said, “MultiTV has been associated with Veqta since its early days. We have been involved with many OTT platforms and are providing them the video platform and technical support. With this acquisition we will now strengthen our offering with sports content and B2B and B2C integration of Veqta. We look forward to using our expertise to grow the brand by bringing great content from the world of sports and providing a seamless viewing experience to the Veqta users”.

    VEQTA co-founder and director Varun Mathur said, “MultiTV has been providing the technical
    backend infrastructure services for Veqta and is quite familiar with the product. This will allow for a seamless takeover of Veqta by MultiTV. We are confident that MultiTV with its large team, technical expertise and vast OTT experience will grow the brand and increase the reach among sports fans in the country.”

    MultiTV aims to empower and create next level digital video eco-system, helping brands, broadcasters, content owners and publishers with cutting-edge technology products to leverage the growing digital video consumption among audiences. With the comprehensive end-to-end video solution, MultiTV offers OTT, monetisation, live broadcasting and tv tracking technologies.

  • ZEE5 launches ‘Sex, Drugs & Theatre’

    ZEE5 launches ‘Sex, Drugs & Theatre’

    MUMBAI: After announcing a power packed line-up of 72 Originals across 6 languages (till March 2020) at its first anniversary, ZEE5 launched its high voltage Original ‘Sex, Drugs & Theatre’ at an event in Pune. With an aim to strengthen its Marathi Originals library, on the back of a phenomenal response to earlier content including Date With Saie, Liftman and Veergati; ZEE5’s latest 10-episode web series premiered on 5th March 2019.

    Created by National Award-winning film-maker, Sujay Dahake, the show features Parvin Tarde, Sunil Barve, Adish Vaidya, Mitali Mayekar, Suyash Zunjurke, Shalva Kinjwadekar, Nayannah Mukey, Abhishek Deshmukh and also Sujay Dahake who will be seen playing a crucial role. ‘Sex, Drugs and Theatre’ delves into the drama format of storytelling and is a representation of theatre in a cinematic way. The series narrates the journey of six college students who are made to work on a prestigious drama competition that completely changes their lives.

    Series Creator and Director Sujay Dahake, said, “Theatre is one of the oldest forms of performing arts and this show brings together art along with budding artists of the industry in a seamless manner. With a robust script and relatable dynamics, the show is certain to hook the audience and give a spin to digital storytelling for the Marathi audience. It has been a pleasure to work with the ZEE5 team who gave us the right platform that we needed to tell our story.”

    Commenting on the launch, Manish Aggarwal, Business Head, ZEE5 India said, “Since our launch last year, we have consistently provided content on the platform that is relatable, edgy and something that viewers keep coming back to the platform for. Sex, Drugs & Theatre is one such example. It has a contemporary theme that will reverberate among today’s youth. It is a cool, youthful, vibrant show, something quite different from what the audience has seen so far. It is sure to set an industry benchmark.”

    Aparna Acharekar, Programming Head, ZEE5 India said, “Working with Sujay has been a wonderful experience. His keen sense of storytelling and pulse on the audience preferences will reflect in the success that the show is sure to garner.”

    With over 3500 films, 500+ TV shows, 4000+ music videos, 35+ theatre plays and 90+ LIVE TV Channels across 12 languages, ZEE5 truly presents a blend of unrivalled content offering for its viewers across the nation. With ZEE5, the global content of Zindagi as a brand, which was widely appreciated across the country, has also been brought back for its loyal viewers.

    Availability: The ZEE5 App can be downloaded from Google Play Store http://bit.ly/zee5 and iOS App Store http://bit.ly/zee5ios. Also available at www.zee5.com, as a Progressive Web App (PWA), and on Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick. ZEE5 also supports Chromecast.

    Pricing: Freemium pricing model with both free and paid premium content (including Originals) to cater to a mix of audiences. Viewers who subscribe to the ZEE5 subscription pack will get access to the entire library of content with – 99/- for 1 month and 999/- for a year. Subscribers can avail a 50% cashback on the above-mentioned price by paying through Paytm.

  • Akshay Kumar makes his digital debut with Amazon’s upcoming Prime Original series ‘THE END’

    Akshay Kumar makes his digital debut with Amazon’s upcoming Prime Original series ‘THE END’

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video today announced Indian Superstar, Akshay Kumar, as lead actor in Amazon’s upcoming action-packed Prime Original thriller series, THE END (working title). Coming from Abundantia Entertainment, the creators of critically acclaimed Prime Original Series, Breathe, the show, also the streaming debut of Akshay Kumar marks the second collaboration between Amazon Prime Video and Abundantia Entertainment. The new series will be a globe-spanning, latest offering to the actor’s fans across 200 countries and territories upon its release exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

    The multi-season show, THE END (working title), is presently under active development and aims to appeal to fans of the action-thriller genre worldwide. Being envisioned at an unprecedented scale and cinematic experience, the show promises to bring in the next level of the action genre.

     Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said, “The scale at which THE END (working title) is being conceived is enormous and speaks of our passion for creating breakout programming across genres. The storyline and the action sequences have been brilliantly crafted to give viewers a thrilling experience. Our goal is to make Amazon Prime Video the powerhouse of talent, in front as well as behind the camera, and we are thrilled to have Akshay Kumar and Abundantia Entertainment anchoring the show for us. We will continue to bring distinctive, fresh and high quality content to our audiences and we believe, our Prime members across the world are going to absolutely love the show.”

    Amazon Prime Video India director and head of content Vijay Subramaniam said, “We are excited to bring Akshay Kumar to Amazon Prime Video, closer to millions of his global fans, to recreate his magic and offer something spectacular”.

    Abundantia Entertainment CEO and executive producer Vikram Malhotra said, “Akshay and I have successfully collaborated on multiple films over the last decade and his versatility in choice of roles is unmatched. We, now, mutually felt that it was time to take things to the next level. I am proud that he makes his digital debut with Amazon Prime Video & Abundantia in a genre-defining, edge-of-the-seat action drama series. Unafraid of taking risks, we are certain that he would be perfect for the character he plays on the show and his fans would be excited to see him back in an action packed role. This time, Akshay will take his action and stunts to a never-seen-before level. I am equally delighted to once again work with the wonderful team at Amazon Prime Video and take Abundantia’s high-quality story-telling to the next level.”

    Actor Akshay Kumar said, “I have always believed in bringing innovation to my work and throughout my career, have tried to tell unique stories, work with break-through talent and be part of disruptive and high quality story-telling.  Together, Abundantia and I have created some of my most memorable roles in films like Baby, Airlift and Toilet-Ek Prem Katha and their passion towards their films and projects is incredible. From the very concept of the show, I am working very closely with Vikram and his team as they create this compelling and highly intriguing story. I can’t wait to start rolling for this action adventure series that will be Amazon Original for global audiences. The digital world excited me and I am delighted to make my streaming debut with this show. And if I were to make a small confession here, it was my son Aarav who suggested that I make my digital debut as that’s what the youth is hooked onto. On this medium, I want to create something extraordinary and connect with them”.

    Amazon Prime Video has the largest selection of latest & exclusive movies and TV shows, stand-up comedy, biggest Indian and Hollywood films, US TV series, most popular Indian & international kids’ shows, and award-winning Amazon Prime Originals, all available, ad-free, with a world class customer experience. Besides Kannada, the platform also includes titles available in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali.