Category: Press Release

Gaana Shows & Podcasts Original ‘Ummeed With Zakir Khan’ Shares Quirky Insights on Hope, Success & Self Care

MUMBAI: India's No. 1 music streaming app, Gaana has launched its third Shows & Podcasts Original, ‘Ummeed With Zakir Khan’. Hosted by one of the brightest comedians in the country, the show has Zakir take on a new avatar for the first time to share quirky yet insightful anecdotes from his journey that led him to be the man he is today.

The 12 episodic series with new episodes releasing every Tuesday & Thursday, remains true to its name- ‘Ummeed’, being based on the central philosophy of the audacity of hope. The show goes beyond pure entertainment to try and inspire its listeners to believe in themselves a little more, giving them the hope to fight for a second longer. The show’s tagline “Sochoge Nahi toh Hoga Bhi nahi” aptly reflects this spirit. The show is Presented by HDFC Life Insurance & it features celebrity guests like Gopal Dutt, Hussain Dalal, Kumar Gaurav and popular comedians Tanmay Bhat and Nishant Tanwar.

Speaking at the series launch, Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal said, “Zakir’s hard-to-resist rustic humor, compelling acts and relatable anecdotes has the charm to strike a chord with people from every section of Indian society. One of the few comics to consistently sell out venues across the country, Zakir’s story is nothing short of extraordinary. We are humbled to have such a pioneer of storytelling in Indian comedy as a Gaana Podcast Original host, and are confident that his take on life, struggle and the ensuing success will have hundreds of millions of Gaana users nodding and smiling.”

Gaana Shows & Podcasts Original 'Ummeed With Zakir Khan’ host, Zakir Khan said, “Hope is the tiny light that helps us sail through the darkness of our turbulent lives. It's one of the most powerful emotions we feel, and it's been my rock in times of uncertainty and helped me bounce back from life’s strains. As the world seems more divided, realising the value of hope & positive action is more important than ever before. I have been an ardent listener of Gaana, and am happy to partner with these great people to share positivity & optimism from the stories related to my life.“

Commissioned by Gaana, produced by the hosts & syndicated from networks, Gaana Shows & Podcasts span 21 categories like Comedy, Bollywood, Devotional, News, Kids, Motivational, Astrology, Business, Lifestyle &. Culture and Self Help among others. The platform currently hosts over 4000 diverse shows & podcasts in multiple languages including ‘Cyrus Says’, ‘The Bhagavad Gita’, ‘Stories of Akbar Birabal’, ‘Kadhai Podcast's Ponniyin Selvan’ and ‘Paisa Vaisa’ among others. These are a part of Gaana’s overarching vision to host the country’s widest and most diverse range of original audio content by the end of FY 2021.

February 24, 2020
Namaste Trump: Bobble launches a series of GIFs, and Stickers expressing and celebrating ‘Modi-Trump’ and US – India relations

MUMBAI: India is all geared up to give United States President Donald Trump and his wife Melania a grand welcome. The historic trip is viewed as a step to further strengthen the US-India strategic partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people.

Given the buzz around President Trumps’s visit, Bobble AI has launched a special series of GIFs, and Stickers expressing and celebrating US – India ties on its Indic keyboard to mark the visit of US President Donald Trump to India. The new set of Stickers and Gifs features Trump in Indian style, enabling personalization as specific to the user which makes the conversations more fun to delve in with. What’s more intriguing about these set of features is that these stickers have the Trump caricature designed in a Desi style which becomes specific to the Indian entity. Now when talking about Trump in conversations; one does not have to just fill in with words, but with a touch of expression users will have numerous stickers to choose from and can make their chats more expressive and colourful.

On the special series Ankit Prasad, Founder & CEO, Bobble AI said, “We at Bobble are committed to making mobile chats interesting and expressive for our users. Being a consumer-centric brand we have always added features basis trending topics. The new set of Trump-inspired Gifs, and Stickers will add a lot of personality and style to the related online conversations.”

Bobble AI has demonstrated capabilities of and by making smartphones ‘Smarter’ through it’s cutting-edge AI-powered technology. Solutions like Bobble Indic Keyboard allows users to experience a variety of themes, fonts, personalized stickers, GIFs. Bobble Keyboard also allows real-time content creation and personalization through its leading-edge technology. Bobble’s AI-based emoji recommendation engine suggests and predicts a combination of most used and relevant emojis by interpreting the chat context, sentiments, and intent.

Bobble Keyboard today has more than 25 million users across Android and iOS.

Note to the editor

Bobble Keyboard is the highest-rated, most engaged and retaining keyboard in the world. Ever since the inception of WhatsApps and Telegrams of the world, online conversations have been boring, emotionless and plain. Understanding the substantial need, Bobble Keyboard has that fun element that keeps users engaged and entertained. It comprises of unique and personalized content – stickers, GIFs, and stories. With just a selfie, Bobble makes people smile in 10 different ways and cry in different ways. Striking the right chord comical avatar has given users a new and amusing way to express themselves.

Along with a wide range of stickers, GIFs, and stories, Bobble also caters to Indian users through its exhaustive set of Indian and Global languages.

February 22, 2020
NexBrand’s Brand Vision Summit honours brands

NexBrand’s Brand Vision Summit 2020, powered by Kamdhenu, was held on February 20 in Mumbai. The fifth edition of the event saw top names from India’s corporate and entertainment sectors being felicitated for their work through the year.

This year, Brand Vision Summit had Anurag Thakur, MOS – Finance& Corporate Affairs, Government of India, as the chief guest. He spoke on how the recipients that night were the engines that will ride India’s to the next phase of global prominence. Lok Sabha MP Dr Arvind Kumar Sharma was also present as the Guest of Honour.

Over the past five years, NexBrand’s Brand Vision Summit has honoured India’s top achievers across Corporate, Healthcare, Philanthropy, Education and Entertainment. Past honorees include stellar personalities such as Niranjan Hiranandani, Sonam Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vidya Balan, Amit Burman, Kiran Mazumdar – Shaw amongst many other renowned names.

Chandrika Maheshwari, Founder – Brand Vision and Jt. Managing Director – NexBrands, said: “The Summit is the culmination of a dream to see India’s top inspirations on the stage of Brand Vision Summit. Each winner tonight has left an indelible ink on India’s growth and path to the future. It is our honor to recognize their work and use the stage to propel the voices farther across the world”

Saurav Dasgupta, Co-Founder- Brand Vision and Jt. Managing Director – NexBrands, said: “We have been using our unique and time-tested 3i model, that evaluates the impact people and businesses make on societies and economies. Each recipient of the title “The Extraordinaire” has not just excelled on these parameters, but also gone above and beyond what the society expects of them. They’re inspirations to an entire generation, and we are so honored they chose to spend time with us tonight"

Brand Vision’s 3i model evaluates brands on the basis of Impact, Innovation and Imagery, to understand the holistic effect they have on Indian eco-system. It avoids the pitfalls of the regular jury-based models that often fall prey to human biases and errors.

Anurag Thakur, MOS – Finance& Corporate Affairs, said: “I applaud NexBrands for your efforts to recognize and honour deserving leaders from across India and congratulate each one of you on your exceptional achievements and excellence. Our incredible country is also a BRAND. Intent, Intensity and Integrity are the three elements that define our Governments vision for a Global India…A BRAND – “NEW INDIA”.

Sunil Agarwal, Whole Time Director, Kamdhenu Group, said: “Platforms like these empower the honorees to take their work wider and deeper and inspire many to keep doing better. Kamdhenu Group is built by amazing people who have put in a lot of hard work to make the group reach envious heights and hence, we understand how much sweat and play it takes for a brand or a personality to be recognized at such a dais.

Brand Vision Summit’s grand red carpet saw stars walk down on it, including Bhumi Pednekar, Yami Gautam, Sunny Leone, Aditya Roy Kapur, Guru Randhawa, Vivek Oberoi, Rakul Preet Singh and many more.

February 22, 2020
SPSN partners with Social chain of restaurants as on-ground screening partner

MUMBAI: To provide a real-time drama to cricket fans, Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) has partnered with Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality’s Social chain of restaurants across India to be its official on-ground screening partner for high-octane series between Australia and South Africa.

Sony Pictures Sports Network will broadcast the Australia tour of South Africa starting from 21 February till 7 March 2020. It comprises three T20Is and three ODIs and will be played across six venues in South Africa.

All the six matches will be screened live at the 25 venues of Social across five cities: New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, and Bengaluru. Moreover, collector’s edition bats signed by the Australian Cricket team including Steve Smith, David Warner, and Mitchell Starc among others will be showcased across three outlets – Khar Social in Mumbai, Hauz Khas Social in Delhi and Sarajpur Social in Bangalore.

The series marks the return of David Warner and Steve Smith after their infamous sandpaper scandal of 2018. Both the players will brace themselves for a hostile reception from Proteas fans.

While the Australian team’s last visit to South Africa ended in disappointment, both on and off-field, this series will act as a platform to make amends and stage their perfect comeback to the Rainbow Nation.

A series win will be important for Australia as it tries to build on the foundation of success, while South Africa will look to replicate the success of 2018 and restart their glory era.

February 21, 2020
OK Tested all set for its first live event

NEW DELHI: OK Tested, ScoopWhoop Media's newest lifestyle video channel, is all set for its first live event, The Fam Fest 2020. As the name suggests it's not just a fan meet, it's a meeting of people that have supported ScoopWhoop Media on this journey to something so much more tangible than likes and shares. It's a meeting between fans and the people who work tirelessly to make OK Tested a channel that people have said they watch on 'bad days', 'before an exam' or just when the thought of a Monday is looming over them.

The Fam Meet is scheduled for 23 February, Sunday. The fans will get to meet the anchors, some of the crew who work behind the camera and get to spend some time understanding how OK Tested works through a Q&A session. Pizza Hut has joined the OKT team as a food partner in association with Dabur Real Juice.

Sriparna Tikekar, Chief Content Officer and Co-founder ScoopWhoop Media, said: "We are beyond excited about this event. Our fans make us who we are. Seeing the fandom of OK Tested, all the love being showered on us, we really wanted to do more to reach out to our audiences. And this event gives us the perfect opportunity to do that. This event is a tribute to the fans, the anchors, the film team, writers and founders that work hard and passionately to make sure we have three videos up every week and an engaged fan every day."

Over the last year Ok Tested has acquired over 600K subscribers on YouTube and has an Instagram page that has over 200K followers who love to watch and stay connected to its anchors. With a video retention rate of over 70% and a highly engaged audience of Gen Z and millennials, OK Tested has also captivated brands. OKT's unique take on lifestyle content has resulted in exciting branded content that ranges from anchors trying out new fashion for Flipkart, to trying to out-lie Manoj Bajpai for Amazon Prime, to finding out which star sign is the most romantic for TanTan and more.

February 21, 2020
US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WATCHES WION!

MUMBAI: While India is getting ready to say ‘Namaste Trump’ on the US president’s first state visit to the country, WION – India’s first International News channel is making news.

The detailed coverage by WION was even retweeted by President Donald Trump!

New Delhi is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the Trumps get a royal welcome. Rs 120 crore is being spent for a 3-hour visit of Trump to Ahmedabad. That's Rs 1.5 crore a minute that the US president spends in the Gujarati city. The US president retweeted WION's video that showcased the many details of the royal welcome that he will be given on his two-day trip to India next week.

Trump will also inaugurate the world's largest cricket stadium – 'The Motera Stadium' which can seat over 1 lakh people and is nearing completion in Ahmedabad.

WION will broadcast detailed reports from 3 cities and expert opinions from the world over on the 24th and 25th of February 2020 on the implications of the visit in the backdrop of looming trade tensions between India and the United States.

February 21, 2020
LupinLife Collaborates With Payal Singhal and Mithali Raj at Lakmé Fashion Week 2020

MUMBAI: Corcal Bone & Beauty calcium supplement from LupinLife (Consumer healthcare business of pharma major Lupin) returns to Lakmé Fashion Week at the Summer/Resort 2020 edition. In its 2nd edition, LupinLife collaborated with designer Payal Singhal and Mithali Raj — Captain of the Indian women's national cricket team in test and ODIs — for its #Beautifullystrong initiative that aims to create awareness on linkages between inner health and outer beauty in women.

As part of a celebration of beautifully strong women, five lucky women got a chance to walk the ramp for designer Payal Singhal’s Spring Summer Collection at Lakmé Fashion Week.

Sharing her thoughts on the initiative, Mithali Raj said, “The collaboration with Corcal Bone & Beauty is synonymous with my own belief of ‘Beautifully Strong’ women. When you are strong and healthy on the inside, it reflects on the outside and shows your confidence. Being a sportsperson, I focus a lot on my health. Payal’s ensemble was comfortable and that is my style statement. I also loved the colours which reflect Corcal Bone & Beauty’s brand colours.”

Commenting on the campaign objective, Mr. Rajeev Sibal, President — Indian Region Formulation, Lupin Limited said, “We strongly believe that beauty is not limited to outer appearances only and comes from within. Our campaign #Beautifullystrong has been an important step toward furthering this thought. Corcal Bone & Beauty prioritizes our objective to make health fashionable and the Lakme Fashion Week is a best opportunity to drive this idea. The objective of associating with sport icons like Mithali Raj and Geeta Phogat – with whom we partnered last year – is to inspire millions to be healthy from within. Corcal Bone & Beauty is a true health and beauty partner for the women of today.”

Mr. Anil V. Kaushal, Head — LupinLife Consumer Healthcare said, “This is our 2nd year in collaboration with Lakme Fashion Week and we are proud to be associated with celebrities like Payal Singhal and Mithali Raj. This association marks the continuation of LupinLife’s efforts to celebrate strong women who epitomize inner strength and are beautiful from within. It is a great occasion for women from all walks of life to get an opportunity to walk the ramp alongside stars and icons, spreading the message of inner strength.’’

Commenting on the association with Mithali Raj, Prasoon Joshi, CEO & CCO of McCann Worldgroup India, and Chairman of McCann Asia-Pacific remarked, “It is always amazing to see women’s strength and beauty come together. Mithali Raj is one such unique woman and this association with Corcal Bone & Beauty will inspire millions of Indian women to reach for their dreams.”

Corcal Bone & Beauty is available in pack of tens and also monthly pack of fifty easy-to-consume mini-tablets. These come with a serving suggestion of one to two tablets to be had with water. It is available at leading pharmacies across India as well as e-commerce sites.

February 21, 2020
Pair of Men Wins VMate’s #HappyValentinesDay challenge

MUMBAI: In a pleasantly surprising turn of events, trending short video platform VMate has announced a male duo as the winner of the recently concluded #HappyValentinesDay challenge, which witnessed a massive participation and creation of more than 8.5 million videos. These two men would be awarded a brand new Maruti Suzuki Alto car. They were adjudged the winner of the contest primarily because of their couple concept videos.

When the duo came across the contest, the first decision they made was that their creation wouldn’t be a usual drill, and they drew their inspiration from males playing female characters famous on Indian television. To come on top of millions of videos, they broke away from the usual norm of a boy and a girl celebrating Valentine’s Day. Instead, they tried role play wherein one of the males dressed up and performed as a woman. This way it worked with the audience and their Valentine’s Day videos got more than 1 million views.

Fahad and his partner created multiple videos as part of the contest. In one of the videos, Fahad’s partner played his wife and they smartly used the exclusive video sticker featuring actress Sunny Leone. Sunny could be seen getting a cup of morning tea for Fahad and asking him to get ready for Valentine’s Day celebration. That is when the performer playing Fahad’s wife shuts him up and stops him from daydreaming. The funny videos pleased several VMate users.

After being honoured at the award function organised by VMate in New Delhi, Fahad owed his success to his mother, who supported him through thick and thin. He further acknowledged the support of his siblings. “My brothers, sister and friends help me in making videos. I wish to bring smiles to my audience, and I want to be known for my comedy. VMate is helping me a lot in my journey,” he said.

He added, “I know mine as well as VMate’s potential. I am giving my 200%, making 15-20 videos daily and participating in all the contests. I am extremely happy to win a car.”

Lauding the duo, VMate Associate Director Nisha Pokhriyal said, “Valentine’s Day is a festival mainly for couples, but on VMate, two male creators won the top prize – a Maruti Suzuki Alto car – by joining the #HappyValentinesDay campaign. The differentiator in their videos was a man playing a woman. It is tough to perform but the concept has often clicked with the Indian audience. I am sure they would be loved by the audience just like Gutthi or Sapna are adored by the Indian viewers.”

VMate has become a rage among youth across the country, thanks to some exciting social media campaigns. These campaigns have enabled them to win bumper prizes such as car, scooty, latest smartphones etc. Recently, VMate concluded its #VMateFilmistan campaign with more than 7.8 lakh people winning prizes worth Rs. 2.65 crore. Prior to that, VMate gained popularity by introducing unique campaigns such as its association with Nach Baliye Season 9. Many VMate creators, who are common people, are earning money with the help of videos and transforming their lives.

February 21, 2020
Star Jalsha celebrates 500 episodes of Irabotir Chupkotha

MUMBAI: Irabotir Chupkotha, one of Bengali television’s most popular shows, has recently completed 500 episodes.

A unique plot coupled with a stellar cast can only result in a successful mega serial. Irabotir Chupkotha, produced by Acropolis Entertainment is a sparkling example of this instance.

Monami Ghosh and Syed Arefin as Ira and Akash,have brought to life two characters that embody the spirit of Chalo Paltai. Two individuals in their late thirties with contrasting dispositions, eventually find solace in each other’s company.

With Irabotir Chupkatha – Bengal witnessed the journey of Iraboti and Akash who had conditioned themselves to lead mundane lives until they fell for one another and realized that it is never too late to give love a second chance.

Soon after its launch in August 2018,Iraboti made her nest in the hearts of the women in Bengal. They loved, laughed, cried and rejoiced together.

As the story took an 18-year leap, we saw Monami Ghosh in a double role- playing the titular character- Iraboti as well as Saloni- Iraboti’s long-lost daughter.

There are major twists and turns awaiting the viewer as the show progresses post the leap. The viewers are invited to tune in every Monday to Sunday at 11 pm only on Star Jalsha SD and Star Jalsha HD.

February 21, 2020
B4Uelevates Sunil Shah as group MD B4U films

MUMBAI: B4U is in the midst of strong momentum. Along with the launch of new channels in the past year and the business plans in the works for the future, the network will experience new ways of working and few changes in organizational structuring at B4U, to continue this level of growth.

Mr. Sunil Shah will be designated as Group Managing Director, B4U Films with immediate effect, this is a major inflection point for B4U. Sunil has been with the B4U family for the past 10 years and has been instrumental in propelling B4U Films to greater heights of stardom over the years. This is an affirmation of the role currently being handled, the vast experience he carries in this field and encapsulates the additional market facing responsibilities as part of his new role.

Commenting on this new role of Sunil Shah, Ishan Saksena, CEO of B4U says “I wish him and everyone he interacts with, immense success in the B4U journey”

February 21, 2020