Category: Press Release

Romedy NOW launches ‘Women’s Day’ property

MUMBAI: This International Women’s Day, Romedy NOW gives you the ultimate movie marathon experience with its exclusive property, ‘Women’s Day’. Showcasing myriad facets that characterizes phenomenal persona of a woman, Romedy NOW brings to its viewers, handpickedrom-comson March 08, 2019 8 am onwards.

With ‘Women’s Day’ property, Romedy NOW offers its viewer a day long special treat commencing with the musical tale of ‘Hannah Montana – The Movie’, starring Miley Cyrus and rejoice the sequel of the most favorite princess story with ‘The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement’starring Anne Hathway, Julie Andrew and Chris Pine in leading roles. Witnesskind-hearted fairy, who is deceived by the love of her life in ‘Maleficent’, starringAngelina Jolie. Step through the looking glass and join Alice on an adventurous wild-ride to the whimsical wonderland with her friends in‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’. All is well that ends well with ‘Everything, Everything’, an alluring chronicle of a teenager who's spent her whole life confined to her home falls for the boy next door.

March 6, 2019
The Brahmastra journey begins on Maha Shivratri, at the Kumbh Mela!

MUMBAI: On March 4th, the auspicious day of Maha Shivratri, and the culmination of the Kumbh Mela, the team of Brahmāstra, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Ayan Mukerji, launched a swarm of drones that illuminated the evening sky to reveal the Brahmāstra logo. (watch the event video – https://bit.ly/2NGcBab)

Above the confluence of three sacred rivers – the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, at the sacred Triveni Sangam of Prayagraj, with a background of over 10 million visitors, a whole phalanx of drones flew overhead to light up the sky with the logo of the film.

Set in contemporary India, but imbued in Indian mythology, magical energies and powers, Brahmāstra is a film that takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination – a blend of massive spectacle, storytelling and emotion. The makers could not imagine a more fitting platform than the Kumbh to commence the Brahmāstra journey.

Says Karan Johar – “The Kumbh is the epitome of our rich cultural history and is a reminder of our roots. It is everything that India stands for, a confluence of spirituality and history”

Adds Apoorva Mehta, CEO, Dharma Productions “There could not be a more befitting canvas for us to initiate our journey. We thank the platform for this wonderful opportunity”

Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios, “Brahmāstra, at its core, is a vehicle that brings alive the boundless wisdom of ancient India. And what better event than the Kumbh that showcases India at its finest, as an ancient tradition of all its different cultures coming together in a glorious melting pot.”

Ayan Mukerji – “Brahmāstra is a film deeply inspired by the spirit of Indian history and mythology. The film aspires to touch that chord of Indian spirituality that exists within all of us. I feel very grateful that we can kick start the journey for our very ambitious film on the occasion of Maha Shivratri at the Kumbh Mela. May all the positive energies at Kumbh rain down upon our movie! “

From a strategically placed take-off and landing pad at the sangam point, the drones went through several levels of checks, simulations, capability tests, formation pre-runs and light sequencing to prepare for the grand logo reveal. Special drone pilots were engaged to make this spectacle happen. The planning and execution took over 6 months to come together.

Shikha Kapur, CMO, FSS – “This has been the most exciting and challenging launches to plan and execute. What seemed like an impossible idea became a dream we committed ourselves to pursue. It’s a testament to the passion that FSS, Dharma and all our partners bring to the film to make the impossible happen”

The Brahmāstra trilogy is a three–part–film, the first part is slated for release on Christmas 2019.

Directed by Ayan Mukerji, Produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Namit Malhotra, Ranbir Kapoor, Ayan Mukerji & Fox Star Studios.

Brahmāstra stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy & Nagarjuna Akkineni.

March 6, 2019
Ooyala drives efficiencies for media prima

MUMBAI: Ooyala, a leader in content production, distribution and monetization solutions, is powering content management, syndication, and distribution for Media Prima Berhad (“Media Prima”), Malaysia’s largest integrated media company, bringing them greater efficiencies and cost savings in their content delivery and distribution business. As a result, Media Prima has reduced the time taken for online content preparation and processing time by up to 80% and now distributes content to their digital channels and partners in a timely manner.

Media Prima, a digital-first content and commerce company, offers exciting video content via their Over-The-Top (OTT) service tonton, and through various platforms and partners like Youtube, Dailymotion, Facebook and Viu.

“Media Prima’s goal is to expand our digital reach and offer the best content to our audiences through different channels. Time to market and operational efficiencies are key to our success in expanding our business,” said Rafiq Razali, Chief Executive Officer Media Prima Digital. “With the Ooyala Flex Media Platform powering our online content management business, we are confident that we can add content syndication partners easily and deliver content to them in a timely manner.”

Ooyala Flex Media Platform, the fastest growing media asset management and workflow automation solution used by the world’s most innovative content owners to simplify millions of video workflows, provides Media Prima with a unified system for efficient content and metadata collection from various sources, and automated content processing, syndication and distribution according to pre-set business rules.

“Media Prima’s content is highly sought after in the region,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO, Ooyala. “We’re excited to help them cut out the complexities of content management and distribution so that they can get content to market faster at a lower cost.”

March 6, 2019
DSPORT to Telecast “The Masters” from Augusta

MUMBAI: DSPORT, a premium sports channel of Discovery Communications, will telecast the year’s first Major Championship in professional golf-The Masters, for the second year running in India. The legendary tournament now in its 83rd edition, will tee off at its home, the Augusta National Golf Club course in Georgia, USA, on April 11, 2019. All four rounds leading up to championship day on Sunday, April 14, 2019, will be broadcast LIVE on DSPORT.

USA’s Patrick Reed slipped on the traditional Green Jacket, presented to the winner of the tournament, last year, in what was his first Major win. Winners of the last four Masters Tournament, have all been first time Major winners.

The legendary Jack Nicklaus still holds the record for most Masters wins with six titles while Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer have won four times each.

Four Indians have played The Masters so far with Shubhankar Sharma being the latest to join the elite group when he accepted an invitation to play in the 2018 edition.

“DSPORT continues with its endeavor to bring the world’s best Golfing action to audiences and fans in India, recognizing the growing popularity and potential of the sport in the country. Last year we followed young Indian golfing star Shubhankar Sharma’s Masters debut live and hope more young talent like him and the likes of Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri get inspired and unearthed by watching the world’s best golfers in live competition action said a company release. Traditionally the only Major which is an invitational tournament, The 2019 Masters presents a small but talented field of the world’s top professional golfers. Keith Mitchell became the latest to get a Masters invitation after his win in the Honda Classic last week.

This year’s Masters will also see the par-4 fifth hole, known as Magnolia, lengthened by a further 40 yards

March 6, 2019
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.

March 6, 2019
Pranks unlimited on COLORS’ upcoming show, ‘Khatra Khatra Khatra’

MUMBAI: Ever imagined the mischievous side of your favorite television faces? Ever thought what kind of a prankster they are? Living by the fact that nothing can lift the spirit of a bad day like a well-played prank, COLORS’ is all set to unravel their rather unknown side with ‘Khatra Khatra Khatra’. Taking fun and frolic to another level will be your fabulous television gang – Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiyaa, Vikas Gupta, Ridhima Pandit and Aly Goni who will outwit each other through a series of pranks to emerge as the ultimate prankster! Produced by BBC Studios, ‘Khatra Khatra Khatra’ premiers on 11th March 2019 and will air every Monday to Friday at 6:00 p.m.

After entertaining audiences with their stunts and funny antics while in Argentina, the five popular television faces will feature in a rib-tickling show based on the concept of embarrassing dares and one-upmanship. The contestants engage in a cat and mouse chase of unpredictable incidents. Every episode will see one of the five celebrities assume the role of the anchor and challenger who sets bizarre tasks for the rest. No matter how embarrassing, every contestant must outwit each other and complete an indoor as well as an outdoor task. The contestant adjudged as the ‘loser’ must face a big punishment. What’s exciting is the fact that the losing contestant can even convince their fans in the audience to take the punishment on his behalf.

Speaking about this novel concept, said Nina Elavia Jaipuria – Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, “At COLORS, we always aim to push the boundaries of entertainment by presenting new concept across genres to our viewers. As a pioneer and leader in the space of comedy, we are delighted to add another unique property, Khatra Khatra Khatra, which will serve our audience with a perfect blend of stunts and comedy, a concept that has not been explored in this space so far. For an early primetime band, a concept like this is just apt given its light-hearted and playful nature. It is a first-of-its-kind practical prank show on a Hindi general entertainment channel and we are sure it will strike a chord with the viewers.”

Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment said, “With so much drama happening around us it’s nice to have a refreshing concept like khatra khatra khatra with India’s favourite comedy troupe – Bharti, Harsh, Aditya, Vikas, Ridhima and many more. Starting 11th March, this mischievous gang will lighten up your evenings with endless laughter, games and quirky pranks in the early primetime band starting 6 pm. Its surely going to be an entertainment extravaganza.”

Soniya Kulkarni, Creative & Business Head, BBC Studios said, “BBC Studios is happy to collaborate with Colors again on an exciting new variety show. KKK has a fun cast of celebrity contestants who will constantly test each other’s limits with how far they are willing to go on a dare from a friend. It’s always exciting to get an opportunity to crack a new format and KKK promises to show a fresh, wacky and addictive side of these celebrity participants with its pranks, gags, games and full on masti on a daily basis”

‘Khatra Khatra Khatra’ is a fun competitive show where the audience will witness a series of mortifying practical pranks performed by the contestants. They will challenge each other to do bizarre and eccentric dares, failing to conduct which will make them undergo punishments of strange proportions.

March 6, 2019
Epic Channel celebrates india’s female heroes on international women’s day

MUMBAI: Celebrating International Women’s Day, India Ka Apna Infotainment- EPIC has created a riveting programming line-up from its rich content library. Airing on 8th March from 12.30pm onwards, the exciting line-up will include episodes from some of EPIC’s flagship shows- ‘UMEED INDIA’, ‘EPIC KE DUS’ and ‘PEHLI’.

Inspiring tales of courage and determination of iconic Indian women who played extraordinary roles across politics, sports, armed forces, science among other fields populate the day’s line-up that features famous personalities along with long forgotten heroes.

The most acclaimed in the line-up is a series on the trail blazers and pioneers that points the spotlight on the first women to break various glass ceilings and make their mark in domains that were once exclusively male dominated. The episodes from this show will have personalities like Kiran Bedi – the first woman IPS officer, Sarojini Naidu – the first Indian woman governor, Indira Gandhi – India’s first woman prime minister, PT Usha – first Indian woman to reach Olympic final, Bachendri Pal – first Indian woman to reach Mount Everest to name a few amongst other achievers.

Tastefully shot, with intimate conversations, supplemented with rare archival footage; Pehli is an overdue tribute to the exceptional women it features.

The line-up shifts from the shining stars to the torch bearers of glorious stories in the making, with episodes from the very popular sports show – Umeed India; hosted by India’s swashbuckling former opening batsman, Virender Sehwag; who introduces some of India’s brightest sportspersons who are vying for Olympic glory in 2020. Featuring in this series are the stories of India’s first female bronze medal wrestler – Sakshi Malik, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, javelin throw player Annu Rani, sprinter and national champion Dutee Chand.

The curated line-up wraps up with an episode from EPIC Ke Dus that features 10 extraordinary women who played a significant part in shaping the fabric of the country.

EPIC with its impressive volume of quality and path-breaking programming based on India, has earned a loyal viewer base since its inception. Their shows are acquired by powerhouses of content like Netflix which airs shows like Stories by Rabindranath Tagore; Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan to name a few.

March 6, 2019
UEFA brings the UEFA Champions League to India

Mumbai: UEFA is bringing the UEFA Champions League to India through an exclusive fan event hosted by UEFA Champions League Ambassador Luís Figo. As part of a series of global fan initiatives, this event will offer a premium UEFA Champions League experience for Indian fans who will journey through the most iconic moments of the world’s most prestigious club football tournament.

Taking place at Tote on the Turf on Friday, 8th March 2019, the evening will also feature an interactive “Best of the Best” quiz which will pit attendees against each other in the hopes of winning an unforgettable photo experience alongside the UEFA Champions League trophy and the Portuguese superstar himself. Fans will be challenged to match Figo’s answers through an interactive voting pad, and the fan with the fastest and most accurate response will be crowned the winner.

UEFA Champions League ambassador, Luís Figo said: “It’s a great honour to be able to bring the symbol of the UEFA Champions League to Mumbai. Fans in India are so knowledgeable and passionate about football and I’m excited to meet some of them and test their knowledge of this incredible competition.”

"UEFA's decision to hold a UEFA Champions League global fan event in Mumbai was an easy one,” said UEFA's director of marketing Guy-Laurent Epstein. "Over 125 million fans globally follow the existing UEFA Champions League social media accounts and we want to be in a position to give football fans in India the opportunity to connect with this competition.”

The exclusive evening will be hosted by Arpit Sharma and will include a set from local DJ Shireen and a series of engaging activations from UEFA Champions League partners Nissan, PepsiCo through their Lays and Pepsi brands, PlayStation and UEFA’s Broadcast Partner in India, Sony Pictures Networks India.

The event in Mumbai is the first in a series of global events that will take the iconic trophy on a journey to emerging markets, with events in Rio and Shanghai taking place later in this year.

March 6, 2019
Expanding its regional presence, Star Sports launches a dedicated Bengali channel: SS1 Bangla

MUMBAI: Star Sports – India’s leading sports broadcaster, today announced the launch of Star Sports1 Bangla, a dedicated sports channel for sports fanatics in their very own language; Bengali. The channel launch is in-line with Star Sports’ commitment to foster a multi-sports culture in the country while bringing fans closer to the sporting ecosystem.

A first-of-its-kind regional sports channel, Star Sports1 Bangla will bring fans across West Bengal closer to their favorite sports and heroes. The channel has a rich calendar of sports – starting with the VIVO IPL 2019, moving into the most anticipated event of the year ICC Cricket World Cup, VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 7 and the Hero ISL. The channel would provide curated Bengali content localized to various franchise like Kolkata Knight Riders, Bengal Warriors, ATK, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

A Star India spokesperson said, “West Bengal is a unique market with high affinity to language content and very distinctive viewing habits. Nuances of the game and local flavour add to a fan’s viewing experience and builds a local affinity for sports in the region. With the VIVO IPL, followed by the ICC World Cup this year – it is indeed a ‘Summer of Cricket’ on Star Sports, and with Star Sports 1 Bangla, we have taken one more step towards treating fans to a customised and acquainted exposure”.

Indulging viewers from the onset, the channel delivered a gusto experience with ‘Ebar Khelbe Bangla’ hosted by Kolkata’s very own Boria Majumdar. This panel discussion encompassed sporting stalwarts from the region discussing sports and the need of regional sports channels in the country. During the discussion the panellists unanimously agreed that the launch of a dedicated Bangla sports channel will bring back the love for sport among youth in the region.

Speaking about the launch of a dedicated Bangla channel, the acclaimed panellists expressed their views on regional sporting channels in the country.

Sourav Ganguly, former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian National team and President of the Cricket Association of Bengal, said, “It was a beautiful day today and a great experience shooting for Star Sports Bangla. Sports is a part of every Bengali’s life and launching a dedicated Bengali sports channel is a great initiative. This platform will help sports reach out to people in faraway places and people, who don’t understand English or Hindi. With this initiative, Star Sports will be able to reach every nook and corner of the West Bengal market and dish out sport stars.”

Jhulan Goswami, all round cricketer and former captain of Indian National Women's cricket team, said, “The launch of a dedicated Bengali sports channel in my opinion is going to be good fun. A few months back I watched the Star Sports Tamil dedicated sports channel, so I saw couple of cricket matches on the channel and I found it very interesting, As a viewer if you see sports in your own language and televised, it looks very interesting, of course when I watched Star Sports Tamil, I did not understand the language, but I did understand the emotional connect that viewers may have.”

Mehuli Ghosh, National Level Shooting Athlete, said, “A dedicated sports channel is a very good idea for Bengali speaking audiences in the region because many of the people have Bengali as their first language and English and Hindi is not spoken too much here especially in the hinterlands, so I think everyone will enjoy sports with this new offering from Star Sports. It will make Bengali speaking audiences proud. My advice to the youngsters in the region is to please watch sports and follow sports especially since there is a dedicated channel to cover sports in Bengali.”

Pronay Halder, Indian Footballer, said, “Star Sports Bangla is a great initiative, as it offers audiences sporting entertainment in their own mother tongue. I would urge every youngster to watch this sports channel and support it, tune-in to not only watch football, but cricket, hockey and other sports as well.”

Joydeep Karmarkar, Shooter, said, “Till date, all we have had to watch in a Bengali sports channel, are short sports bulletin, or sports news clubbed with the main news. For the first time, we will have a dedicated sports channel where sports will be aired 24*7 in your mother tongue with is great. With Star Sports Bangla, sports will now, not only reach people in Kolkata but also across West Bengal, to every household. For me personally this shoot was a great experience, the coming together of ex-players and upcoming players was indeed great, I got to learn and imbibe so much from them. This initiative for me feels like a mission to bring sports into the lives of the youngsters and with the support of Star Sports Bangla, it looks good.

Fans can catch all the action LIVE on Star Sports 1 Bangla, the Star Sports Network and Hotstar.

March 5, 2019
MS Dhoni, together with wife Sakshi Dhoni, shares his smile & stories of inner strength in the latest TVC for Colgate’s ‘Andar Se Strong’ campaign

MUMBAI: Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, the market leader in Oral Care, launched a new TVC featuring cricketer MS Dhoni, along with wife Sakshi Dhoni, as part of Colgate Strong Teeth’s ‘Andar Se Strong’ campaign, which emphasizes that Colgate Strong Teeth toothpaste adds natural calcium to one’s teeth, thereby making the teeth strong from within.

In his characteristic calm style, the sports supernova – while sharing the screen space with his wife – talked about his inner strength that helped him in both his personal and professional journey. Speaking about getting through tough times and making demanding decisions, Dhoni recalled the time his daughter Ziva was born – while he led the Indian team during the World Cup. The couple talks about how it was an extremely hard choice that Dhoni made to stay with the team and focus on the challenge at hand — a display of his inner strength.

Mr. Issam Bachaalani, Managing Director, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited said, “The ‘Colgate Andar Se Strong’ campaign further reinforces our commitment to providing the most advanced oral care solutions to meet the everyday needs of Indian consumers. MS Dhoni is an exemplary personality and we are proud of his association with Colgate. We launched the ‘Colgate Andar Se Strong’ campaign on our flagship brand Colgate Strong Teeth, with Deepika Padukone and MS Dhoni as the ambassadors, who speak of how their smile reflects their inner strength… and how it helps them go forth in challenging times.

As a brand, Colgate Strong Teeth toothpaste adds natural calcium to one’s teeth, making the teeth strong not just from the outside but also from within.”

The ‘Andar Se Strong’ campaign was launched in November 2018 with a tvc featuring actress Deepika Padukone, along with her mother. By accentuating the significance of inner strength and its reflection in the form of a smile, the brand conveys how Colgate Strong Teeth guards one’s smile by adding natural calcium to the teeth, making them Andar Se Strong.

The campaign is being supported by a 360-degree marketing campaign across multiple touch points.

Sanjay Sipahimalani, Creative Director, RedFuse Communication says, “Our ‘Andar Se Strong’ campaign highlights the role that your inner strength plays in helping you face tough situations with a smile. In this spot, Dhoni speaks from his heart to show how inner strength enabled him to choose responsibility over personal happiness during the 2015 World Cup.”

March 5, 2019