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Category: Press Release

  • Celebrate Holi with the biggest Hollywood blockbusters on Movies Now, MNX and Romedy Now

    Celebrate Holi with the biggest Hollywood blockbusters on Movies Now, MNX and Romedy Now

    MUMBAI: Holi is a festival of many hues and happiness and adding to the fun and frolic, Times Hollywood Network’s channels Movies Now, MNX, Romedy Now are set to make the festival of colours more vibrant this year with a splash of entertainment all day long with an exclusive movie marathon on 29 March 2021.

    ‘Colour Blast’ on Movies NOW will take its viewers through a colourful viewing experience with a line-up of movies that are a treat to the eyes and joy for the soul. Starting from 9 AM to 9 PM, the day is set to be filled with unlimited excitement with some of the most popular Hollywood animated blockbusters including The Adventures of TinTin, Spider-Man – Into The Spider-Verse, Angels In The Attic, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs among others.

    Drenching viewers in the spirit of the festival, ‘Splash em’ Up’ on MNX will fill the screens with absolute fun joy with super hits like Mune, A Haunted House 2, Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Road Chip, Bio Momma’s House 2 among others, from 9 AM to 9 PM.

    ‘Colours of Romedy’ on Romedy NOW  from 8 AM onwards, promises viewers to fill their day with love, laughter and happiness. The day-long property will air some of the most entertaining movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 among others.

    This Holi, soak yourself in an enormous dose of entertainment and grab a seat with your friends and family as Movies Now MNX and Romedy Now enthrall you with the most exciting titles and a colourful day of binge-watching.

  • India Today-Axis-My-India exit poll mechanism enters Harvard Business Class

    India Today-Axis-My-India exit poll mechanism enters Harvard Business Class

    NEW DELHI: Known for its most accurate predictions, the India Today Group’s exit-poll mechanism has made its way to the Harvard Business School curriculum.

    The India Today-Axis-My-India post-poll surveys have given the most definitive predictions in about 95 per cent of all the elections that took place in the country between 2013 and 2020.

    Now, the same research and multi-layered mechanism has become the first ever case study built by the Ivy League business school.

    The case study, now part of the HBS’ classroom course on elections, highlights the complexity associated with successfully predicting elections in the world’s largest democracy, with all its diversity, varied geographies, shared international borders, sprawling rural populations and 23 different languages.

    The case study, written by professor Ananth Raman, senior associate Ann Winslow and research associate Kairavi Dey, discusses the process that goes behind forecasting elections in India and the methods the channel uses to analyse data along with the research firm to reach accurate forecasts – from selection of field surveyors, hiring and training, data-collection technology, quality auditing, data analysis to final forecasting.

    India Today Group is delighted to be associated with Axis-My-India and this global recognition. The association goes strong for years and the results are a testimony to the most focused research and proven methodology.

    UPS Foundation professor of business logistics chair, OPM, HBS Professor Ananth Raman stated that predicting elections accurately in an extremely complex country like India is indeed challenging.

    The case study, which illustrates numerous operational details, including those associated with training surveyors and moving them across different locations based on their linguistic and socio-economic identities to get a feel of the electorate’s pulse, will inspire students at the Harvard Business School to create their own entrepreneurial journey, he noted.

    Professor Raman also mentioned that while they have seen numerous examples of experienced organisations struggling to predict election outcomes in the recent past, this case illustrates how a robust mechanism devised a process to predict outcomes most accurately.

    What sets it apart from all the other competitive surveys is its reach across the length and breadth of the country (700+ districts), an average survey size of over five lakh people for national surveys, GPS-enabled tablets to maintain geographical sanctity, as well as computer-aided questionnaires backed by social intelligence to garner maximum data veracity. 

  • Spain’s comedy drama ‘Father There Is Only One’ is set to premiere on &PrivéHD

    Spain’s comedy drama ‘Father There Is Only One’ is set to premiere on &PrivéHD

    MUMBAI: Fifteen years of marriage and five kids makes for one crazy household. Here’s a family of young and old that come in all hues and shades and one that is sure to drive you absolute nuts.  Directed by Spain’s all-time highest grossing film franchise, Torrente’s filmmaker Santiago Segura who also stars in the movie, comes the Spanish family drama Father There Is Only One aka. Padre No Hay Más Que Uno that is set to premiere on &PrivéHD. The premium destination of nuanced cinema will present this entertaining foreign language film that is a complete family entertainer as part of its latest property, ‘Privé World Box Office.’ The channel will air this laugh riot everyday at 9PM for the entire week till Thursday thus enabling movie fans to be entertained with must-watch blockbusters from around the world that promise to make you feel at home, no matter the language.

    An iconic figure in Spain’s comedy scene, Santiago Segura is known to get you rolling on the floor with laughter. Father There Is Only One is one of his comic bests that garnered a blockbuster response in Spain upon its release from critics and audiences alike. Set against the backdrop of 2019 Madrid, the comic caper revolves around Javier (Santiago Segura), a workaholic father who knows nothing about housework or childcare. He is forced to stay home alone with his five children when his wife Carmen (Sílvia Abril) goes on a trip without him. This 21 century CEO who thinks he has it all together gets the biggest shock of his life as he spends the coming days with his five children who come with five hundred mood swings. Packed with the funniest one-liners, rib-tickling moments and truckloads of laughter, here’s a hilarious tale of a family for whom all hell’s breaks lose when Mommy goes on a vacation. Sounds relatable?

    Bringing new premieres every week, &PrivéHD’s World Box Office promises entertainment for everyone with movies of varied themes and genres. The line-up includes movies that are each blockbuster in their country of origin and are from varied genres ranging from romantic dramas and comedy to fantasy and adventure.

    Watch the craziness unfold at this madhouse with Father There Is Only One premiering this Friday,  26 March  at 9PM with repeats running all week till next Thursday only on &PrivéHD

  • Bikano prepares for festive fun with new range of salty snacks

    Bikano prepares for festive fun with new range of salty snacks

    NEW DELHI: Packaged snacks brand Bikano today unveiled six new masala-based products ahead of the upcoming festive season to further boost its product portfolio through an aggressive product-line expansion. The brand is expecting a sales surge of up to Rs 75 crore with the addition of the new masala range aimed primarily at consumers in the northern Hindi speaking belt.

    The new range of products includes multiple spice-based flavors to augment Bikano’s presence in the rapidly growing ‘traditional snack’ segment. With the launch of its new range ‘Aloo Bhujia-Lemon Chaska’, ‘Chutney-Sev’, ‘Chatpata Mixture’, ‘Manpasand Mixture’, ‘Lajawaab Mixture’‘Daal Mixture’ and ‘Dry Fruit Mixture’, Bikano expects to earn an additional revenue of Rs 75 crore. The brand is already worth over Rs 1000 crore.

    The launch comes ahead of the festive season and aims to capitalize on the expected demand surge during Holi including that of festive gifting.

    “The salty snacks market in India has witnessed a remarkable evolution and growth in recent years. With a wide proliferation of Indian flavoured packaged snacks, we have witnessed the introduction of multiple new product segments and diverse ethnic flavours. The bhujia category and mixture category are two of the most rapidly growing salty snack segments in India and our new product line aims to leverage this market trend. Offering new products on regular basis has been prime focus of the brand. Apart from this, the new range is expected to give us a sales surge of up to Rs 75 crore in the coming fiscal,” said Bikano  director Manish Agarwal.

    The packaged food segment continued to witness impressive growth in the post COVID period as demand for packaged food items grew particularly in urban areas. With a mass vaccination programme offering hope of normalcy and an economic rebound, the sector is optimistic about buoyant demand this year.

    “With the Holi season upon us, the demand for in-home snacks is bound to increase as people socialise more and experiment with new savouries. Gifting of packaged salty snacks is another area that has gained prominence in recent years and we are also expecting to capitalize on the festive gifting season to boost the sales of our new product range,” added Mr Agarwal.

    With an eye on the Hindi-speaking market in the initial phases, the company has made these products available through the country-wide network of GT outlets. Except Lajawaab Mixture, each of these products comes in a Rs. 5 and Rs. 10 pack. Lajawaab Mixture has been priced at Rs. 10 (40g), Rs. 109 (500g) and Rs. 55 (250g). Significantly enough, both Aloo Bhujia-Lemon Chaska and Chutney-Sev have the highest weight for this price point in this category offering true value for money.

    Notably, the launch was attended by senior functionaries of the company including director Manish Aggarwal, CEO Pankaj Agarwal, and CFO Sunil Bansal.

    The new masala snacks range:

    Aloo Bhujia-Lemon Chaska: A noodle-shaped Aloo Bhujia with a sharp lemony twist. Made with potato and maize flour as two base ingredients, a single bite of this delectable savoury is enough to draw and induce the food lover into wanting it more and developing a chaska or addiction for it in no time.

    Chutney-Sev: A spiced-up chickpea flour and maize flour-based savoury, this comes with a thick, strong and dry texture and a more piquant and peppery taste.

    Chatpata Mixture: A hot spicy savoury snack with an added zing that a food lover would find it very hard to resist.

    Manpasand Mixture: A mouthwatering and taste bud-tingling snack, Manpasand mixture comes with the goodness of maize flour, chickpea flour, lentils and peanuts.

    Lajawaab Mixture: A premium category snack with high dry fruit quantity perfectly suited to the palates of those inclined to healthy eating yet want their nutrition wrapped in taste.

    Dal Mixture: A high-on-protein snack offering a triple tadka of masoor, chana and moongdal packed in the same delectable savoury.

    Dry Fruit Mixture: Premium delicious crunchy spicy mixture containing potato sticks with richness of almonds, cashew, raisins.

  • Zee Telugu celebrates shades of Holi with ‘Rang De Prema’ and ‘Mithai Kottu Chittemma’

    Zee Telugu celebrates shades of Holi with ‘Rang De Prema’ and ‘Mithai Kottu Chittemma’

    MUMBAI: It’s that time of the year when everyone’s thrill-o-meter is at its peak; when the vibrancy of colors takes over their lives and the euphoria of festivities leaves them with their happiest memories! Get set to be drenched in the festivity of colors this Holi as Zee Telugu, is all set to telecast a bouquet of categories to audiences. Adding to the exuberance of the festival, the channel promises to sprinkle joy and sweetness into the lives of their ardent fans with Range De Prema a Holi event on 28  March 2021 at 6 PM and launching a new fiction show Mithai Kottu Chittemma in afternoon slot at 2:30 PM on 29 March 2021 only on Zee Telugu and Zee Telugu HD.

    Celebrating the myriad shades of entertainment this Holi, Zee Telugu will telecast Range De Prema on 28 March at 6 PM. Youth Icon,Nitin is going to be the celebrity guest of the show where he would be engaging with the artists and celebrate his birthday. Adding to the galore, Thellavarithe Guruvaram cast and crew are going to be part of the celebrations. The icing on the cake would be Ashika Padukone from Trinayani will share her love story while her fiancé would be part of the jamboree. Besides, audience are going to be captivated by the performances of the leading couples of the channel such as Ashika – Chandu, Anusha – Prathap, Kalki – Pooja, Siddharth – Meghna and Akarsh – Bhoomi among other stellar acts by the Zee Telugu Kutumbam.

    Just when you think that’s all for the festival of colors, Zee Telugu brings out more from its kitty. As a harbinger of change, the channel has always striven to inculcate culture ad uphold values through its shows and characters. Taking the same notions forward, Zee Telugu is geared up to impress upon the importance of relationships, family values, traditions, and love with Mithai Kottu Chittemma at 2:30 PM from 29 March. Adding yet another feature to its visual splendor, the channel’s latest endeavor is an effort to revive and rediscover the fundamental ethics of a family. Mithai Kottu Chittemma is directed by renowned director Venu Gopal. The story revolves around Chittemma (Anjana Srinivas) who hails from humble background and owns a sweet shop in Athreyapuram village, East Godavari. Due to twist of fate, Chittemma lands in the family of Kanthamma, a power obsessed aspiring politician. Come and enjoy the rollercoaster ride and find out what Chittemma has in store for us? Amidst ambitious nature of Kanthamma and sweetness of Chittemma, the show promises of lots of drama, romance, comedy, and entertainment.

    Don’t miss to watch Range De Prema on 28 March at 6 PM and Mithai Kottu Chittemma on 29  at 2:30 PM only on Zee Telugu and Zee Telugu HD.

  • Enterr10 Television Network’s Bhojpuri Cinema curates special programming for Holi

    Enterr10 Television Network’s Bhojpuri Cinema curates special programming for Holi

    MUMBAI: Get set to be drenched in the festivity of colours, as Enterr10 Television Network’s, 24-hour Bhojpuri movie channel, Bhojpuri Cinema, amps up its festive quotient with ‘Chadal Fagua Ke Rang’ to entertain its audience on the occasion of Holi. With an aim to add exuberance and keep the audience enthralled and entertained, the show promises to bring alive the vibe of Holi. The show is set to telecast on 26 March, 2021 at 7 PM on Bhojpuri Cinema channel followed by repeat telecast on 27 March, 2021 at 7 PM on Enterr10 Rangeela Channel.

    Featuring eminent personalities from the Bhojpuri industry like Khesari Lal Yadav, Amrapali Dubey, Pawan Singh, Riteish Pandey, Kajal Raghvani and Madhu Sharma along with celebrated singers and actors like Mohan Rathod, Sanchita Banerjee, Yamini Singh, Chintu Pandey, the 130-minute multi-entertainment show will witness power-packed performances that will entertain viewers within the comfort of their homes.

    Taking the entertainment quotient,a notch higher, the show will also witness a special dance performance by the one and only multi-talented star “Govinda”.

    Tune into the celebration of colours on 26  March, 2021 at 7 PM on Bhojpuri Cinema channel followed by repeat telecast on 27 March at 7 PM on Enterr10 Rangeela Channel.

  • Celebrate World Theatre Day with these plays available on Tata Sky Theatre

    Celebrate World Theatre Day with these plays available on Tata Sky Theatre

    NEW DELHI: Theatre has always been a significant place to present ideas and ideologies before the audience. Hence, people started celebrating World Theatre Day on 27 March to generate awareness about the importance of theatre arts. Commemorating the occasion, Tata Sky Theatre powered by Zee Theatre presents a week-long Carnival of renowned plays from 21 March to 27 March, that you can enjoy on your screens. Tata Sky Theatre, available on multiple screens across TV, laptop, desktop, and smartphones, allows you to indulge in exquisite plays anywhere, anytime. Listed below are some of the plays that are scheduled this week.  

    Wrong Turn – Featuring Varun Badola, Govin Namdev, Suneel Sinha, Lait Tiwari

    The play is inspired by the German story, Breakdown, which touches on various aspects of life through the protagonist, Arun Mehra. One rainy night, Arun walks into an old house and finds three retired lawyers amusing themselves with an unusual game that he agrees to join. The lawyers recreate a trial scene with one of them agreeing to prosecute Arun, while the other defends him. They promise him a fair trial, but if proven guilty, a severe fate awaits him.

    The Relationship Agreement – Featuring Sumona Chakravarti, Darius Shroff, Sajeel Parakh

    The play revolves around the couple who draws up a relationship contract to avoid the trials and errors of a relationship. Things get further complicated when their parents meet each other on social media and start dating. Will the young couple be able to stick to the agreement? A humorous take on modern relationships, the play is almost like a stand-up comedy; it keeps you amused all through.

    Doll’s House – Featuring Swastika Mukherjee, Subhrajyoti Barat, Joy Sengupta, Ratnabali Bhattacharya and Dibyendu Bhattacharya

    The story revolves around the married couple NORA and TORVALD. The husband considers his wife, a prized possession, like a doll, to be played with and for entertainment only. For him, Nora is weak, cannot take decisions, and does not consider her  an equal partner in marriage. The story will make you question if a woman is merely a subordinate to the husband in a hierarchy imposed by society, and what place does equality hold in a marriage?

    Hamidabai Ki Kothi – Featuring Rasika Duggal, Himani Shivpuri, Amruta Subhash, Ganesh Yadav

    Written by Anil Barve, the play goes back to 1978, where Hamidabai, a spirited artist of the dying Kotha tradition, is determined to not let the demands of the popular culture corrupt her establishment, despite societal and financial pressure. Her educated daughter Shabbo was forced to return to an empty and almost bankrupt business, much to Hamidabai’s dismay. It is up to Shabbo to fight for her ancestral Kotha pride or accede to her husband’s wish to turn it into a brothel.

    Jhaanjar Di Paanwan Chhankaar – Sarmad Khoosat, Samiya Mumtaz, Zain Afzal and Iman Shahid

    The play is based on a youthful, visually impaired man who chooses to live away from his over-protective mother. He forms a close friendship with his neighbour (an actor) who is set to essay an unusual role in a film. The play addresses how society responds to individuals with disabilities, be it physical or emotional, and regards them as pariahs.

    Sir Sir Sarla – Starring Makrand Deshpande, Aahana Kumra, Sanjay Dadhich, Faisal Rashid

    Sir Sir Sarla is the story of Professor Palekar and his student Sarla – the pretty, innocent young girl who seems to be enamoured by her mentor – and Phanidhar who shares a love-hate relationship with the professor. The play explores the bond between the students and their professor, which faces many ebbs and flaws. Secrets are revealed, accusations are thrown, and the three lives remain interwoven for many years to come.

    Ladies Sangeet – Starring Joy Sengupta, Loveleen Mishra, Nidhi Singh, Siddhant Karnick, Harsh Khurana

    This play tells the story of young Radha, who is to wed her beau Siddharth at her ancestral home in the hinterlands while her enthusiastic family members and their wedding planner are trying to make the wedding resemble the ones in Bollywood! The play uses wit, humour, music, and drama to bring out relevant challenges faced by families, and individuals, especially against the backdrop of a big, fat wedding.

    Tata Sky Theatre service is available for subscribers on  #316 and on the Tata Sky Mobile App under Live TV.

  • Hit Korean Drama ‘Goblin’ now in Hindi

    Hit Korean Drama ‘Goblin’ now in Hindi

    MUMBAI: One Take Media Co brings yet another Korean drama series Goblin to the Indian audience in Hindi. 

    Goblin is the fascinating tale of a military general who dies a tragic death. Years after his death, he is cursed to stay immortal forever, enduring the pain of seeing his loved ones die as punishment. He becomes an immortal goblin, helping people with his powers. The only one who can free him from this curse is his destined bride.

    This series has won several accolades for its unique storyline and performances, picking up the Best Drama and Best Actor awards internationally.

    One Take Media Co director Dimpy Khera said, “Goblin is a wonderful story through which the viewer gets to experience every human’s fantasy of immortality. There are also breathers of modern-day romance interspersed with humour which makes it a perfect watch. We want to bring engaging content for our viewers that is also uplifting and entertaining at the same time. We will continue to bring many such titles to our viewers.”

    One Take Media Co (OTMC) is a content production and distribution hub in Mumbai. It provides content to OTT and TV channels in India and abroad. OTMC provides content in various genres including Hollywood movies, Hollywood movies dubbed in nine regional languages, kids animation movies & series, Korean drama series and K-Pop.

  • Cosmos-Maya’s Wow Kidz Action awarded YouTube diamond play button

    Cosmos-Maya’s Wow Kidz Action awarded YouTube diamond play button

    MUMBAI: Wow Kidz, the content distribution wing of Cosmos-Maya has been awarded a rare second diamond play button, a YouTube creator award bestowed on channels for crossing ten million subscribers. Wow Kidz Action joins its sister channel, Wow Kidz, in winning the coveted accolade and with this new award, Wow Kidz’s multi-channel network has a total of 38 YouTube Creator Awards to its name – 25 Silver, 11 Gold and two diamond buttons.

    The Wow Kidz Action channel has seen immense growth in just over three years, hitting 30 billion views across its collection of homegrown and internationally acquired titles, including Vir: The Robot Boy, Rollbots, Hotwheels, Robinhood, Gattu The Power Champ and Gormiti.

    Cosmos Maya CEO Anish Mehta said: “The Wow Kidz brand growth on YouTube has been spurred by the increased global internet usage among families during lockdown. It has seen a meteoric growth in revenue potential across nearly 160 countries around the world and increased the number of acquisition partnerships and gross and repeat viewership. Having two Diamond Play buttons in the same MCN is a rare achievement. A genre-specific channel within our MCN getting such an award solidifies the strength of our diverse offering ranging across geogrpahies, languages and genres across YouTube, and is testimony to how we’ve kept our finger on the pulse of audience tastes. We are extremely proud of these accolades.”

    Wow Kidz’ multi-channel YouTube network is home to over 20,000 videos of owned and third-party animated content, spanning genres including comedy, edutainment, nursery rhymes and action. Across the 34 channels in 18 languages, Wow Kidz has over 60 million total subscribers.

    Wow Kidz is known for its superhit kids shows like Motu Patlu, Selfie With Bajrangi, Eena Meena Deeka and Vir: The Robot Boy, which alone has over 13 billion views on YouTube.  

  • Yasaswi Kondepudi wins the trophy of Zee Telugu’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – The Next Singing Icon

    Yasaswi Kondepudi wins the trophy of Zee Telugu’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – The Next Singing Icon

    MUMBAI: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (SRGMP) – The Next Singing Icon announced the winner of the season, in attendance of some of the biggest names in the industry. For 30 musical weeks, the Telugu audience across the world obsessed over each one of these contestants. Millions tuned-in every week to follow the journey, social media was flooded with conversations and the viewers showered their support making this a unique season of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

    The show unleashed exceptional entertainment where the contestants fight tooth and nail to win the battle. Every performance resulted in making it stiff competition amongst all while overcoming all odds made this the battle of the year. Yasaswi Kondepudi emerged as the ultimate winner and was conferred with a trophy and prize money of 5 Lacs and Bharath Raj was titled the first runner-up.

    Host Pradeep Machiraju in his best element turned the grand finale into a memorable one as he welcomed a volley of guests including Sid Sriram, Rana Daggubati, Baba Sehgal, Zoya Hussain, Singers Sunitha and Kalpana. The season concluded with a power-packed evening compromiseing of performance acts by the finalists, a LIVE performance of Sid Sriram.

    Zee Telugu cluster head Anuradha Gudur said, “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is a brand in itself. This platform has always helped us identify extraordinary singers & bring them to global musical fans and making wonderful careers in the film industry. The pandemic posed many challenges this season for us, but we overcame them in every sense and delivered an euphonious season. I thank every person who has put faith in us that helped in making this show a success. Heartiest congratulations to Yasaswi Kondepudi and to all the contestants who gave a tough fight.”

    Title winner,  Kondepudi   added, “The feeling of being declared as the winner of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – The Next Singing Icon is yet to sink in while I feel honoured. I was true to myself throughout the show and gave my best. As I recount the moments, I must add that this wouldn’t have been possible without the never-ending support and love from the esteemed judges, my mentors, fellow contestants and the public who helped turn my dream into reality. I’m taking back the trophy home, and with it, some fond memories and musical guidance that I will cherish my whole life.”