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Category: Production House

  • Elegance Bratton to helm Hellfighters documentary

    Elegance Bratton to helm Hellfighters documentary

    MUMBAI: Five Fifty Five and Rainshine Entertainment announced the production of a new feature documentary Hellfighters, to be directed by marine corps veteran, and Sundance and Tribeca Film Festival alum, Elegance Bratton.

    The film profiles African American Jazz pioneer and music mogul, James Reese Europe, who was a lieutenant in the 369th Infantry Regiment known as the Harlem Hellfighters, the African American military unit to fight on behalf of the United States during World War I.

    “As a veteran and artist like James Reese Europe, I immediately knew I wanted to tell his story,” said Bratton. “WWI was driven by Europe’s desire for control of Africa – there is a cruel irony in that the Hellfighters believed the only way to gain full meaning of U.S. citizenship was to sacrifice their lives for an America consumed with their own degradation. I am grateful to Five Fifty Five and Rainshine for creating a platform for this project."

    Bratton began making films as a U.S. Marine after spending a decade homeless. He previously directed the documentary Pier Kids: The Life and the short film Walk for Me. His short film Buck premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

    Hellfighters reunites the descendants of James Reese Europe and Noble Sissle (Shuffle Along) to explore their legacies, and features interviews with former secretary of State and four-star general Colin Powell, music director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and musician Jon Batiste, Grammy award winning rapper Black Thought of The Roots, Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University Robert O Meally, and many more.

    Chester Algernal Gordon will produce the film alongside Kate Baxter, founder & CEO at Five Fifty Five. Rainshine’s Neeraj Bhargava and acclaimed film producer Sunil Doshi will  executive produce  the documentary film.

    James Reese Europe was born in 1888 to Henry Europe, a formerly enslaved man and employee of the Internal Revenue Service, and Loraine Europe, a teacher. At a time where there was no clear path to prosperity for Black Americans, he would become the most prolific composer of the ragtime era, igniting the Harlem Renaissance and inventing Afro-Latin Jazz, as well as founding the first Black musicians union. At the peak of his music career, he enlisted in the U.S. military during World War I. With him, he brought jazz and Black culture to France and the global stage.

    “The film packs a punch of perspective considering our director’s uncanny interrelatedness to the story. Elegance is a saxophone-playing, Harlem-residing, ex-military, French-speaking student of African American Studies," said producer, Kate Baxter (Five Fifty Five), who after pursuing the story as her next project, found the perfect collaborators in Elegance and co-producer Chester Algernal.

    “It’s not very often you get to tell stories about people whose shoulders you stand on. Without the Hellfighters’ sacrifice 100 years ago, we wouldn't be able to make this film," said producer Chester Algernal.

    Rainshine Entertainment, chairman & CEO, Neeraj Bhargava said, “Five Fifty Five and Rainshine Entertainment recently announced a joint venture to provide a platform for communities globally to tell their own unique stories. Hellfighters, our first production together, is a story that is highly relevant in the current times and a testimony to our vision of bringing meaningful and extraordinary stories to audiences worldwide.”

  • Banijay Brands unveils new licensing deals in Asia

    Banijay Brands unveils new licensing deals in Asia

    MUMBAI: Banijay Brands has announced a range of new licensing agreements Mr Bean, MasterChef and Simon’s Cat in Asia, ahead of the region’s week at the festival of licensing.

    This year British comedy star Mr Bean celebrates 30 years of continual distribution and to mark the occasion, Banijay Brands has partnered with Bzmedia to open licensed bubble tea stores in China, where up 22 stores have launched across various cities and further expansion is expected.  The company is joining forces with Hong Kong-based manufacturer and distributor, Toyeast, and partnering with BMW to produce a die cast model of Mr Bean’s classic Mini and plush products based on the iconic character have been renewed with Kin Hsing in Taiwan. Mr Bean is represented by four agencies, Asiana, Black White Orange, MediaLink and Empire in Asia.

    For global culinary hit MasterChef, a new cookware, tableware and kitchenware range will be available in Indonesia on online retail store for household products,  dusdusan.com in 2021, in a deal with Indonesian company PT Homeco. This news follows the recent launch of MasterChef hand blenders in South Korea with SJ Trend.

    Other existing business in this key region includes continued growth for animated hit Simon’s Cat through three agencies CLICK!, Block 12 and Enpop. South Korean agency Enpop are growing awareness for the brand through a partnership with Samsung for licensed digital accessories such as wallpaper designs for Samsung handset users worldwide.

    This follows recent deals in south Korea including Simon’s Cat plush toys with Nooritoys and mobile phone case accessories with OGA Prince, as well as an apparel deal in China with Quanshang. The mischievous cat will feature across various locations of 9 Lives Cat Clinic in Hong Kong in a partnership across three years.

    Banijay Brands brand licensing GD Jane Smith said, “These extensions for Mr Bean, MasterChef and Simon’s Cat are great examples of how we can offer fans a variety of ways to enjoy their favourite brands beyond the screen. This region continues to be a significant market for our growth and it’s brilliant to announce these deals at the festival of licensing’s Asia week.”

    The Banijay Brands portfolio includes MasterChef, Temptation Island, Peaky Blinders, Survivor, Deal or No Deal, The Inbetweeners, Big Brother, Mister Maker, Operation Triunfo, Eat Well for Less, Simon’s Cat, Mr Bean, Don’t, Sunday Brunch, Tipping Point, The Biggest Loser, Ready Steady Cook, Black Mirror, Miss France, Maddie’s Do You Know?, Wipeout and Crystal Maze.

  • No cause too small for Covid2019 warrior Chhitra Subramaniam

    No cause too small for Covid2019 warrior Chhitra Subramaniam

    MUMBAI: At the peak of the Covid2019 pandemic, actor Sonu Sood was hailed as a messiah by media and public alike, with good reason. Where the government was getting panned for its handling of the crisis and the distress of migrant workers, Sood was single-handedly helping stranded labourers, students and health workers, often out of his own pocket.

    While Sood was in the spotlight for his acts of altruism, there were others like him – also from the entertainment industry – working in the shadows. One such who went beyond the call of duty to serve others is Chhitra Subramaniam.

    As a creative producer, content development and production executive whose career spans cinema, television and advertising, Chhitra Subramaniam dons many hats. She has worked in Ram Gopal Varma’s Factory, Percept Picture Company, Viacom18, Turner International & Wiz Films and is now the senior vice president at Kross Pictures (a South Korean production company). But when the Covid2019 pandemic struck like a bolt from the blue, she took time out from her cushy job and became involved in relief efforts.

    In the past months, Subramaniam has devoted her time and energy to different humanitarian endeavours: from alleviating hunger, giving over 3,000 ration kits, medicines and sanitary pads to the less privileged, helping schools and supporting community kitchens, to providing vanity vans for women cops. The film producer started by providing vanity vans to the Mumbai police, and even helped deliver a woman’s baby!

    Recognising Subramaniam’s selfless service during the crisis, "The Better India" and ATE Chandra Foundation awarded her the Covid2019 Soldier Award. Looking back on her experience, Subramaniam said she believes that once you start any initiative with a pure intent, other people come forward to help.

    When the nationwide lockdown was announced, Film Data Management expert and Subramaniam’s close friend Neil Sadwelkar had posted on Facebook about ways in which the film fraternity can help frontline caregivers. Sadwelkar needed someone who could take this initiative forward. Jay Dantara, a young editor put a whatsapp group called Film Makers for Front Line Care, and a few likeminded people joined it. At that point, Subramaniam took charge and spearheaded the initiative along with Gaurav Bose and others. She contacted Ketan Rawal, one of the top owners of vanity vans in Mumbai. He contributed 16 vanity vans for free and these were stationed near Nagpada junction, Sion’s LBS Marg, Bandra’s BW Sealink Toll Plaza, Kherwadi Gosiya Masjid and Dahisar Check Naka, among others.

    Read more about Chhitra Subramaniam 

    The Vans were given free by Ketan Rawal but entire maintenance cost, remuneration of attendants and drivers was undertaken by Producers Guild of India (PGI) and Project Mumbai was the NGO partner. 
    While Subramaniam ran the whole operation and collected funds from the Producer's Guild, Rawal provided the drivers and attendants , who were paid more than their regular wages. This ensured employment of 34 daily wage workers from the film industry when there were no jobs to be had. The vanity vans ran for two months till 15 June 2020.

    “We wanted to help the city police. Especially women personnel, who were working long shifts and didn’t even have access to toilets because everything was shut down. From there on, I wanted to do more and help as many people as I could,” said Subramaniam.

    After that, she started approaching people on her own through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. She jokingly said that while people stalk celebrities on social media, she was stalking Covid2019 warriors. Describing how the industry came together in aid of those struggling to make ends meet, Subramaniam added: “Devashish Makhija, writer director of acclaimed films Ajji and Bhosale, put together a Facebook group and started adding various people who were doing relief work. So, we became like a tribe of relief workers and we started helping and supporting each other in different relief work.”

    She has since been helping raise funds for five community kitchens that were feeding 10,000 people a day, and continued to distribute rations to those less fortunate, for whom the consequences of this pandemic have been brutal beyond belief. Then, she scaled up this work to provide medical care, food and any other services to those in need by being part of the helpline ‘Need Help, Can Help' set up by Raj Mohan.

    A Dehradun resident, Mohan has already planted 2.5 million trees across India. At the outset of the pandemic, he came up with the ‘Need Help, Can Help’ initiative and started a helpline. But he required volunteers who could manage the helpline and work on ground zero level, so he asked for help on Facebook. Subramaniam was the first to respond, and with the help of a few writer friends and people from the film industry, she managed to put together a team of volunteers. They ran this helpline for three months. Through this helpline, Subramaniam and her team delivered rations and medicines all over the city.

    Pad Squad was co-founded by Chhitra Subramaniam (Film Producer) Taranjit Kaur (Actor,Poet) Devashish Makhija (Film Director), Surya Balakrishnan (Advertising Film Director), Monica Raheja (Producer), Niiya Nia (Actor & activist), Gillian Pinto (Actor), Shillpi A Singh ( Writer, Journalist, Humanitarian), Mayuri Joshi Dhavale (Entrepreneur) Mentored by Bilal Khan (Activist Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan), Lara Jessani (Human Rights Advocate).

    The movement has now grown to include over 54 individuals called ‘Padsquadders’ from over 26 cities –they distribute pads to marginalized communities across cities including Mumbai, Pune, Ranchi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Kalimpong and Lucknow.

    Explaining how Pad Squad came to be, she said: “I had distributed sanitary napkins in the month of May to women in Nalasopara and Andheri’s Yaari Road. Then Taranjit Kaur started collaborating with my ration work and she suggested that we give sanitary pads, because when people don’t have enough to eat, how will women buy the most basic essential, sanitary pad. Bilal Khan, who has been doing social service for the past seven years and works very closely with people in bastis, advised that we distribute the sanitary napkins in the same basti for three to four months. This has set the philosophy for Pad Squad. Initially, we invested our own money and then slowly we started receiving funds.”

    Posted by Chhitra Subramaniam on Wednesday, 19 August 2020

    According to her, a lot of people are working on an individual and group level under this initiative. It is a people’s movement comprising members of the film fraternity that includes writers, actors, and filmmakers. So far, Pad Squadders have distributed more than four lakh sanitary napkins.Subramaniam didn’t stop there. She supported community kitchens being run by Bilal Khan (Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan), Lara Jessani (Human Rights lawyer) and Anil Hebbar (Helping Hand Charitable Trust) that fed 10,000 people every day till 31 August.

    She started collecting funds in mid-May, helped raise around Rs 80 lakh for the community kitchen, and also recruited new people to the cause – like Gangs of Wasseypur and Masaan producer Guneet Monga.

    “Monga started a Ketto fund for the community kitchens and raised over Rs 30 lakhs. Taraa Varmaa Sengupta of ‘Feed My City’ donated a huge amount. Ujwal Thakkar who is my Mentor, and Venkat Krishnan of Living My Promise, both incredible human beings and doyens in the Social and Development sector ,have been huge backbones and support to the work I do. And I keep approaching people and keep raising funds for the community kitchens. Now, 3,500 are being fed every day,” the tenacious lady said. 

    Subramaniam, with help from Anil Hebbar, is helping set up another community kitchen in Bhandup for the less privileged there.

    Subramaniam is also a stakeholder and team member with the livelihood project called Shramik Sammaan, started by Khan, Jessani, and Hebber, which aims to create employment opportunities for migrants who returned home. Based on Gandhi’s Gram economic principles, Shramik Samman has launched several projects to generate paying work for the migrants. Subramaniam has managed to get Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee onboard to promote this initiative. She added that five projects are already in operation since August and there are 64 more in the pipeline.

  • BOUNDLESS MEDIA ANNOUNCES WEB-SERIES ‘CANCELLED’

    BOUNDLESS MEDIA ANNOUNCES WEB-SERIES ‘CANCELLED’

    Do you feel like it’s hard to get away from cyberbullying and online hate these days? Mental health is on top of everyone’s mind: especially for Gen Z, a generation that’s been brought up online. 

    New-age content house Boundless Media has geared up to launch yet another 2020 web series titled ‘CANCELLED’ a tragicomedy on Gen Z’s social media trysts, taking inspiration from the now infamous ‘Cancel Culture’ – the practice of boycotting and group shaming a person on social media if their actions are seen as objectionable.

    With original web series hits including ‘Objectified’ and ‘Unseen’ in their kitty, Boundless Media has established their mettle as a creator of genre-bending stories for a new India.  

    Social media trolls and bullies have not spared anyone, right from the common man to the best of celebrities. But who would know this world better than the Gen Z? CANCELLED’ follows the lives and trysts of three ordinary GEN Z’ers in a sequence of comical catastrophes which raise debatable questions. Are the bullied actually bullies? In the zealous mood for evangelism, how far does one go and who draws the lines in the virtual world? What do you do when the online world becomes more real to you than your offline life?

    Commenting on the launch of the series, Natasha Malpani Oswal, Founder and Creative Producer at Boundless Media said, "Our aim is to tell new-age, experimental stories. We cover topics which are hidden in plain sight through our films and series. Through CANCELLED, we wanted to explore the blurring of our online and offline lives. We all know social media can be dangerous, but we’re still completely addicted to constantly scrolling. CANCELLED is highly entertaining, but also contemporary and relatable. I think Gen Z will strongly resonate with it.”

     The series features cutting-edge social commentary on mental health, losing trust in institutions, body image issues, the increasing generation gap and embracing one's sexuality. It was conceptualised, written and directed in-house The main leads are played by actors Chinmay Chandranshuh, Gurneet Wahan and Ritik Ghansani.  

  • ‘RE-INVENT’ PROMAX INDIA CONFERENCE AND AWARDS 2020: A NEW FORMAT EMBRACING CHANGE, INNOVATION, ADAPTABILITY AND HONOURING CREATIVITY, INNOVATION & STORYTELLING

    ‘RE-INVENT’ PROMAX INDIA CONFERENCE AND AWARDS 2020: A NEW FORMAT EMBRACING CHANGE, INNOVATION, ADAPTABILITY AND HONOURING CREATIVITY, INNOVATION & STORYTELLING

    Keeping in mind that the world around us has changed as we know it, The 17th India edition of Promax’s Conference and Awards was launched in a fresh new avatar and format and themed as ‘Re-Invent’ where for the first time, delegates, speakers, Media and Marketing professionals, jury members and sponsors all came together ‘virtually’ to attend and celebrate creativity, innovation and storytelling.

    The event started with Gavin Strange on ‘Trying to get Ahead of the Curve’ where he talked about projects ranging from filmmaking to illustration, toy design to photography. We were all transported to the ‘Top of the Pyramid’ with a fireside chat with Megha Tata and Navika Kumar as they highlighted their journey and experiences in the media landscape. Hasraf ‘Haz’ Dulull  then engaged audiences with taking the leap from VFX to Directing and Producing Feature Films and TV. The session on ‘OTT Marketing’ led by Rahul Mishra of Shemaroo Entertainment where he was joined by marketing heads of OTT players in the country, including Abhishek Joshi of MX Player, Avi Kumar of Zee5 and Divya Dixit of ALT Balaji was very well received – this was followed by Prathyusha Agarwal of Zee Entertainment who engaged audiences with a session on Brand Building and Logo Design.

    Day 2 began with transporting delegates into the ‘Future of Creativity’ in Augmented Reality by Emile Rademeyer, followed by an engaging conversation with Faye D’Souza on News and what young India wants. Charlie Mawer’s session on the ‘Future of TV Branding’ was extremely relevant where he shared the best practices for 2020 and beyond.

    The engaging sessions, presentations and discussions were followed by the eagerly anticipated Promax India Awards 2020. The show was hosted by Cyrus Broacha in a completely new virtual format where he managed to keep everyone entertained.

    This year Star India swept the Awards with 17 Golds and 18 Silver awards. They were followed by Viacom18 Media with 17 Golds and 6 Silver; Zee Entertainment Enterprises with 12 Golds and 8 Silver and Sony Pictures with 5 Golds and 10 Silver amongst many others.

    The Arnab Chaudhuri Award was introduced to recognise a new talent who is creating outstanding work in the world of animation and was awarded to Tushar from Dynamite Design.

    Summing up Promax India Virtual 2020, Rajika Mittra, Country Head & Strategic Partnerships (India, Hong Kong & Philippines) said, “As we embarked on putting together a ‘virtual’ conference we were quite apprehensive on how the event would turn out given that Promax has always been known for quality content and production. We are overwhelmed by the response received from our delegates, speakers, jury members and sponsors who believed in us and helped us put in another fantastic quality conference.”

    Aparna Purohit, Head of India Originals at Amazon Prime Video and Awards Chair Promax 2020 said, “ It’s quite remarkable to see such an encouraging participation in this year’s edition of Promax Awards.”

    For the Winners List  please log onto – www.promaxindia.tv

  • TCB’s Heaney & Subhani launch new co-production set up BossaNova Media

    TCB’s Heaney & Subhani launch new co-production set up BossaNova Media

    MUMBAI: TCB Media Rights co-partners Paul Heaney and Dina Subhani have launched co-production and distribution company BossaNova Media.

    Months after giving up the reins to their former venture, TCB, Subhani and Heaney are now looking to unite producers and buyers through BossaNova Media, which they hope will serve as an integrated hub to fast-track the commissioning and deal-making process. The outfit will closely work with producers and broadcasters to co-create shows by matching ideas.

    The duo founded factual distribution company TCB Media Rights in 2012 as a two-person operation that grew to generate $20 million in revenue. The company was later acquired by Canada-based Kew Media Group in October 2017. But the fruitful relationship fell through earlier this year when Kew went belly-up.

    After much wrangling, Heaney and Subhani secured their exit from the collapsed Candian TV company and sold TCB to Australian producer and distributor Beyond International in April 2020.

    BossaNova Media intuitive to both producers and buyers

    Heaney said: “We want BossaNova to be at the very center as far as the ideas and shows we work with are concerned. Our ambition is to be a significant help to platforms that have specific content needs and producers that need all of the above plus endorsement, experience and co-development of ideas."

    Next on the company’s agenda is talking to the buying and commissioning communities over the coming weeks so as to kickstart the benefit chain for indies.

    On their decision to launch BossaNova Media, Subhani shared: “There’s a lot of uncertainty and fear as we stumble through the wreckage of 2020, but Paul and I have done our due diligence and we see a clear gap in the market.”

    Subhani explained that before starting the company, they spoke to buyers and producers to identify what they want from a production-distribution company, and plan to deliver on it.

    “Call BossaNova what you will – distributor, agent, development platform, financier – but we believe this creative-finance model is what’s needed in today’s fast-moving world,” she concluded.

    As one of the founding directors of TCB, Subhani played a key role in the company’s growth and management. She looked after accounts, marketing and financial planning. Subhani began her career in print and airtime sales.

    Before launching TCB, Heaney was president and MD of Cineflix Rights, which he started in 2002. Prior to this, he worked at BSkyB and Southern Star.

  • Banijay Brands, WP Brands partner up for two global hit shows

    Banijay Brands, WP Brands partner up for two global hit shows

    MUMBAI: Banijay Brands has appointed brand management agency WP Brands to represent Peaky Blinders and Simon’s Cat in Australia and New Zealand, as part of the continued expansion of its brand footprint.

    Global hit Peaky Blinders is a BAFTA award-winning BBC One series created and written by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises and Locke) and produced by official brand owner, Caryn Mandabach Productions and Tiger Aspect Productions. Season five aired on BBC One last year and delivered the show’s highest ratings yet. The series has been televised in more than 183 countries, as is available for streaming on Netflix.

    Simon’s Cat is a worldwide phenomenon, viewed in over 100 countries, with 7 million fans on Facebook, 2 million followers on Instagram, and more than a billion views on YouTube.

    Created by award-winning illustrator, animator and director, Simon Tofied, Simon’s Cat features the hilarious antics of a mischievous white feline and his long-suffering owner Simon. First posted on YouTube in 2008, the Simon’s Cat brand scored international success across multiple categories including gaming, publishing and apparel. There have been more than 80 million digital sticker downloads and in excess of 18 million mobile gaming downloads with further titles in development.

    Read more news on Banijay

    Banijay Brands brand licensing group director Smith said, “WP Brands has a stellar reputation and we are thrilled to now partner with the business on these hugely popular brands. We have a shared passion and belief in the appeal for customers in Australia and New Zealand.”

    WP Brands MD Lim Mi-Kyoung said, “WP Brands is excited to be working alongside a phenomenal media partner like Banijay Brands and we are looking forward to further building on the consumer products offering in our market. We can’t wait to bring fans more opportunities to engage with these two exciting and wildly popular brands.’’

  • Great stories can fail if not backed with right talent: Irada Entertainment’s Falguni Patel

    Great stories can fail if not backed with right talent: Irada Entertainment’s Falguni Patel

    MUMBAI: Irada Entertainment, an India-based production house is best known for its 2017 national award-winning movie Iraada starring Naseeruddin Shah. The production house has also done a Gujrati movie named Ventilator that featured Jackie Shroff in the main lead. The production house recently produced a series Avrodh with Applause Entertainment.

    It is a brainchild of Falguni Patel, an N.R.I based out of the US who is a film enthusiast at heart and believes that good content strikes a connection with the audiences. She aims to create captivating and engaging content across all genres such as a spine-chilling thriller, high-octave drama, dark-humour, or a heart-rending love story. Patel mentions that impactful stories, coupled with the right talent and technology are the need of the hour.

    Irada Entertainment is based out of Mumbai’s Andheri location and does most of the creative work on a contractual or project basis. However, the team travels to different shooting locations based on the requirements of the script. Patel shares, “We like to be as authentic as possible with our shoot locations to bring in the persuasive approach.” It is currently in the process of hiring a full-time team on board.

    “Our vision of what we want out of a story has always been cast in stone. This has been monumental in giving our team the right direction. Once we commit to any project, there is no turning back. We direct our team to think out of the box in the face of adversities and make things happen even in the worst-case scenarios.”

    As a producer, Patel thinks her biggest investment in terms of time is in the concept of the story which should be able to connect with the audiences. The firm’s significant time and efforts majorly go in shortlisting the right content. “Great stories can fail once they go into production if we do not back them with the right talent. Our approach has always been holistic, it is not only the story but also the team, the medium, and the timing that makes a project successful,” she further adds. 

    Patel highlights that producing a film or web-series comes with its own set of challenges as there is a chance that the content might not be accepted by the audience. She believes there is no formula to create hit content and it all comes with taking a risk and experimenting.

    Irada Entertainment is currently pitching its content to different OTT channels and is in talks with them for creating an OTT original as well. 

  • SWA Awards 2020: Article 15, Soni & Gully Boy win big

    SWA Awards 2020: Article 15, Soni & Gully Boy win big

    MUMBAI: The first ever SWA Awards 2020, organized by the Screenwriters Association, to felicitate screenwriters and lyricists was held yesterday and was a thundering success. Hosted by actors Varun Badola and Rajeshwari Sachdeva, the event focused mainly on the writers – with the jury members who are eminent screenwriters, directors and show creators themselves announcing the winners among almost 90 nominees in 15 categories in feature films, tv shows, web series and lyrics.

    The evening exuded a lot of charm and a celebratory tone with several performers – writer, producer and director aatish kapadia doing a comedy sketch on how the world generally behaves with writers, writer and stand-up comic varun grover taking potshots at the Hindi film and television industry on the bizarre writing inputs and notes that screenwriters often receive; poets and lyricists Shellee and Hussain Haidry doing a lyrical jugalbandi on the hardships and joys of being a writer and mentalist Akshay Laxman weaving his illusionary magic on audience members. The evening concluded with a soulful performance of two songs by singer Rekha Bhardwaj and screenwriter, filmmaker and composer Vishal Bhardwaj.

    The first ever SWA Awards 2020 was held online and the buzz was palpable as the jury panels announced the awards in various categories.

    TV Shows:

    The jury comprising of Anand Mahendroo, Ajai Sinha, Kamlesh Pandey, Liliput Faruqui, Manjul Sinha, Purnendu Shekhar and Sanjay Upadhyay announced the winners in the TV shows categories:

    1. TV Comedy- Best Story: Nitin Keswani for Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah

    2. TV Comedy- Best Dialogues: Bhavna Vyas for Baavle Utaavle

    3. TV Comedy- Best Screenplay: Aatish Kapadia for Bhakharwadi

    4. TV Drama- Best Story: No Award

    5. TV Drama- Best Dialogues: Preeti Mamgain for Mere Dad Ki Dulhan

    6. TV Drama- Best Screenplay: Kartick Sitaraman for Mere Dad Ki Dulhan

    Orginal Series:

    The jury comprising of Ruchi Narain, Suhail Tatari and Weksha Bhagat for original drama; Juhi Shekhar, Reshu Nath & Shiv Subrahmanyam for Original Comedy; and Anuraadha Tewari, Anuya Jakatdar and Ketki Pandit for original series Adaptation announced the winners in the original series categories:

    7. Series- Best Original Drama: Richie Mehta & Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh for Delhi Crime

    8. Series-Best Original Comedy: Devika Bhagat & Ishita Moitra for Four More Shots Please!

    9. Series- Best Adaptation: Dhruv Narang, Nihit Bhave, Pooja Tolani and Varun Grover for Sacred Games – Season2

    Lyrics:

    The jury comprising of Amit Khanna, Ila Arun, Kausar Munir, Mayur Puri & Panchhi Jalonvi announced the winners in the lyrics categories:

    10. TV/OTT- Best Lyrics: Zama Habib for the song Ek Chup Tum, Ek Chup Main from the show Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein

    11. Feature Films-Best Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir for the song Teri Mitti from the film Kesari

    Feature Films:

    The jury comprising of Apurva Asrani, Ashwiny Iyer TIwari and Leena Yadav announced the winner in the Best Gender Sensitive Script category:

    12. Best Gender Sensitive Script: Ivan Ayr & Kislay for Soni

    The jury comprising of Ashok Mishra, Atul Tiwari, Juhi Chaturvedi, Saket Chaudhary, Urmi Juvekar, Vijay Krishna Acharya and Vinay Shukla announced the winners in the Feature Films categories:

    13. Feature Films- Best Debut Writer: Ivan Ayr & Kislay for Soni

    14. Feature Films- Best Dialogues: Vijay Maurya for Gully Boy

    15. Feature Films- Best Story: Anubhav Sinha & Gaurav Solanki for Article 15

    16. Feature Films- Best Screenplay: Anubhav Sinha & Gaurav Solanki for Article 15

    Several members from the board of Screenwriters Association spoke at the occasion – Robin Bhatt, president; Sunil Salgia, Gen Secretary; and EC members Satyam Tripathy, Shellee, Manisha Korde, Ketki Pandit and Anum Rajabali.

    The event can be viewed on Screenwriters Association’s YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/A0-EWP4vPSk and on their Facebook Page.

  • Endemol Shine gets ready for a different Bigg Boss 14 season

    Endemol Shine gets ready for a different Bigg Boss 14 season

    MUMBAI: The three most popular features of Bigg Boss are- its host Salman Khan, Bigg Boss’ voice and finally the house. These three actually form the backdrop of every image that a viewer has about Bigg Boss throughout a season’s journey. The other bit that a viewer remembers is the participants and the variety of emotions that run amok in the house. 

    On 3 October, the biggest reality show from Colors is all set to make a comeback with its fourteenth season. The 2020 edition will only see celebrities; no commoners like in the previous years. But before the contestants step in, let’s take a quick look at what’s been going on inside the Bigg Boss house, which without any doubt has been a constant participant in every season.

    Production major Endemol Shine India has been producing BiggBoss year-on-year for Colors. Its CEO Abhishek Rege shares that format wise there are no changes with the usual tasks being hurled at the competitors; however, production has been planned differently.Larger shoots and performances and tasks have been planned for the beginning of the season, before contestants enter the house.Other precautions have also been taken. A team of six crew  have been mandated to take or bring food, regular supplies and props into the house. The PPE clad assistants will have no interactions with the outside world,; they will be in complete isolation.

    RubinaDilaik, Abhinav Shukla, Jasmin Bhasin, Aly Goni, Jaan Kumar, Shubhangi Atre, Karan Patel, Nishant Malkani, Gia Manek Eijaz Khan, Rahul Vaidya, Nikki Tamboli, Shagun Pandey, Pavitra Punia, Neha Sharma and Naina Singh among others are strongly being speculated as the participants for this season. Rege refuses to confirm or deny the names but he admits that all the participants are currently under compulsory 14-day quarantine, which will end when shoots begin early next month. Also, they – along with the crew – will undergo regular Covid2019 tests and health and hygiene will be given prime importance. Medical and Covid professionals have visited the house to ensure that all SOPs for productions and more are being followed  – including the presence of an ambulance – and that the sets are Covid-safe.

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    The production house has also hired an external Covid2019 compliance company PWC which has been charged with looking after distribution of masks to celebs and crew to sanitisation to fumigation to taking and maintaining regular  temperature checks.

    Endemol Shine India  creatives normally keep track of local trends and developments before building the narrative and ideas for Bigg Boss every season. This year the theme of the house is largely based on things that audiences have missed out during Covid2019. The celebs will get to use a salon and a spa, a movie theatre, and a shopping mall. But these luxuries will have to be earned by them after succeeding in some thrilling and fun-filled tasks. 

    Rege reveals that Salman Khan will be shooting for the promo on 1 October with the contestants on the Bigg Boss set in Mumbai’s Film City.

    “We are keeping very stringent measures and SOPs.. Salman will also take the swab test prior to entering the set. And, to further ensure safety on the set, we have hired more people than we normally hire every year,” says he. “However, at any given point we will have very few people on set, everybody else will be there on the backend in their respective rooms and other places in isolation. We are not crowding. Usually when any eviction happens, there are lots of guests and visitors that come in.This time it is a no-no.”

    Weekend KaWaar used to be Bigg Boss’main highlight and it featured  Salman Khan interacting with contestants in front of a  live audience. However, this time the studio is taking the digital route.

    “We have created a huge digital wall where what was earlier the studio audience is connected live from their homes,” says Rege. “We have therefore made an arrangement where Salman can see the wall and audiences can see what is happening at the shoot and interactions can happen. So we have still kept the whole live angle working.”

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    Recently, Salman revealed that he returned to host Bigg Boss 14 only because he knew the scale of production of the show would generate employment. He also agreed to accept a pay cut for this season.

     

     

    Like previous seasons, this time too, previous years’ contestants and winners will come in to add to the thrill. Amongst the names being touted are: Sidharth Shukla, Gauahar Khan, and Hina Khan will also bring a series of surprises for the contestants making this season an epitome of entertainment.The banter, quarrels, and one-upmanship, mental games, the behind the scenes gossip and the formation of groups amongst the inmates of the house are what have helped Bigg Boss build a loyal audience over the years. Another high impact Indian property – the IPL 2020 – has till the time of writing turned out to be a runaway winner, attracting viewers in un-believable numbers. Analysts believe Bigg Boss 14 is on course to beat its previous years’ performance as well just like the cricket league is doing. It’s over to the loyalists, the fans, to make that prediction come true for one of Colors biggest annual bets.