ITV

Category: GECs

  • &TV announces original format kids singing show ‘Love Me India’

    &TV announces original format kids singing show ‘Love Me India’

    MUMBAI: &TV has recently launched an original format live singing reality show for kids – Love Me India, which promises to keep audiences captivated and glued to their television sets. In a first of its kind move, the singing reality show for kids will raise the bar on interactivity and empower the audience to vote real-time through the digital platform and choose the contestants of the show ahead of its airing.   

    &TV business head Vishnu Shankar said, “At &TV, we have always believed in encouraging the growth of new and original properties which makes for fresh and engaging content. Reality shows have great power to bring participants and judges alike closer to the viewers. Love Me India goes one step further by providing real-time interaction through its live format. The power to pick the final contestants is handed over to the audience, who will play an integral role in deciding their fate as a singer.”

    The channel is all set to begin its hunt for India’s next kid singing star. Developed by Essel Vision Productions, Love Me India rolls out auditions in its quest to find India’s next singing superstar among kids aged 5 to 15 years. Nurturing and supporting them all the way as judges in this competitive journey, will be three power packed judges – Punjabi pop sensation Guru Randhawa, the multi-talented singer, composer and actor, Himesh Reshammiya and the soulful and elegant Neha Bhasin.

  • Sensational singing aspirants with their inspiring stories strike the right chord on the 10th season of Indian Idol

    Sensational singing aspirants with their inspiring stories strike the right chord on the 10th season of Indian Idol

    MUMBAI: With the advent of monsoon, Sony Entertainment Television opens up a refreshing new chapter of Indian Idol with #MausamMusicKa. In its 10th season this year, Indian Idol is set to raise the bar yet again with not just impressive talent but also their inspiring stories. Taking on the responsibility of judging will be, renowned singer and music composer, Vishal Dadlani, popular singer and youth icon, Neha Kakkar, and the veteran singer and music director, Anu Malik. The spontaneous and talented Maniesh Paul, anchors the show as its charming host.

    This year, Indian Idol will see some inspiring journeys of contestants who want to prove that their talent surpasses the societal norms of appearance, cast or religion. From an accomplished playback singer from Odisha, to a stage performer from Shimla who doesn’t want to give up singing even though his eyesight is giving up on him; from a trained singer who has been rejected by a music band because of their conventional expectations to 19-year-old who supports his entire family with his singing, will all be judged on the same parameters. It’s their grit and determination that has got them this far and will help them turn over a new leaf hereon.

    Staying true to the promise of enhancing the viewer engagement with an interactive second screen, Sony Entertainment Television, via the SonyLIV app will provide an opportunity to the viewers to be an integral part of the contestants’ journey on Indian Idol. From guessing contestant’s selection during auditions to cheering for their favourite contestants during the gala round and singing along with their choice contestants, the viewers will be involved with a lot more. 

    From the several who audition, those chosen will undergo the Theatre Round from which the judges will further shortlist contestants, for the Top 12. The competition amongst the Top 12 will intensify with the audience and the judges rooting and voting for their favourite contestants’ week on week till the next Indian Idol is chosen. Neha Kakkar has been a part of the Indian Idol journey before as a contestant and as a judge currently, will be seen guiding them towards perfection along with her co-judges Vishal Dadlani and Anu Malik.

    Based on format created & owned by FremantleMedia and 19TV Ltd, the multi-faceted chemistry between the judges combined with sensational singing talent promises to make this season of Indian Idol an ultimate entertainer on Indian television. Join the super trio of judges as they embark on this new journey to discover India’s next ‘Indian Idol’.

  • ZEE Entertainment takes a big leap in the ranking of ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For – 2018’

    ZEE Entertainment takes a big leap in the ranking of ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For – 2018’

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL), a leading media and entertainment powerhouse has taken a big leap in the overall ranking of ‘India’s Best Companies to Work for 2018’, in a study conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute. Demonstrating exemplorary employee initiatives last year, the company has jumped several places to be ranked 51 in the top 100 List. A global authority on building, sustaining and recognizing high-trust, high-performing workplace cultures, the institute releases the list of India’s ‘Best Companies to Work’ for List each year in partnership with The Economic Times.

    On receiving this prestigious certificate, Mr. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) said “It is a great honour for us at ZEEL, to be recognized amongst ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For’. The elevation in our ranking speaks volumes about our work culture and HR practices. I believe our core value system imbibed across a brilliant team is what makes us extraordinary together.”

    To build a democratic culture and an environment of trust, ZEEL boasts of a 3400+ diverse, multi-cultural workforce spread across 173 countries wherein each and every employee breathes in the value system of ‘Extraordinary Together’ and the same is reflected in every step taken. With an enhanced speed and agility all employees ensure that a frugal approach is applied at every juncture, while the customers are their top most priority they also ensure that humility and respect is maintained at every touchpoint of the professional journey. 

    ZEEL believes in nurturing entrepreneurship among employees by encouraging them to expand their horizons and experiment fearlessly. They also also have a key belief in our people philosophy, termed as ‘SAMWAD’, which focuses on identification of talent, setting expectations by defining the right outcome and motivating the talent by focusing on its core strengths. This monthly conversation platform ensures continuous effective and meaningful dialogue. This initiative has opened up doors of communication, enabling employees to exchange their thoughts, ideas and even concerns on a regular basis. It is this culture that has seen ZEEL employees grow over the years to attain senior management positions within the organisation.

    Other notable initiatives include:

    Employee Engagement – Through multiple practices and programs, ZEEL encourages employees to share their views and communicate with the leadership team on a regular basis.
    Talent & Development – ACE, the high-potential development programme to identify top-notch talent from performers in the organisation.
    Recruitment – Driving an entrepreneurial culture which gives employees the freedom to work with challenging job roles.
    Rewards & Recognition – ZEELOMPICS, a employee-recognition programme where high performers in each role are recognised for their exemplary performance as ‘Heroes’.

    Being a content company, a lot of emphasis is given on enhancing the creative quotient of talent by constantly developing a cohesive work environment, backed with relevant workshops.

    On establishing the industry lead on being the number one entertainment network during the entire financial year 2017-18, the firm gives credit to the extraordinary efforts sown in by each and every employee of the network. ZEEL firmly believes that, the growth led creative environment provided for the employees, enables them to achieve such brilliant results. To keep pace with the rapid organisational growth, alignment of the teams and ensuring performance excellence at all times has always been the top most area of focus for us.

    Reflecting on ZEEL’ 25 year legacy and milestone, Mr. Goenka further added “I believe that every organisation should provide an enabling work environment where employees can strive and achieve extraordinary excellence. This is only possible when they are provided with adequate resources, progressive policies and robust processes, backed with an engaging work culture, clear career paths and a transparent assessment system. “

  • Subhash Chandra Foundation launches ‘SACH Impact’ Incubation Programme for social ventures

    Subhash Chandra Foundation launches ‘SACH Impact’ Incubation Programme for social ventures

    MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra Foundation, the philanthropic initiative of Rajya Sabha MP and ZEE & Essel Group Chairman, Shri Subhash Chandra, has launched ‘SACH Impact’ Incubator – a programme to support early-stage social ventures aspiring to solve the problems of millions of Indians.

    SACH Impact, a first-of-its kind initiative to identify and mentor fledgling social entrepreneurs from various parts of India, has been created, launched and will be run in partnership with LetsEndorse, a collaborative ecosystem of social change-makers and enablers.

    The incubation programme embodies the philosophy of innovating to resolve the modern-day challenges facing the nation. Two annual cohorts of resolute social entrepreneurs shall be constituted every year, with each one working on one of the 8 focal areas (Education, Healthcare, Clean Energy, Agriculture, Inclusion, Waste Management, Livelihood, WASH), aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The programme aims to equip them with market access for pilots, financial support to do so, necessary mentorship, knowledge networks & more, to take their solutions to the next level and prepare them to scale and serve the large Indian population.

    Commenting on the launch, Shri Subhash Chandra, Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman, ZEE & Essel Group said, “Most entrepreneurs work to earn big but few ideate for the betterment of society. Subhash Chandra Foundation is inviting social entrepreneurs, the change-makers, for SACH Impact Incubator, who want to impact the lives of people to make world a better place.”

    Monika Shukla, Co-Founder & CEO of LetsEndorse said, “There is minimal emphasis given to pilot testing social innovations and following an agile method to solution-demography fit (like problem-solution fit or product-market fit). The incubator is a great opportunity for social entrepreneurs to test their ideas in real setting across multiple geographies by leveraging the wide outreach network that LetsEndorse has to offer. The much needed seed grant shall facilitate social entrepreneurs’ efforts to test the solutions, get necessary feedback and refine their offering.”

    The selected teams will be mentored by the eminent leadership of Essel Group including Shri Subhash Chandra, the Chief Mentor, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL and Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL, and senior management of Essel Group.

    The programme will allow early-stage product, technology or process-based solutions which have the potential to solve problems at a large scale, registered as either for-profit or not-for-profit not before 1st April, 2016, to apply for the programme and undergo a selection process through a panel of experts. Ventures with already developed testable versions of their innovative product/technology/software, or those which have just begun conducting pilot tests on-the-ground and have the potential to make transformational impact on the society can apply online through this link: http://bit.ly/SACHImpact.

  • COLORS brings to you tales from the paranormal world through Kaun Hai?

    COLORS brings to you tales from the paranormal world through Kaun Hai?

    MUMBAI: Fear will have a new address as COLORS adds a new hue to its entertainment bouquet, a bone chilling horror series titled, Kaun Hai? The show will bring alive accounts ofparanormal activities, science fiction, fantasy and some cases inspired by real life incidents.Each episode will recount intriguing incidences of paranormal activities and experiences that will defy logic and give a peek into the realm of the unknown.Produced by Contiloe Pictures, the show premiers on 29thJune and will air every Friday to Sunday at 10.30 pm.

    Keeping up with its diverse content promise, Kaun Hai? will feature popular television actors like Shallen Bhanot, Pankhuri Awasthi, Neeta Shetty portraying the face of fear or the victims of the dead and keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. 

    Commenting on the unique format of the show, COLORS, Programming Head, Manisha Sharma said, “Horror as a category is a very popular. Through Kaun Hai? we are going back to the basics and reviving the genre to make our entertainment catalogue robust. The idea is to strengthen the 10.30PM time band with crime and horror which will offer variety entertainment to our viewers.”

    Talking about the show, Arshad Syed, the writer of the showwho has also written the screenplay for the movie, Student of the year 2 and has penned maximum number of horror shows in India expressed, “Horror is a genre that needs a lot of precision in terms of screenplay synced with visuals. The entire team has worked hard to bring to life stories that are relatable and scary at the same time. Writing for television is challenging but exciting and I’m sure that our audience will be stunned by every story.” 

    Contiloe Pictures – CEO, Abhimanyu Singh said “Kaun Hai has been shot extensively across location in various parts of the country such as Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Calcutta, MP to name a few. He further added, “It has all the spine chilling moments to keep the audiences glued and spooked. We are happy to collaborate with COLORS once again after Chaktavartin Ashok Samrat.”

  • Infinite shows in demand due to storyline, viewership

    Infinite shows in demand due to storyline, viewership

    MUMBAI: As TV viewership habits changed over time, not only did producers develop but audiences also got demanding. This led to a slow withdrawal of the infinite daily soaps spanning more than 1000 episodes and the growth of finite format ones. But, even today, the viewership for the long versions hasn’t reduced drastically.

    Since the year 2000, Indian television has intermittently witnessed a convincing evolution of serials ending after a certain stage and returning with its new season. To be precise, it all started with the show Aahat, which began in 1995 and ended its first season in 2001 on Sony. The show had back to back six seasons, with its last show telecast in 2015 for about six months.

    A general pattern is observable. The first season gets rave reviews but subsequent ones get hardly any attention from audiences – maybe because of the gap in the launch or the new storyline or maybe because people have moved on to newer shows, especially in times when minds are so fickle.

    There was a time when Ekta Kapoor gave viewers the famous ‘K series’ that went on for years. Kasautii Zindagi Kay (1,423 episodes), Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki (1,661 episodes), Kyunki Saas bhi Kabhi Bahu thi (1,833 episodes) and even BAG Network’s Kumkum, all ran for at least six years. After several years, Anil Kapoor’s 24, had just 24 episodes, Amitabh Bachchan’s Yudh continued for 20 episodes and the shows on Zindagi channel which were borrowed from our neighbour Pakistan were typically 20-23 episodes.

    On one hand you have Sony’s current offering Porus with 260 episodes, Prithvi Vallabh had 80 episodes and Zindagi ke Crossroads which will have just 39 episodes, while on the other hand shows such as Yeh Rishta kya Kehlata hai, Taarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah, Yeh hai Mohabbatein and Kumkum Bhagya crossed 1000 episodes.

    Initially, Prithvi Vallabh was slotted for two seasons of 40 episodes each but as it failed to garner required viewership, the broadcaster is considering wrapping it up in just 45 episodes.

    Media experts spoke to Indiantelevision.com about the opinion that the only thing that matters for a show is viewership and not its length. In most cases, channels restrict shows to 80 episodes initially and extensions depend on traction. One expert feels that the demand for finite shows will continue to be in the future as well.

    In an earlier interaction, Zee TV deputy business head Deepak Rajadhyaksha said, “Zee hasn’t done finite shows with follow-ups intentionally except perhaps Chhoti Bahu, Punarvivaah (both of which had a second season but not launched as a finite series).”  He said that cost saving isn’t of utmost priority for a channel and a story will be told regardless.

    Sony Entertainment Television’s head of non-fiction Ashish Golwalkar said that when a writer is able to create a fresh story with old characters, channels give a thought to reinvigorating the show. “Whoever does a second season of any show, never considers cost as a criterion. There is an affinity towards the character that you build over time and once the story is over, you take a pause, wait for a while, redo the story and come back within a span with the same characters where the affinity of the show continues.”

    When it comes to Hindi GEC viewers, the channels and shows find it extremely difficult to break TV viewing habits. The genre works on appointment viewing and the viewer follows a routine in terms of shows they watch. It is not just the number of days of telecast, even the time-slot matters. Say, if for instance, Naagin was aired at the 5.30 pm time slot, it wouldn’t have done as great as it had been doing in its initial two seasons.

    Broadcasters are assured that Indian viewers are ardent followers of storylines regardless of how long a show extends. So it only makes sense for them to keep creating engaging stories that can maintain consistent viewership.

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  • Engaging viewers with diversified content, COLORS brings you investigative thriller – Dev2

    Engaging viewers with diversified content, COLORS brings you investigative thriller – Dev2

    MUMBAI: He thinks like a criminal, is at home around a crime scene and possesses an ironclad will to rid the city of nefarious wrongdoers; Detective Dev Burman returns for an explosive second season on COLORS – India’s premium Hindi entertainment channel. Diversifying the programming line-up with varied genres of content – Dev2 follows the journey of Dev, an investigator with a past who is challenged with piecing together the biggest mystery: his own life! Aashish Chowdhry reprises the titular role and is joined by an ensemble cast –  Jigyasa Singh, Pooja Bannerjee, Amit Dolawat and Joyshree Arora in pivotal roles. Produced by Peninsula Productions and IMRC entertainment Pvt Ltd, Dev 2 will premiere on 25th June, and will air every Monday to Thursday at 10:30 PM only on COLORS.

    Speaking about the upcoming season of Dev 2, COLORS, Programming Head,  Manisha Sharma said, “Crime as a genre is big in the rest of the world but in India we have just one or two shows of such nature in the Hindi General Entertainment space. Dev is our endeavour to open up the gates to such genres. The plot is very real and youngsters and big city dwellers will be able to relate to it completely. Dev’s character has been very interestingly etched out where on one hand he wants to save the world at any cost but on the other hand he must battle his personal demons. Ashish Chowdhry and the rest of the ensemble cast have done a great job portraying their characters. The show has slick production values and deals with modern day crime scenarios like stalking young girls or girls being blackmailed and forced into prostitution etc. We are very excited to put it out for the viewers.”

    Elaborating on the show, Alind Srivastava, Nissar Parvez and Rajesh Chaddha from Peninsula Pictures Pvt ltd and IMRC entertainment Pvt Ltd in a joint statement said, “The show is edgy, action-packed and filled with multiple twists that traces Dev’s journey back to his past and its implications in his life in the present day. His reclusive persona and intuitive approach and most of all his tragic love life have struck a chord with the viewers that lead us to writing the second edition of the series. We hope to keep the audiences at the edge of their seats in this season as well.”

    The popular investigative thriller is the perfect amalgamation of mystery, drama, action and emotion that will witness Dev battling con artists, sociopaths, psychopaths and revenge junkies. Dev, with his keen eye for detail will continue to solve mysteries in his own unique ways and analyse the most perplexed situations with ease. Essaying the role of Dev, Aashish Chowdhry said, “My character has changed from season 1. Earlier Dev was known for his quirks and wit but as people have seen, he was deceived by his closed ones and carries a lot of baggage. Due to his past experiences, his behaviour has changed, and the audience will witness a whole new side of him this time. I am happy that Dev is now a franchise and we hope to continue receiving the love and support from our viewers.”

    Commenting on her role, Pooja Bannerjee said, “Mehak’s character is multi layered which is what draws me back to the show. I am happy to be back with Dev2 and work with the cast which is now like a family. My experience has been extremely fulfilling and I’m excited for the journey ahead.”

    Commenting on her role, Jigyasa Singh said, “This is the first time that I am entering a show of this genre, and it is both stimulating and challenging for me. It has been a fascinating experience shooting with the cast. I am elated to be a part of a show that has gripping content and a team of experts who have worked tirelessly to create the best on screen experience for the viewers.”

    Playing the role of Inspector Amod Narvekar, Amit Dolawat said, “My character, with his love and hate equation with Dev is surely one of the USPs of this season. Navrekar will display many emotions – at one end, he will have a softer or more romantic side whilst on other hand, he will be more intense and powerful.  It’s been a great journey since the first season and we promise to keep you enthralled with this season’s gripping narrative.”

    As penance for acting against the law, Dev now works as a Police consultant; ever so grudgingly, of course. His relationship with his pregnant wife is now even in murkier territory as believes she is in cohorts with his estranged father. To add to this, Dev is also trying to find answers for the mystery of his missing Mother, who from the looks of it is still alive. A child on the way with the woman he hates to love and working with a new sharp, young female protégé Dhwani– will Detective Dev be able to navigate through cases and piece together the biggest case of his own tragic life?

  • Building on India’s startup revolution, Viacom18 completes first class of itspioneering start-up engagement program VStEP

    Building on India’s startup revolution, Viacom18 completes first class of itspioneering start-up engagement program VStEP

    MUMBAI: Viacom18, India’s fastest growing Media & Entertainment company, yesterday conferred graduation certificates to five start-ups who were a part of the VStEP program. True to its brand promise of Open New Worlds, Viacom18 has been engaging with start-ups to build a culture of inclusive innovation. A pioneering initiative in India’s Media & Entertainment space, VStEP is a startup engagement programme that creates an opportunity for start-ups to pilot technology-based solutions to business problems. The five start-ups that were a part of the first class of VStEP are TESSACT, Karza Technologies, Entropik Technologies, Firmwayand vPhrase.

    Working in close collaboration with business units across the Viacom18 network, the VStEP startups have developed solutions that are relevant to both media and non-media companies. The first class of VStEP has been onboarded in partnership with Zone Startups India, a global brand of technology accelerators and early stage venture funds, operated by Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc.

    Speaking about the VStEP initiative, Achint Setia, Senior Vice President-Viacom18 Digital Ventures and Head- VStEPsaid, “At Viacom18, we propel ourselves on the back of innovation concurrent to our brand promise of Open New Worlds. Engaging with startups through VStEP has been an enriching experience as the initiative has brought solutions that add business value while at the same time drives a culture of innovation internally as well. Over the last 6 months, our teams have worked closely with the startups on the POCs, perfecting them into solutions that are adoption ready.”

    FurtheringViacom18’s commitment in fostering a culture of innovation and engaging with startups, the company recently entered a strategic partnership with Anthill Ventures for an accelerator program called Anthill Studio that will scout for startups building products for Media & Entertainment industry using technologies such as AI/ML, AR/VR, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain and others. The areas of focus include filmed entertainment, TV, gaming and digital media industries.

    A brief on the five startups of the VStEP first class and their POCs are:

    •    Tessact- Enabling Indian M&E players auto index their content library and enabled for contextual search on a single cognitive platform built.The platform comes with applications for contextual search, S&P compliance review, Social feed moderation, Subtitle QC/Edit, Ad detection in live stream and other useful scenarios built specifically for Indian M&E Industry using customized deep learning models.

    •    Karza Technologies-The platform assists corporates to onboard vendors/ partners by automatically fetching company details, registration details (GST, PAN, etc), e-court searches, defaulter searches, etc along with a due-diligence report (Karza Scan), providing insights about existing consumers for a group. The Karza platform enables holistic view of a network and the negativity around it using public data sources.

    •    Entropik Technologies- An Emotion Intelligence platform for Media/ Brands that tracks users’ emotions as they experience any media/content on a sec by sec basis. The platform uses Brainwave Mapping & Facial Gesture Recognition to track data points like (Attention, Appreciation, Mental Effort, Activation Level, Emotion Spectrum). This can be useful in video/ audio optimization, post production editing and brand placement within the content.

    •    Firmway-Firmway digitizes the entire confirmation process through a web based interface by sending confirmations on the click of a button, including automated follow ups on SMS and emails, online reconciliation platform, direct access of confirmation to auditors and real-time dashboard for all the responses. 

    •    vPhrase-vPhrase helps companies make their reports easy to understand by explaining the insights in words, using AI. The company’s platform, Phrazor, analyses data, derives insights and then communicates those insights, in words, in multiple languages. It automates the work of analysis and communication while also having the capability to personalise narratives for each employee highlighting all important points that need attention. 

  • &TV presents Laal Ishq – passionate love stories with a supernatural twist

    &TV presents Laal Ishq – passionate love stories with a supernatural twist

    MUMBAI: We promised to be together forever. Nothing could take us apart – not even death. Even though my body has long gone, my spirit still lives on… my soul will always be with you. For true love, never dies. &TV’s latest offering Laal Ishq, a series of passionate love stories with a supernatural twist will launch on 23rd June 2018, to be aired at 10.00 pm, every Saturday and Sunday. Intertwined with romance and thrill, the show portrays love in a way that will make viewers question the clichéd happily ever after love stories. The episodic weekend series brings together stories designed by multiple creative minds – Dipti Kalwani (Sunny Side Up), Kabir Sadanand (Frog Entertainment) and Sachin Mohite (Jaasvand Entertainment). Furthermore, prominent faces from the television industry like Sayantani Ghosh, Priyank Sharma, Mahhi Vij, Zain Imam, Veebha Anand, Preetika Rao, Karam Rajpal, Niti Taylor amongst others will be seen donning various never-seen-before characters on screen. 

    Speaking about the new show, &TV, Head, Vishnu Shankar said, “&TV as a channel has always entertained and engaged viewers by offering a diverse palette of content, experimenting with new genres and adding different dimensions to existing ones. Laal Ishq is another addition to this unique repertoire, wherein we have on board multiple producers and creative heads along with some of the most popular faces of Indian television. Love as a genre is a favourite with the audience and we are adding a supernatural twist to it. The weekend timeline and episodic format of the show is sure to build intrigue and compel the audience to come back for more.”

    Set in different backdrops, each episode will showcase a love story with a supernatural element in the form of an inanimate object – a rag doll, a magical statue or blooming jasmine flowers. As strange as the object might be, it will perfectly bring out the eternal and obsessive side of love that vow to keep viewers glued to their screens and on the edge of their seats. The supernatural twist plays a pivotal role in taking the story forward, where love, the strongest emotion known to man, overcomes death and mortality.

    Commenting on being a part of this unique series, Sunny Side Up Films Pvt. Ltd, Producer, Dipti Kalwani said, “With Laal Ishq, I’ve got another opportunity to collaborate with &TV and create magic by blending two of my most favourite genres – romance and the supernatural. Moreover, working with a great cast certainly helped bring the stories to life. This is a unique concept and I am confident that it will pan out well and be liked by the audience.”

    Frogs Unlimited further, Producer, Kabir Sadanand added, “Presenting your version of a love story with supernatural elements, being in sync with the content and vision of the other producers that are a part of this series – all of this requires a different level of creativity altogether. Working on Laal Ishq has been an extremely challenging, yet enriching and fulfilling process.”

    Elaborating on the show concept, Jaasvand Entertainment, Producer, Sachin Mohite said, “Each narrative of Laal Ishq will combine romance and supernatural which is a treat for the viewer. It will leave the audience with an excited and unsettling feeling, something which is not usually seen with love stories.”

    B-TEX Malham presents Laal Ishq, Co-Powered by Charm & Glow, Suhana Masale, Special Partner Wagh Bakri Chai.

  • &pictures to air the World Television Premiere of the critically acclaimed Mukkabaaz on Saturday, 23rd June at 8pm

    &pictures to air the World Television Premiere of the critically acclaimed Mukkabaaz on Saturday, 23rd June at 8pm

    MUMBAI: In a love story of a sportsman set in Bareilly, Vineet Kuma Singh plays a Kshatriya boxer who falls in love with a deaf-mute Brahmin woman. Co-produced and directed by National Film Award winner  Anurag Kashyap, Mukkabaaz was screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2017 Mumbai Film Festival. Starring Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kishan and Jimmy Sheirgill in the lead, the movie is all set for its World Television Premiere on &pictures, Naye India Ka Blockbuster Movie Channel, on Saturday, 23rd June 2018 at 8pm.

    Set in the backdrop of the misery of the middle class, the movie has a generous blend of love & humor and captures the banter between a father-son and a husband-wife relation. A film that highlights the existing politics of caste and sports, Mukkabaaz also takes a bold and brave dig on the system and hypocrisies prevalent in the society.

    Anurag Kashyap, the man behind gritty dramas exploring the dark worlds of criminals, said he has learnt that the way to an Indian cine goer’s heart is through a love story. “I have learnt that in India whatever you have to say, say it through a love story. This is what people understand. This is my first full love story,” said Anurag Kashyap.

    The film is a sharp social commentary on the battles that Shravan Singh (Vineet Kumar Singh), a common man who dares to have a spine has to fight for his love and boxing career. Out of the many battles that Shravan has to face, one is with a local goon named Bhagwan Das Mishra (Jimmy Sheirgill) who also heads the State Boxing Federation. A war breaks out between the two when Shravan falls in love with Bhagwan’s feisty, mute niece Sunaina Mishra (Zoya Hussain). Bhagwan Das is determined to sabotage Shravan’s boxing career as well as keep him away from his niece. The story follows Shravan’s struggle towards fulfilling his dream and winning his love while facing hardships in form of uphill classism and corruption of the Boxing Federation which is heightened by the political atmosphere of Uttar Pradesh. 

    Vineet Kumar Singh who plays the lead said, “Mukkabaaz is about a boxer who wants to make a name for himself in the industry. The movie talks about his journey by portraying the various issues and difficulties a sports person has to overcome to taste success in India. According to me, the film has been made out of pure passion, and with the intention to reveal the lesser known truth about young and passionate sportsmen of our country. We only hear of winner stories, but this movie goes out to those talented sportsmen who never make it because of various reasons that pose as a hindrance for them.”