ITV

Category: GECs

  • Star Plus set to change Sunday viewing with ‘Airlines’

    Star Plus set to change Sunday viewing with ‘Airlines’

    NEW DELHI: With an aim to strengthen its Sunday prime time band, Star Plus is treading a different path yet again. After making Sunday morning’s special for viewers by bringing home uncomfortable realities with Satyamev Jayate, the Hindi general entertainment channel is now looking at filling its prime time slots as well, but with differential programming.  

    Initially, when weekends meant only dominance of reality shows, the channel wanted to explore more in that space. And now after exploring various genres including saas-bahu syndrome and mythology with Mahabharat, it is ready to take to the skies with Airlines – Har Udaan Ek Toofan but with variations.

    Come 24 August and every Sunday 9pm, viewers will witness a story of a woman who dares to join the airline industry as first officer initially and ultimately becoming a pilot. Produced by Miditech, the series is penned for 26 episodes as of now and could see an increase in the number of episodes depending on the response from the audience.

    The channel has roped in Fortune cooking oil as the title sponsor, Havell’s as co-title sponsor and Ariel, the co-sponsor for the show. The associate sponsors are askmebazaar.com, Colgate Visible White, Maybelline, Parachute Advanced and Sofy Bodyfit.

    According to Star Plus SVP – marketing Nikhil Madhok, the series with title sponsor in Fortune cooking oil for standard definition (SD) feed and Forest Essentials for the HD feed is already profitable as it has been pre-sold.

    The programme marks the TV debut of Tulip Joshi who plays Ananya and VJ turned actor Yudishthir aka Yudi who will be seen essaying the role of Captain Akash. It has been penned by Advaita Kala, who also authored the movie Kahaani.

    Kala said that the concept is based on her own experiences of the way the modern urban woman is changing. Through the story, she wanted to show how a woman who has already entered a male-dominated world copes with it.

    Set in Delhi, the show features the journey of first officer Ananya Rawat who navigates through a world of gender discrimination and regressive attitudes embedded in the modern and glamorous aviation industry. In her quest to establish her identity, Ananya realises that there is more to this industry than just battling male attitudes as she comes across many hindrances that eventually make her a stronger person.

    Madhok believes that after delivering hits like Satyamev Jayate and Mahabharat, the channel with the new programme will be breaking the saas-bahu mould, showcasing a clear shift from the normal programming aired on all channels. The focus for the channel was on the role of a female in a male-dominated profession.

    The series is the first to have received permission to shoot inside the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal-3. From roping real pilots for tutoring actors to shooting at existing terminals, the makers and channel has put in their best to retain authenticity of the situations and incidents covered in the show. Since most of the sequences required the setting to be inside an aircraft, a special set modeled on Boeing 370 has been created.

    Miditech has also collaborated with Pixion to help recreate the world in the skies with its unparalleled proficiency in computer graphics and visual effects.

    But why make it into a once-a-week show? Answers Madhok, “It is because of the huge work involved in creating each episode.” According to industry sources, while a normal Hindi daily soap production cost ranges anywhere between 6-8 lakh per episode, a series like this could cost around three times more than what a daily does.

    On the marketing front, the promos are already doing the rounds on 25 television channels. To attract the younger audiences, social media will be used in a big way to promote the property with integrations also with YouTube, Yahoo and MSN.

  • Zee hopes for a miracle with ‘Neeli Chhatri Wale’

    Zee hopes for a miracle with ‘Neeli Chhatri Wale’

    MUMBAI: From theatre to film and now the small screen, the story of a common man coming face-to-face with God one day has come full circle.

     

    Zee TV’s next weekend fiction show ‘Neeli Chhatri Wale’ is about a man who has the privilege of meeting and befriending God.

     

    Produced by Ashwini Dhir, the show which tells a story of Bhagwan Das played by Yashpal Sharma, will start from 30 August and air on Saturday and Sunday at 8 pm. Bhagwan Das, a middle-aged, middle class man based out of Kanpur is constantly torn between his personal and professional life. One day, a smartly dressed man carrying a blue umbrella emerges, a man who embodies Lord Shiva.

     

    What is noticeable is that the shows, ‘Bh se Bhade’ and ‘Gangs of Hasseepur’ aired on the same slot haven’t done well for the channel. Currently, the channel telecasts special programming and movies on weekends.

     

    “Yes, we agree that earlier shows haven’t worked and ‘Bh se Bhade’ wasn’t a good effort from our side. However, the current programme looks very promising and should be able to catch people’s attention,” says a highly placed source from Zee TV.

     

    The light-hearted drama can be compared to Akshay Kumar – Paresh Rawal starring ‘OMG, Oh My God’ where Kumar essayed the role of Lord Krishna.

     

    The show has already got presenting partner in Karbonn and promos have broken on television along with digital promotion on social media. To create buzz before it launches, the channel sent out cupcakes to journalists as well.

     

    On the marketing front, the channel is leaving no stone unturned to promote exploratory relationship between man and God as friend. Making it a complete family unifier, the marketing word is based on the philosophy that ‘God lies within us’ all we have to do is listen to our inner voice.

     

    The concept of the show is being promoted using a media mix of print, radio and a comprehensive television plan comprising a bouquet of channels spread across genres.

     

    A three phase digital campaign has been planned to engage with its digital audience. The first part of the digital campaign started with #MyInnerVoice which the channel claims was very well received by consumers.

     

    All the marketing initiatives will aim at making God accessible to one and all by spreading the message of ‘Listen to your #InnerVoice’.

     

    Through the series, the channel aims to revamp its weekend slot. However, media planners are a little apprehensive. “Earlier too the slot with fiction shows hasn’t worked well for the channel and with competition showing Yo Yo Honey Singh, it looks like a tough battle to win. Zee should continue to air movies or special programmes,” says a planner.

     

    Having said that, another planner doesn’t want to strike the new show out and feels that movies and plays on the same theme have worked well and if told properly, the series might be able to grab eyeballs.

  • Zee takes the ‘Super Moms’ to North America

    Zee takes the ‘Super Moms’ to North America

    MUMBAI: After the successful DID Super Moms in India, Zee TV is all set to travel abroad. The stage is set and the doors are open for DID Super Moms North America. With more than 20,000 videos and ground activations across 16 cities it gives a platform to those women who gave up their dreams of becoming a dancer and settled for a career, family and motherhood.

     

    With this move, it aims to give hope to millions of mothers across North America who aspire to make a name for themselves in the field of dance.

     

    With digital being the way forward, the channel is focusing strongly on digital platforms. The first phase stared with digital auditions on 15 August where talented moms can log on to www.zeedilse.com/auditions  – record or upload a two minute audition video along with telling  what makes them a super mom!

     

    Ground auditions across 16 cities will start from 15 September till 30 September after which 50 contestants will be shortlisted for the mega auditions to be held in October in New York City. The 10 finalists will then be selected to compete in DID Super Moms North America grand finale to take place in December.

     

    Zee TV Americas general manager Sameer Targe believes that although America is the land of drams, reality is very different. “Life comes in the way – kids, school, job, family takes precedence over dreams and gradually, dreams fade away. DID Super Moms North America is our way of giving it back to those moms who gave up their passion for dancing in lieu of family responsibilities.”

  • Star Plus gambles high with India’s Raw Star

    Star Plus gambles high with India’s Raw Star

    MUMBAI: Coming Sunday (24 August) viewers of Star Plus will have a new persona on screen. We aren’t talking about any new saas bahu show, but the much hyped singing competition with the current youth icon- Yo Yo Honey Singh.

     

    The two hour show- India’s Raw Star- is slated to go on air against the backdrop of intense marketing and advertising along with the big gamble of having Singh as the face.

     

    Every Sunday, viewers will get to witness 10 artists who will go beyond just singing and will create a distinct style of music, irrespective of his/her singing language or music genre.

     

    Differentiating itself from other such shows, the channel had conducted only digital auditions where interested participants had to upload their audition videos through the website or mobile app, submit their entry and get a chance to be a part of India’s Raw Star.

     

    “In the past, digital auditions have been a part of music reality shows, unlike ours which focused exclusively on digital. Our aim was to say that if we are trying to reach out to genuine artists then why make them stand in long queues in different cities. Why not do something of their choice and at the comfort of their homes,” believes Star Plus SVP – marketing Nikhil Madhok.

     

    In conversation with indiantelevision.com, Madhok shares aggressive marketing plans for the channel’s first ever music reality show and how it plans to cater to the youth in a big way.

     

    The digital audition, which was targeted due to a high amount of youth spending their time on it, received 50,000 entries.

     

    The first innovation was on YouTube. The ads that were placed before videos were timed in such a way that when a person tries to ‘skip’ the video, Honey Singh would pick up the skip button and say ‘you can’t skip me just the way you can’t skip the Raw Star contestants’.

     

    This apart, contextual promos have been created for different sites and different consumers targeting their preference of videos. One such example is an ad that will play on a car website where Singh will say ‘Stop searching for small cars, why don’t you ride on my car with me in my raw stars from 24 August onwards.’

     

    All the contestants will have their own social media profile and twitter handles through which they will be tweeting and interacting with the fans and engaging with them throughout the season. Giving a sneak peek into the making of the episodes will be clippings hosted by Gauhar Khan called ‘The G-Factor’. This will be exclusive to digital.

     

    On the outdoor front, it will be experimenting with the concept of 3D in Delhi and Mumbai. Star  had previously dabbled in 3D content last year prior to the launch of Mahabharat.

     

    Picking up on Singh’s popularity, the channel has bought ad slots on music channels to drive the youth from where there are found most. At the beginning of any of Singh’s song will be an ad asking viewers to tune into Raw Star to listen to more such songs. Madhok states that the aim was to do something that would be attention grabbing.

     

    He also believes that in the recent past music reality shows have not done well and that was the starting point for the channel to say that if music is such a big need for youngsters then why isn’t something meaningful for them on TV.

     

    Although Madhok was tight lipped when asked about the production cost, sources from the industry say that it could range from Rs 55 crore to Rs 65 crore.

     

    Karbonn Smartphones has come on-board as the title sponsor of the show and Maruti Suzuki Swift as the co-powered by sponsor. According to industry estimates, Karbonn could have shelled around Rs 6 crore to Rs 8 crore, while Maruti Suzuki Swift may have spent 15 per cent less than that. 10 sec ad rates are being quoted as Rs 3.3lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

     

    Moreover, more than 7,000-8,000 spots have been playing on Star Network to promote the show for which Rs 12 crore to Rs 15 crore is being invested on marketing it.

  • GECs go patriotic this Independence Day!

    GECs go patriotic this Independence Day!

    MUMBAI: With a long weekend stretching ahead, Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) don’t want to miss the opportunity to keep people inside their homes. Come 15 August, along with the whole of India, GECs will also celebrate the 68th Independence Day.

     

    Commemorating the upcoming Independence Day, Colors has planned a special two-hour recorded event titled Jashn-E-Azaadi that will display India’s rich culture from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

     

    A dose of humour will be given by popular comedian Kapil Sharma with gags and parody by the entire cast of Comedy Nights with Kapil (CNWK). Along with the CNWK cast, other artists who will be seen performing on the latkas and jhatkas are Eijaz Khan, Sophie Chowdhry, Karan Wahi, Dadi as dadi,  Vishal Singh (representing Punjab), Rashmi Desai, Shakti Mohan (representing UP), Karishma Tanna (representing Gujarat) and Akshat (representing South). It will air twice on Independence day- 1pm to 3pm and from 5pm to 7pm.

     

    Apart from the special event, the theme of I-Day will be reflected in Balika Vadhu also, where Shiv will save the CM who’s going to be assassinated through a ticker bomb at an Inauguration ceremony held on 15 August.

     

    Talking about Sony Entertainment Television, it will celebrate Independence Day on 15 August and 16 August at 10pm. A special episode of its oldest and highest rated properties – CID will show a terrorist attack.

     

    Talking about Star Plus’s sister channel Life OK, it will celebrate the flavor of Independence with Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor Khan on the very famous Life OK Now Awards. With Independence as the central theme, viewers will see some spectacular performances by some of the biggest names in Bollywood and television. The anchors for the evening Chintu aka Sunil Grover and Varun Sharma, will keep everyone in splits with their gags and comic timing.

     

    The audience will get to witness some power packed performances that wont only kept them entertained, but also brought out the spirit of patriotism. Actors who will perform include Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Arya, Esha Gupta, Prateek and Sneha.

     

    While media planners says that channels witness a 10-15 per cent hike in their revenues during special occasions like Holi, Women’s Day and Valentine’s Day, for Independence Day, channels which have a special line up plan earn some extra bucks, but regular programming does not see a huge shift or hike in the revenues.

  • Star Plus gets raw with Yo Yo Honey Singh

    Star Plus gets raw with Yo Yo Honey Singh

    MUMBAI:  Indian TV viewers have been exposed to a variety of singing talent hunts over the years. You have had Sa Re Ga Ma, and Lil Champs, Antakshri, Indian Idol, Fame Gurukul, Star Voice of India – among a plethora of others. Some did well for a while; some did not even last a second season. And there is talk of the singing TV talent hunt format and genre itself suffering, courtesy audience  fatigue.

     

    But that has not deterred Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) leader Star Plus from taking another stab at it  through a soon-to-be-launched show India’s Raw Star.

     

    The fact that it is working with arguably India’s most popular youth icon singer and music composer Yo Yo Honey Singh to unearth singing talent is probably giving it the much needed confidence. Honey Singh has more than 23.5 million likes  on Facebook, 542,000 followers on Twitter.  The India’s Raw Star audition promo on You Tube got more than 1.78 million views.

     

    When he posted a comment on Facebook about filming for the first episode of India’s Raw Star on 12 August, he got 46,000 likes, and around 4,500 comments from his fans. He said in the comment: “….just got packed up from Rawstar episode 1 shoot, doing Indian television ain’t no joke. Big respect to all my brothers & sisters who run this industry. Blood n sweat.”

     

    Over the past couple of months, Star Plus’ creative team encouraged interested participants to upload their singing videos to  the Star Plus India’s Raw Star website and to the mobile app. Hundreds of thousands of wannabe singers from all over the  world did the needful; and the entries were personally scanned by both Honey Singh and his creative team. 

     

    The channel is now working on a roll out plan for the  two hour Sunday show that is slated to premier on 24 August at 7 pm.  Yo Yo Honey Singh has been going on whistle stop ground promotions across the country over the past month. This will mostly increase in the run up to India’s Raw Star first episode telecast.

     

    What differentiates Star Plus’ India’s Raw Star from others of its ilk is the fact that there is a focus on encouraging original fare from new talent. Participants will  belt out  popular Bollywood fare when required; in addition to that they will  have to perform their own compositions and music as part of the singing competition. “The idea is to find the ultimate performing artiste who can create his own inimitable style of singing and is an all round performer irrespective of the language or the music genre,” Singh has said to creatives close to the show.

     

    He, on his part,  will act as a friend, mentor and guide to the 10 finalists artistes who will compete against each other  to wear the Raw Star crown .

     

    Production is in the able hands of singing talent show innovator and veteran Gajendra Singh and his team at Sai Baba Productions. Singh points out that the show format has been designed in a way that audiences get the feel of a live music concert while sitting in the comfort of their living rooms. 

     

    “We are looking at creating the first ever reality show in India sans playback singing but original voice recording,” says Star Plus general manager Gaurav Banerjee.

     

    Banerjee has roped in international stage director and choreographer Michael Schwandt to push choreography and dance moves up a notch. Schwandt has choreographed the high energy performances of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, David Guetta, Kelly Rowland, and Flo Rida. Schwandt is renowned for turning mundane performances into spectacular ones.  Award winning recording engineer and music producer Ashish Manchanda has been hired to look after sound.  

     

    Star India VP programming Ashish Golwalkar is convinced that the show will gain traction with TV viewers. “We were looking at the kind of audiences which are active on digital. It was again a learning experience for me after having done so many reality shows in the past. Voice was what mattered here.”

     

    He further reveals that another difference with India’s Raw Star is that there is going to be no elimination of contestants at all for the first few weeks.

     

    Banerjee adds that the show is part of its strategy to get younger people to sample the Star Plus channel, and in the process attract advertisers  and sponsors targeting that audience. It has got some luck on that score: the channel has got on board Karbonn smartphones as the title sponsor and Maruti Suzuki Swift as the co-powered by sponsor.

     

    Ormax Media’s Shailesh Kapoor wrote in a column on a trade website recently that “given their overall dominance, Star Plus’ non-fiction record in recent years has bordered on being embarrassing. But they now have solid ammunition at their disposal: Yo Yo Honey Singh the TV star who can give a 63 per cent jump in ratings of a long-running show (Comedy Nights with Kapil saw a spike in ratings in the episode that featured Honey Singh last month) Ironically then, the Comedy Nights ratings would have probably led to more celebrations at Star than at Colors.”

     

    Will the Star Plus  team be celebrating 14 weeks from now when India’s Raw Star  finale will be telecast?  Punters are betting that Yo Yo Honey Singh will do the trick and break its recent non-fiction jinx.

  • SAB TV reports higher 43 per cent y-o-y PAT for Q1-2015

    SAB TV reports higher 43 per cent y-o-y PAT for Q1-2015

    BENGALURU: Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Limited (SAB TV) reported higher 43.4 per cent PAT in Q1-2015 at Rs 2.63 crore (13.3 per cent of total income from operations or TIO) as compare to the Rs 1.83 crore (10.5 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter. The company had reported loss of Rs 3.6 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore

     

    SAB reported TIO of Rs 19.81 crore in Q1-2015, which was 13.1 per cent more than the Rs 17.52 crore in Q1-2014 and was 18.6 per cent more than the Rs 16.71 crore in Q4-2014.

     

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by SAB TV for Q1-2015

     

    SAB’s total expenditure was up 10.1 per cent at Rs 16.83 crore (84.9 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2015 as compared to the Rs 15.28 crore (87.2 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2014 and was 5 per cent lower than the Rs 17.72 crore (106.1 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2014.

     

    The company’s production direct expense (prodn exp) is a major part of the expenditure. In Q1-2015, SAB TV’s prodn exp at Rs 13.09 crore (66.1 per cent of TIO) which was 22.5 per cent more than the Rs 10.68 crore (61 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2014 and was 5.4 per cent lower than the Rs 13.83 crore (82.8 per cent of TIO) in Q4-2014.

     

    SAB TV paid 11.1 per cent less towards finance and interest charges in Q1-2015 at Rs 0.38 crore as compared to the Rs 0.42 crore in Q1-2014 and was less than half (47.3 per cent) of the Rs 0.8 crore in Q4-2014.

     

    Click here for the financial statement

  • Star studded week for ‘Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain!’

    Star studded week for ‘Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain!’

    MUMBAI: Zindagi made its sensational debut on Indian television with four hit shows from Pakistan recently, one of which was its marquee show Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain (KGBH). KGBHis a series of telefilms based on real life situations and addresses issues related to women. With Kitni Girhain Baaki Hai,the channel brought the trend of telefilms back on Indian Television. This week on KGBH telefilms featuring some of the established faces of Pakistani TV industry will be aired.

     

    Starting tonight, Zindagi will air ‘Dekh Kabira Roya’ featuring Ayeza Khan (KahiUnkahi fame) & Imraan Abbas (to be seen in MeraNaseeb). Dekh Kabira Roya is the story of Kabeer, a young ice cream vendor raised by his widow mother with a lot of hardships. Kabeer goes through a testing time when he has to find the courage to tell his mother that he will marry a girl of his choice and not someone chosen by his mother.

     

    Adnan Siddiqui, who has been acclaimed for his performances in Maat and Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar will be seen in telefilm titled ‘Pehli si Mohabbat’. The telefilm traces the lives of man and woman who revisit their old friendship post a chance meeting after years. Peh.li Si Mohabbat will air on Friday, August 15th.

     

    Another telefilm ‘Bissat’ featuring  Mehwish Hayat (of Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar fame)will be airing on Sunday, August 17th. This telefilm is about how a brother raises his younger sister after their parents pass away. The story meets a turning point when the brother gets married and sister does not share a very cordial relationship with the new bride.

     

    KGBH is based on the ironies and harsh realities of a woman’s life, but also gives hope to, and creates awareness among women.

     

    Tune in to ‘KitniGirhainBaakiHain’everyday, Monday to Sunday at 10:15 PM only on Zindagi!

  • The Anupam Kher Show looks to ramp up viewership further

    The Anupam Kher Show looks to ramp up viewership further

    MUMBAI: It is a format that has not been much explored but definitely experimented with by Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs). We are talking about celebrity talk shows with the latest to hit screens being The Anupam Kher Show (TAKS) on Colors.

     

    With TAKS, the genre saw a re-birth. As compared to earlier shows such as Movers and Shakers on Sab, Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai on Zee TV, Issi Ka Naam Zindagi on Star Plus and Koffee With Karan season 4 on Star Plus (repeats), The Anupam Kher Show has been rated highest in terms of viewership for the launch episode. “

     

    According to data provided by the channel, TAKS opened with 2,591 TVTs whereas, Movers and Shakers recorded 2,283 TVTs, Issi Ka Naam Zindagi registered 1,089 TVTs and Koffee With Karan season 4 garnered 738 TVTs.

     

    Media planners say that ‘talk shows’ as yet haven’t been appetizing to Indian audiences. “If we compare these ratings with dailies or even any non-fiction property, they are low on numbers, but we cannot ignore that fact that talk shows are high on interest,” asserts a planner. “It’s good that Colors has taken the step of bringing a personality like Anupam Kher who has acceptability with other big screen names and talent and viewers.”

     

    Colors CEO Raj Nayak feels that it is people’s perception that talk shows don’t get the ratings. “I think with The Anupam Kher Show we have managed to get both perception and ratings. More than an average of 2.4 million people have been watching it week on week which is a very good number for a chat show.”

     

    Unlike on other chat shows where celebrities come to promote their movies, Nayak believes the beauty of ATKS involves no movie integrations and is completely not scripted and sans cue cards. “Most of the people coming on the show are his personal friends and that brings in a lot of intimate moments and there is a feel in the show since it is a free flowing chat where the guest is very comfortable.”

     

    However, even though ATKS gained high in terms of viewership in the launch episode, the ratings have been slipping – abeit marginally in week two and three respectively to  2,360 TVTs and 2,263 TVTs. The fourth episode which featured Kangana Ranaut reported a weak 1,575 TVTs. “That’s because of Queen which aired on Sony Entertainment Television,” says a media observer. 

     

    Nayak is not too perturbed about the drop in week four. “We need to watch how TAKS performs over a longer period,” says he. “It is a “different” show which the team and I believe will grow on audiences. In every chat show, there are ups and downs. The ratings we have got for the show are anyway higher than what we had expected. You have to go with the flow and not create sensationalism in a show otherwise it looks scripted.”

     

    He is confident that the upcoming week’s ratings will beat the launch viewership record as well. Channels sources reveal that the coming week’s episode has Kapil Sharma as a guest, and the following ones are slated to feature Varun Dhawan and his father David Dhawan, and Akshay Kumar.

     

    They reveal that the entire advertising inventory has been sold out and TAKS also has roped in  Jyothi Laboratories’ Henko as the powered by sponsor.

     

    Planners also believe that overall, talk shows rate below daily shows. Yet they attract a small yet significant set of audience which are relevant to the GECs.

     

    According to a highly placed industry source, the production cost per episode of a chat show is higher than that of the dailies. The reason: the cost of the sets, the host’s fee and other embellishments that come along with celebritydom. “But they have a glamour and buzz factor which a TV show featuring TV stars cannot bring,” says she. “Colors needs to be lauded for once again pushing ahead and working on producing differentiated programming. The show can also have a lot of syndication and distribution potential internationally to audiences which know of Anupam Kher because of his involvement with Hollywood through films like Silver Linings Playbook.“

     

    (updated on 13 August at 5:07 pm)

  • Colors to awaken rural masses with ‘Udann’

    Colors to awaken rural masses with ‘Udann’

    NEW DELHI: The channel, which launched with path breaking shows like Balika Vadhu and Uttaran, is once again treading into the social issues gripping our nation.

     

    The new series, Udann, inspired by renowned filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, will commence on Colors from 18 August.

     

    Bhatt was originally intending to make it into a film, which he had thought of 25 years ago, since the film industry then only wanted entertaining fare in the liberalised economy of the early nineties.

     

    He believes that while the Indian woman can call herself emancipated in many ways, she still cannot walk shoulder to shoulder with men. And bonded labor and exploitation of women continue to remain a curse, which is a matter of shame for India.

     

    The new series is produced by Gurudev Bhalla, once an assistant of Bhatt and Dhaval Jayantilal Gada while Robin Bhatt and Javed Siddiqui have scripted the show.

     

    Bhalla says he had sought Bhatt’s permission to make the series after he was approached by Colors to collaborate on TV, with suitable changes that will suit the medium.

     

    Moreover, Gada and Bhalla express that a lot of research has gone into ensuring that the story is told in the right spirit. They also worked closely with NGOs fighting against bonded labor to ensure realistic representation.

     

    Colors CEO Raj Nayak says that the channel was not put off by the fact that the series was launching at the same time as Amitabh Bachchan’s Kaun Banega Crorepati season eight on Sony and Nisha Aur Uske Cousins on Star Plus. The time slot (8.30 pm) had been picked as Madhubala has ended and the other series are running well in their respective slots.

     

    In fact the launch of the series had been planned much earlier to be around Independence Day since that was the theme of the series – freedom – but it could only be launched on a Monday.

     

    According to Colors weekday programming head Prashant Bhatt social issues like bonded labor is widely prevalent even in 21st century urbanised India and needs to be brought to fore and fought against. Udann narrates a tale about the life of Chakor who has a strong survival instinct which keeps her sailing through the toughest situations. Her rebellious yet endearing nature proves that simplicity and innocence together will make for an attractive viewing proposition for audiences. In Chakor’s story that represents the unrealised hopes of countless Indians, suppressed by this barbaric practice of bonded-labor, viewers are sure to find an inspiring story of hope and resilience.”

     

    Furthermore, Nayak says Colors accepted the idea of the serial as its ‘DNA is social themes’.  Sources peg per episode production cost at around Rs 8 lakh to Rs 12 lakh.

     

    Since the issue of bonded labour is linked to rural areas, the channel will promote and even hold press meets in Taluka headquarters, apart from using all media like radio, hoardings, TV and social media to promote the series.

     

    The series stars young Spandan Chaturvedi in the main role of the child Chakor, Sai Ballal, and Sai Deodhar-Arvind.