ITV

Category: GECs

  • MSM’s SAB gets onto OSN Pehla bouquet

    MSM’s SAB gets onto OSN Pehla bouquet

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media Network channel Sab has signed a carriage deal with leading middle easy pay TV network – OSN for its Pehla subscribers. The latter has also brought on board Pakistan-based news channel GEO News.

     

    GEO News and SAB TV will be available on OSN Pehla Variety and OSN Pehla Prime Packages.

     

    The OSN platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group – a company is owned by KIPCO and Mawarid Group.

     

    Says OSN CEO David Butorac: “Since its launch in August 2013, the response to OSN Pehla has been overwhelming. The large community of South Asians who live in the MENA region can now have complete control over their entertainment experience though our award-winning technology and can enjoy world-class cricketing action in high definition. We are delighted that OSN Pehla serves as a bridge for the large South Asian community to their home countries.”

     

    Adds MSM EVP and head international business Neeraj Arora: “We identified a unique offering in the South Asian television sector with SAB TV, which offers round-the-clock and original family comedy content. Our emphasis is to connect with families by providing innovative, light-hearted and clean entertainment. Our partnership with OSN will take SAB TV to a wider audience of not just Indians but people from across South Asia, who live and work in the MENA region.”

     

    “GEO News has set its ambition to be ubiquitous. Our launch on OSN Pehla brings us closer to our mission in the Middle East. As a credible source of news and current affairs in Urdu, GEO News enjoys a loyal and well informed audience,” says GEO TV Network President Iman Aslam. “With an estimated 1.8 million Urdu speaking expatriates in the region, GEO News is sure to become the expat’s window to their homeland to stay on top of local issues. OSN Pehla’s extensive reach, technological and digital capabilities and high standards in customer service are an ideal fit for us to provide a value-added TV experience for our audiences.”

     

    OSN Pehla has a portfolio of over 30 popular South Asian channels in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam. And Butorac is looking at adding more channels to that bouquet over the next few months. 

  • Chrome Data: Week 1 meant business

    Chrome Data: Week 1 meant business

    MUMBAI: Money isn’t thought to be the biggest cause of worry for no reason. At least it seems so in this case. As the New Year ushered in, it was the news about money and the ups and downs that it saw in the last year that kept the TV viewers glued to their TV sets in the first week of the year. As various channels presented the yearly round-up, the business channels took away the largest share of audiences. The business channels topped the chart in the Week 1 of opportunity to see (OTS) as per Chrome Data Analytics & Media.

     

    The business channels across eight metros saw an increase of 1.4 per cent with the Hindi business channel, CNBC Awaaz, leading with 83.0 per cent OTS.

     

    And considering it was the holiday season, the second on the list were the English movie channels that fared really well in the eight metros. The genre saw a rise of 1.1 per cent. Pix reclaimed its first position, pushing behind Star Movies that had climbed to the first position in Week 52. The channel got 89.4 per cent OTS.

     

     

    Infotainment channels across India too saw an increase of 1 per cent with Discovery gaining 91.6 per cent. Sports channel claimed the fourth place in the OTS list with 0.9 per cent grow across India. Looks like the Ashes kept cricket fans occupied as Star Sports 1 was ahead of others in the genre with 77.9 per cent OTS.

     

    As for the bottom four, Hindi news channel in the Hindi speaking market (HSM) saw a fall of 1.4 per cent. Aaj Tak continued to be the popular one in the genre and garnered 94 per cent. English entertainment too didn’t get many viewers and fell by 0.9 per cent in the eight metros. Star World, however, toppled AXN which premiered the much-awaited season three of Sherlock. The channel from the Star bouquet scored 82.5 per cent OTS.

     

    In the HSM, music channels saw a slight dip of 0.1 per cent, whereas the religious channels didn’t see any change. Sony Mix with 89.2 per cent and Aastha channel with 98.3 per cent topped their respective genres.

  • NP Singh’s triumph and challenges at Sony Entertainment

    NP Singh’s triumph and challenges at Sony Entertainment

    In 2009 when MSM India CEO Kunal Dasgupta resigned suddenly, industry insiders were betting that the COO NP Singh would take over. But that did not come to pass. MSM India chairman Man Jit Singh – who had taken charge as interim CEO and was also leading the search for Dasgupta’s replacement – was given the job after a nationwide hunt.

     

    Hence, when news emerged on Friday (3 January) that NP (as he is known by all in industry) was being elevated as CEO of MSM India, it was time to bring out the bubbly and cheer for him. The collective belief amongst most in the know is that NP has got his just rewards, finally!

    During the 15 years at MSM India, the turbaned NP has served the organisation well. Extremely low profile and mild-mannered, he was the perfect foil for the aggressive, innovative and outspoken Kunal Dasgupta.

     

    “He was always there, which gave Dasgupta the freedom to innovate and grow the network. He offered the rock solid stability which the organisation really needed,” says a person who has worked very closely with both Dasgupta and NP. “He is a very good leader, man manager and operations man. And he is extremely sharp with numbers because of his finance background. To top it all, he is a gentleman in every sense of the word – a rarity in the current cutthroat world of media and television.”

     

    His big win has been the biggest success of the Sony Entertainment Television (SET) Network in recent times – the channel Sab. After SET acquired it in 2005 for Rs 57 crore from Sri Adhikari Brothers, the management quickly moved it away from its comedy positioning which founder Markand Adhikari had given it and relaunched it as a youth-oriented channel. Not a very good move, really as its audiences disintegrated almost instantaneously. The team persisted with the youth demographic for two years, until NP proffered that it should stick to its original positioning of comedy, and went about cobbling together a clutch of funny shows along with Sab head Anooj Kapoor. Amongst the shows which emerged from those early huddles include the long-running Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasma, Chidiya Ghar and FIR.

     

    The net result: the audiences flocked back and Sab, today at times, figures amongst the top 5 GECs. And it is highly profitable too. Mother channel Sony Entertainment, which it was supposed to simply flank, has comparatively not lived up to its potential and has been struggling to get its fiction show act right for several years now.

     

    NP’s second success has been Sony Max, which offers a cocktail of cricket and movie fare to its viewers. It arguably tops the Hindi movie channel category at all times of the year and it shines brilliantly through the annual flashy IPL tournament when it has at times moved to the number one spot (it has even beaten Hindi GECs).

     

    He and the team under him have been innovating with Max’s programming by bringing in more entertainment into the prizewinning Extraa Innings – new anchors, cricket veterans like Navjyot Singh Sidhu and Sunil Gavaskar (cracking jokes in Hindi), better sets, cheerleaders, a live band and even added doses of comedy and movie integration. Max has over the years also dabbled in Hindi and Bangla language commentary, much before ESPN and Star Sports did.

     

    The third six that the extremely articulate NP has hit is with Sony Pix, the international movie channel that in the SET portfolio. It is currently placed at the No 2, behind Star Movies. But it took some doing getting it there. From a classic movie positioning when it was launched, it was refocused as a channel which delivers new fare from the world of English cinema with the tag line ‘Stay Amazed’. NP has secured long term content deals with Sony Pictures and MGM which have delivered films such as SkyFall, Mission Impossible III and Spiderman, among several other films. It was NP who decided to acquire Slumdog Millionaire and air it in both English and Hindi which worked very well for the network as a whole. And last year he recruited Saurabh Yagnik from Star with a clear mandate to take it to the number one spot. 

    NP also pushed for the shift of AXN – the English general entertainment channel – from Singapore to India and has been acquiring content which suits Indian tastes more. And that strategy seems to be working for AXN even though it has tough competition from Star World and Zee Café.

     

    When he decided to launch the music channel Sony Mix a couple of years ago in an overcrowded market, not many gave it a chance. But today it has beaten back the leader 9XM with innovations such as music based programming on time bands and moods and also bringing in radio host Anurag Pandey onto the channel with his own show.

     

    Along with Man Jit Singh, NP  has also been quietly building a slate of low cost movies under MSM Motion Pictures, which should start adding revenues to SET’s top line and hopefully its bottomline in the coming year.

     

    That he is getting charge of one of the jewels in the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) international crown shows how much confidence he has managed to gain from Los Angeles-based bosses Andy Kaplan and Michael Lynton. SPE, on its part, has been under pressure in recent times with declining profits and it even announced that it would prune its movie slate and focus more on television content. It hired a consultant firm Bain & Co in November 2013 to help it generate $250 million in savings. One of the options it is looking at is streamlining its international operations by setting up more joint ventures, apart from lowering head count.

     

    According to reports in the international media, its Indian network reaches about 484.1 million pay TV subscribers, but it would like to see more revenues emerging from India. MSM India annually contributes nearly $600 million in revenues and $130 million in profits annually to SPE’s media networks’ business which tots up $1.5 billion in revenues overall, reveal Media Partners Asia estimates.With India’s cable TV networks on a digital rollout nationally, the hope is that subscription revenues will rise substantially for all the major Indian broadcast networks, amongst which figures MSM India.

     

    NP has his work cut out. He has to focus on making the nearly billion dollar investment the network made in the IPL generate more revenues (the deal ends in 2017 and probably around 40 per cent of the investment has already been recovered), he has to make fiction work at Sony Entertainment, build a stronger creative team to bring in cutting edge series, and strengthen its non-fiction lineup at a time when fatigue is setting in amongst viewers.

     

    This apart, he has to strengthen the Sony Entertainment network’s channel bouquet, bring in regional language and niche services to take advantage of the monetisation opportunities that digitisation will throw up in the next four to five years. All this at a time when its US parent is putting the squeeze on money and trying to generate savings, which means the accountant in NP will really have to do some financial legerdemain.

     

    Most industry watchers are betting that NP will do the trick. “NP’s core strength is also distribution. Remember, he has been one of the architects of putting together the content aggregator One Alliance. So clearly, he will be able to work some magic on distribution and subscription revenues,” says a media analyst. “The problem with its major content offering – Sony the Hindi GEC – has been too many people have being driving it in the past, which has impacted its performance. With a single leader at the top in NP and a good programming head in place, expect Sony to really drive ahead on its programming initiatives. NP loves a challenge.”

     

    It is precisely this quality in him that will prove handy as he goes about building Sony Entertainment Television for a digital and young India.

  • N P Singh elevated to MSM CEO, Man Jit Singh to be MSM India chairman

    N P Singh elevated to MSM CEO, Man Jit Singh to be MSM India chairman

    MUMBAI: In a major development, Multi Screen Media India (Sony Entertainment Television) has promoted its COO N P Singh as CEO effective 3 January 2014. In his new role, NP will report to Sony Pictures Television President Worldwide Networks Andy Kaplan. Singh confirmed the development to indiantelevision.com, adding that he was looking forward to taking the company into its next growth phase.

     

    He replaces Man Jit Singh who has been designated as non-executive chairman. Singh will reportedly be spending more time in Los Angeles (LA). 

    While much work has been done there is clearly a long road to go before we can fully achieve our vision, says NP Singh

    “NP and I have worked closely together as equal partners these last five years and the success of the company is largely due to his efforts. The time has come for him to lead the company to the next level and I fully expect the innovations he brings as CEO will ensure we have years of success ahead. As the Non-executive Chairman of MSM, I look forward to supporting NP and will continue to remain involved with the Indian television industry,” said Man Jit Singh.

     

    Kaplan also expressed strong support for the move. “We have full confidence in NP being able to lead MSM and continue the success of the last five years. NP has been involved in all the decisions that lead to the success of our business and this is a well-deserved recognition of his untiring efforts and of the faith we have in his decision making. I wish him all success in his new role as CEO of MSM. I would also like to thank Man Jit for the huge contribution he has made in growing our business in India and setting it on the path of sustainable future growth.”

     

    “I am delighted by the confidence Man Jit, Andy and the board have expressed in my abilities to lead MSM. It’s been a wonderful experience and a pleasure working with Man Jit last five years. While much work has been done there is clearly a long road to go before we can fully achieve our vision. I am certain that with our top quality management team and our dedicated employees we will achieve new heights of success in near future. I am excited in taking up the new role and look forward to making MSM the most profitable network in the business,” commented NP on his appointment.

    In the new role, I look forward to supporting NP and will continue to remain involved with the Indian television industry, says Man Jit Singh

    NP, a Delhi University alumnus, has been associated with MSM since the past 15 years, that is since 1999. Prior to that, he was the Chief Financial Officer at Spice Telecom. He has also worked as Chief Financial Officer – Telecom and other positions at Modicorp, Controller Business Operations and others for Modi Xerox, and as Senior Accounts Officer and others at Hindustan Copper Limited. His aptitude in business comes from the education he has got. After completing his B.Com (Hons) from DU, NP studied at Delhi School of Economics and further on completed his Management Accounting from Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India.

     

    Man Jit on the other hand, prior to joining the MSM group, was with Diogenes Capital, a private equity fund in Los Angeles, California, where he was a principal. He had also served as chairman and CEO of Compete, Inc, in Boston, Massachusetts, a predictive analytics service. He has also been the CEO of several companies specialising in management recruitment and temporary staffing, including Futurestep Inc, Korn/Ferry International’s online subsidiary and Talent Tree Staffing Services, a subsidiary of the service conglomerate BET Plc. He also held senior positions at various management consulting firms including Sibson & Co, LLP in Los Angeles, The Cast Group AG in Zurich, Switzerland and Los Angeles, and Cresap in Los Angeles. He began his career at Nestle India. Man Jit is a graduate of the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, India.

  • Nothing misses Amul’s target

    Nothing misses Amul’s target

    MUMBAI: Indeed, the pony-tailed and polka-dotted li’l girl of Amul fame has come to be an iconic part of the country’s socio-political and economic landscape, courtesy her cheeky yet responsible comments on issues ranging from IPL spot fixing to the more recent prosecution of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in USA.

     

    When Amul approached Sylvester Da Cunha in 1966 to design a campaign for Amul Butter, little did the company imagine the ads would go on to become somewhat of a national tradition.

     

    With Sylvester’s son Rahul now in charge of all Amul ads, we ask him to reveal the secret behind such brilliant, pun-intended ideas week after week?

     

    “If I tell you, then I have to kill you,” laughs Rahul, attributing all the enthusiasm and creativity to the ‘raw material’ available in the country currently.

     

    “From Bollywood to politics to issues, there is so much happening in this country. I don’t think we would have been able to do what we are doing here in any other country. It is all because of the colorful characters we have,” he says.

     

    Rahul is part of a three-strong core team that works on the witty, topical ads. And while the trio is unafraid to take a stance on anything under the sun, there’s one topic it steers clear of – religion.

     

    “It’s dicey and too sensitive a topic to indulge in and we try to avoid it unless and until it has got to do with someone like Asaram Bapu,” says Rahul.

     

    At a time when most brands do not believe in commenting on ‘sensitive’ issues, Rahul prides himself on being part of a company that has never shied away from taking a stance. “It is our USP and others doing it is a rare case,” he adds.

     

    Not that all their ads have met with bouquets; there have been the occasional brickbats too, for example, Amul’s recent commentary on the Tehelka scandal, which didn’t go down well with a majority of the people. But that doesn’t deter the team from keeping up the good work. As Rahul puts it, “We don’t look back as we feel it is all part and parcel of the industry and we cannot make everyone happy.”

     

    As the year comes to a close, indiantelevision.com brings you some of its pioneering ads of 2013:

     

    The year began with Kashmir’s top clergyman issuing a fatwa against an all-girls rock band, reasoning music is banned in Islam and girls should imbibe ‘better values’ instead of vices.

     

    The IOC’s decision to drop wrestling from the Olympics came as a huge setback for fans and practitioners of the game. The only saving grace being it would be included in the 2016 Olympics.

     

    Around mid-year, the Madras High Court passed a judgment saying that an unmarried couple of the right legal age “indulging in sexual gratification” would be considered married and could be called “husband and wife”. An entire nation was shell-shocked by the forward-thinking pronouncement.

     

    Escalating prices and economic slowdown notwithstanding, some politicians were brazen enough to say food is cheap in this country. Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar went to the extent of saying it is possible to have a full meal for just Rs 12 in Mumbai even today. And the junta didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this cruel joke…

     

    In a body blow to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, the Supreme Court recently turned back the clock on Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes any kind of sexual activity “against the order of nature” including homosexual acts. In a 2009 judgment, the Delhi High Court had decriminalized all such activity, leading many such people to live together.

     

    Meanwhile, at least one other Supreme Court judgment did not disappoint. The apex court ruled that persons in lawful custody – whether convicted in a criminal case or otherwise – cannot contest elections. The common man rejoiced even though the ruling does not apply to those on bail.

     

    When a colleague claimed founder-editor of Tehelka Magazine Tarun Tejpal had sexually assaulted her in an elevator during a fest organized by the publication in Goa, it went on to become the mother of all scandals. However Amul’s take on the matter attracted a lot of criticism, possibly because rape doesn’t lend itself to humor.

     

    The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was just that… till the unlikely hero of the Delhi Assembly Elections decided to take Congress support to form the government in the national capital.

  • All new shows on Star this year

    All new shows on Star this year

    MUMBAI: Star India is all set to flag off the new year with a host of new shows on its English entertainment channels, Star World and Star World Premiere.

     

    Starting this month, Star World Premiere, will air the all-new American cyber-themed action-adventure series, Intelligence, which stars Josh Holloway as Gabriel Vaughn, a hi-tech intelligence operative with a supercomputer microchip lodged in his brain.

     

    A new-age super soldier, Gabriel can hack into any data centre and access critical intelligence to protect the US from its enemies. Intelligence also stars Marg Helgenberger as head of the government cyber security agency supporting Gabriel and Meghan Ory as Secret Service Agent.

     

    Come February, the channel is expected to telecast a new comedy-drama titled Rake, which sees Greg Kinnear as criminal defence lawyer Keegan Deane whose personal problems threaten to turn his entire world upside down.

     

    Apart from the new shows, the latest season of American Horror Story: Coven will also air on Star World Premiere. Having debuted in October last year, the anthology series features different characters and locations, including a haunted house, a mental asylum and a witch coven. The upcoming season revolves round themes such as oppression, witchcraft and voodoo. With actors the likes of Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange, the series has won both critical and commercial acclaim.

     

    Not to be left behind, Star World will telecast a new comedy-drama Bunheads starring Sutton Foster as Michelle Simms, a Las Vegas showgirl who gets married on impulse, only to end up in small town California, where she teaches ballet alongside her mother-in-law, Fanny Flowers, reprised by Kelly Bishop.

     

    Also airing on the channel will be the first and second seasons of Suburgatory, a series that follows the life of George Altman (Jeremy Sisto), a single dad from New York who moves upstate to the suburbs in search of a better life for his daughter Tessa (Jane Levy). This apart, Star World will telecast new seasons of old favourites like Melissa & Joey starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence as the main protagonists.

     

    Exults Star India general manager English channels Kevin Vaz: “We’ve got some great shows scheduled to air in the New Year. We will be showing new seasons of a few old favorites as well as some brand new shows. 2014 is going to see some excellent television content from the Star Network.”

     

    While Star World has been around for long now, Star World Premiere, which was launched only in September last year, has already taken TV viewers by storm with its dynamic content.

     

    The channel is a pioneering initiative by the Star Network to present brand new content to Indian audiences with the latest episodes of their favorite shows broadcasting simultaneously in the US.  So, viewers can watch all the popular shows as they air in the west, without having to wait for the latest episodes.

  • HBO Defined and HBO Hits now on Tata Sky

    HBO Defined and HBO Hits now on Tata Sky

    MUMBAI: Turner International India has launched HBO Defined HD and HBO Hits HD on Tata Sky.

     

    With this the two advertising-free movie channels will be available across 11 DTH and digital cable platforms in India.

     

    Turner is committed to continue bringing compelling content inside homes of consumers in India and on any device they own. HBO Defined and HBO Hits signify a new era of television viewing for the Indian consumer. We have received a very enthusiastic response from all platforms and are happy to have, Tata Sky, one of India’s leading DTH platforms partner with us,” said Turner International India MD Siddharth Jain.

     

    HBO Defined and HBO Hits feeds will be on Tata Sky channel numbers 358 and 360 respectively at a price of Rs 99 per month.

     

    “Tata Sky is committed to offering the best picture quality, sound and digital viewing experience to its subscribers and HBO Defined & HBO Hits are great examples of this,” said Tata Sky chief content & business development officer Poalo Agostenelli . “We’re pleased to provide an experience of accessing a wide variety of world class movies with the prestigious HBO original series in pure High Definition which is delightfully ad-free for our subscribers. This is truly a movie and TV series fans’ dreams come true.”

     

    The channels are also available on Dish TV, Airtel Digital, Hathway, GTPL, Manthan Digital, ABS Star Digital, DDC, JPR Network, Den Satellite (Mumbai) and Seven Star Digital.

  • Raqesh Vashisth to step into Karan Singh Grover’s shoes

    Raqesh Vashisth to step into Karan Singh Grover’s shoes

    MUMBAI: In a new twist to the ‘Qubool Hai’ story, Zee TV has picked Raqesh Vashisth to play the lead of Asad in Qubool Hai. He will be replacing Karan Singh Grover who was dropped by the channel because of his unprofessional behavior and lack of commitment towards the show.

    The creative team had a tough time dealing with Grover’s nonchalant and indifferent attitude and decided to replace him with immediate effect.

    The production house 4 Lions and the channel unanimously selected Vashisth as the lead opposite Zoya (Surbhi Jyoti) in the TV show.

    The producers believe that Raqesh is a good fit. They issued a statement saying that, “Raqesh is handsome, good-looking and he looks amazing with Zoya. The best and most important part is that he is known in the industry for his professionalism. We’re glad that he has agreed to come on board.”

    Vashisth will start shooting for the show soon and will be seen as Asad from the beginning of the New Year.

  • Adding an Islamic shade to the Colors’ canvas

    Adding an Islamic shade to the Colors’ canvas

    MUMBAI: It was in the early nineties that a show like Gul Gulshan Gulfaam on Doordarshan captured the life of the Muslim community. It was probably for the first time in India that a show gave the masses at large an opportunity to take a sneak peek in to the life of the Islamic households in the country. Set in Kashmir, it was about the tribulations of the Kashmiris surviving on the business of houseboats in the Dal Lake.

    Much later, at the end of the same decade, Heena and Shaheen, both of which aired on Sony Entertainment Television, captured the life Muslim women, their struggles and a lot more, giving the audience another chance to look at the life of a Muslim household closely. Around the same time, came Tanha – a show with the collaboration between India and Pakistan. It was not just set in a Muslim milieu but also became popular for its insightful portrayal of the community and the characters, not just in India and Pakistan but also in the entire subcontinent. Zaaraaired on Sahara One in 2006 was another show capturing the essence of the culture.

    More recently, a serial on Star Plus – Sajda Tere Pyaar Mein that ran for few months in 2012 featured the life of a Muslim woman whose patriotic credentials were questioned; and Qubool Hai on Zee TV captures the contemporary Muslim household with the unfolding of an interesting love story. Interestingly, Qubool Hai has become one of the most popular shows in the Hindi GEC space. Its ratings are almost close to 5862TVTs (as per Tam ratings for week 49).

    And when a concept has become so popular, it isn’t a surprise to see something very similar (as far as the set up is concerned) inspiring others. Close on the heels of Zee TV, now, Colors is set to air its new show Beintehaa – a first for the channel focusing on the pan-Muslim milieu with a story of two similar and headstrong individuals Aaliya and Zain, who are tied in a volatile relationship.

    The show would be aired at the prime-time slot – 9 pm every Monday to Friday from 30 December. A replacement for Bigg Boss, the show is being promoted heavily across platforms as the channel is keeping its hopes high on this one. Colors weekday fiction head Prashant Bhatt says that the narrative style of the show and its backdrop is going to be its USP, which would not just pull the regular TV viewers but will also draw the younger audience from the age group of 14 above.

    “The story telling has a simple, yet intriguing style with a contemporary set up and that’s going to be the pull,” says Bhatt.

    If we look at all the shows made with a Muslim backdrop in the past, we would realise that each of them have been really popular during the time they were aired. Yet, unlike other Indian cultures, from Punjabi and Gujarati to Bihari, Harayanvi, Rajasthani and Marathi, on which many shows have been made till date, there have been very few with a Muslim milieu. An avid TV viewer can easily summon up the number of TV serials based in an Islamic household.During the launch of Beintehaa in Mumbai recently, when asked what has kept TV away from exploring this community, Bhatt revealed that Colors has been looking for such a concept since almost two years now. “We have been waiting for almost two years to get this colour onto the Colors canvas,” he remarks and adds, “We were not getting a story suitable enough to do justice to the culture. Finally the story that Farhan Salaruddin (the producer and writer of the show) brought to us felt as if it was tailormade to display the Muslim culture,” he says.

    And the channel didn’t wait for so long because the competitor channel came up with Qubool Hai, neither was it ever in a hurry to start with something similar. “We were not in a race. We wanted to come up with something that does complete justice as well as is developed well,” he says.

    And if we go by the expert views the idea of featuring this Islamic culture is on its way to becoming a trend. Veteran TV writer Gajra Kottary credited for pathbreaking shows like Balika Vadhu says that many people haven’t tried their hand at capturing this backdrop because of the stigma associated with it. “Another thing that may have kept many away is the fear of not pulling the masses. But it may become a trend as it would give the makers as well as viewers an opportunity to explore something really new,” she says.

    Even Salaruddin, who has earlier co-produced the show Bind Banunga Ghodi Chadunga thinks the same. According to him, since his show is very contemporary and resonates with the present day’s lifestyle of youngsters it is going to be liked by masses across religion. “It isn’t isolated to showing the Islamic culture. It explores the overall life of two Muslim youngsters, from their difficulties to their dilemmas,” he says and adds that the show will work for its content.

    Media veteran Divya Radhakrishnan reflects the same views. “The Muslim backdrop is just a creative setting. It will give the creatives a chance to explore new avenues. But any show doesn’t work because of the backdrop, rather it works because of the content,” she says.

    Salaruddin is also happy to get the primetime slot which will give his story more visibility. The presence of other strong shows doesn’t bother him much. “The other shows were new at one point of time too. With time, we will make our place,” he says.

    While the entire Colors team is betting big on the content, we also hope that like earlier TV shows in the same backdrop, this one will work well too.

  • Salman Khan to host Star Guild awards

    Salman Khan to host Star Guild awards

    MUMBAI: The award season is upon us, and the Film and Television Producers Guild of India has announced that the ninth edition of the Renault Star Guild Awards will take place on 16 January.

    The award show will be aired on Star Plus and will be hosted by Salman Khan.

    Star Plus general manager Gaurav Banerjee said, “We are pleased to host the prestigious Star Guild Awards, one of the most reputed and official awards of the Film & Television industry. The award winners are selected by the industry Guild – making it truly democratic, credible and honoring achievers across categories within the fraternity. With Salman Khan returning as the host yet again, we promise to make Star Guild Awards a power packed blockbuster night of celebration.”

    Instituted to commemorate extraordinary achievements in Cinema and Television, Film & Television Producers Guild of India president Mukesh Bhatt said during the inaugural announcement, “The Film and Television Industry has witnessed an incredible year in 2013 with regards to the quality of content produced. We are very excited and look forward to the ceremony that will celebrate the incredible performances and have a great time this year as well.”

    Renault India executive director Sumit Sawhney said “Renault India is happy to work together with the Guild in its second year to highlight achievements of distinct personalities driven by a commitment towards passion and excellence. Renault, the most awarded automaker in recent times, understands what it takes to win the hearts of people and also win accolades from a proficient jury. As we have always believed, both the Guild and Renault lay special emphasis on Driving the Change and are therefore a perfect fit with each other”

    The show is conceptualised, produced, marketed and promoted by Wizcraft International Entertainment. The company’s director Sabbas Joseph said, “Wizcraft has partnered with the Guild for the past 8 years and we are very proud of the success of the event. We are certain that the 9th edition of this prestigious awards ceremony will be a huge success and honor some of the finest talent in the industry today.”

    The award show will be held at the NSCI stadium in Mumbai.