ITV

Tag: Ajit Thakur

  • “The biggest idea can come from somebody you are not looking at”: Ajit Thakur

    “The biggest idea can come from somebody you are not looking at”: Ajit Thakur

    MUMBAI: It is the only channel, which has never shied away from experimenting; from mythology to drama, from thriller to comedy, it has done it all. The soon-to-be three-year-old channel from the Star Network’s stable, Life OK, has always been riding high on success.

    For ‘The Content Hub’, indiantelevision.com spoke to the channel’s EVP and GM Ajit Thakur to understand his views on how Indian content has shifted its paradigm and challenges that he faces while spotting new talents.

    According to Thakur, more than the concepts the channel is always looking out for fresher talent. “We are looking at people from Bollywood and advertising to come to us with different concepts. Also, we want to explore more genres. Currently, with Pukaar we are not only exploring action genre but also have got on board film director Vipul A Shah. In the future, we would love to do a lot more of comedy, thrillers, spy stories and a mythology.”

    He believes that with both television and Bollywood growing at a tremendous speed, the demand for the same writers has increased over the years, making the task different. “We can all either wait for those people to come on board or can develop our own talent. Therefore, we have hired a lot of new writers.”

    For shows like Mahadev and Savdhaan India, the channel has in-house writers. According to him talent spotting and retaining that talent is a big challenge as well. “One might be available today but he/she will get busy after six months. Plus, one cannot depend on established talent. So, we have to develop our own talent,” says Thakur.

    He goes on to say that though Indian content has the ability to travel abroad; it will take some time because currently, the industry is not investing enough on production to scale it up. “Production quality will take another five to seven years to enter international market. But the interesting concepts will take lesser amount of time,” he says while adding that our shows are currently travelling to the Middle East and South Asia because of Indian diaspora, but for a show to have the scale for it to be sub-titled and aired in America, it will take time.

    Is Indian content shifting its paradigm? According to Thakur, it is but slower than one would like it to. “Our viewers are evolving fast but at the end of it our cultural context is important too. As a country we are very different, so it’s not that our viewers are not evolving but they are evolving within the paradigm of Indian society where families are important and cultural values are important.”

    He adds, “I think we have to take pride in the kind of stories we tell, but we need to produce them at the scale, which the international markets can look up to.”

    Thakur has two best practices when it comes to sparking off changes in the thought and creation process of content. One, it is very important to have the right insights on which one wants to work on. “One should know who your target is whether you are a TV channel, filmmaker or a digital platform. I think very often we are making a mistake of not looking at who we want to target at, carefully. Who is your core TG? Is it urban India or rural India? Is it men or women? Is it young families or joint families? It is an important factor which many a times we overlook.”

    Second, once you are clear about the TG then instead of trying to do many things, one must focus on one thing they are good at. “If you are developing one genre, develop a number of dramas, be the best at it rather than trying to do everything. And once you know that this is the target group and this is the kind of audience you want to target, then go ahead and find multiple story tellers. Never think that the current best lot is the one that will take it to the next level. Probably the biggest idea will come from somebody you are not looking at,” concludes Thakur.

     

  • “Channel V’s biggest competition is Life OK and Star Plus”: Ajit Thakur

    “Channel V’s biggest competition is Life OK and Star Plus”: Ajit Thakur

    Three years ago when Star India decided to re-launch one of its redundant channel, Star One, as Life OK with new and fresh content, nobody expected that the channel, in a short span of time, would make a strong hold at number four at the ratings chart.

     

    Taking the responsibility on his young shoulders was none other than Ajit Thakur, who didn’t succumb to the temptation of doing the usual general entertainment channel (GEC) saas-bahu soaps, to create its own identity in the clustered market.

     

    With the channel creating new heights with its unique and poignant stories, the network handed additional responsibility to Life OK EVP and GM to head one of its sister youth entertainment channel, Channel V.

     

    In his first interview, after taking the charge at Channel V, Thakur chats with indiantelevision.com’s Disha Shah about his new role, challenges that he has to face and how he handles the two channels. 

      

    Excerpts:

     

    Life OK and Channel V are two very different entities, so how are you coping with the two properties?

     

    Life OK is my baby. I launched the channel so my attachment to it will never fade away. Also, the channel is in a very competitive category so it requires a lot more attention from me.

     

    On the other hand, Channel V holds a strong position in its genre and has a strong team. The brand thinking is sorted. The way I am seeing my role is that on Channel V my job is more like a mentor and on Life OK, I am the doer.

     

    And in both channels, the biggest challenge is how to build a great second line. Channel V has Nipa Asharam and Vaishali Lavania , who are very strong marketing and programming heads, respectively and on Life OK, we have Sushma Rajesh and Yuvraj Bhattacharya. I need to build these teams and move towards chief mentoring role so that I can think about how to grow the two channels. It’s tough; I have to add four hours more to my work day (laughs).

     

    Was it a difficult decision to head Channel V? How has the year been for the channel?

     

    I have loved the Channel V brand. The kind of content we get to do on the youth channel, we can’t do that on a regular general entertainment channel (GEC). I was excited about it. And since, Sanjay Gupta thought it was right for the company, so I took it up.

     

    Channel V is in a great place because it has been number one for 52 weeks in a row, all thanks to it, sticking to the brand positioning, ‘Correct Hai’. As a brand it is testimony to the fact that in the youth space if you get the brand and the positioning right, the youth will come to television.

     

    My aim for Channel V is that it should give Life OK and Star Plus a run for the money. In terms of programming, at Channel V we should create content that changes and creates a revolution.

     

    What is going to be your strategy in terms of programming, marketing or digital so that the youth channel can create a revolution? How are you going to achieve that?

     

    In terms of the brand, no changes, I am very happy with it. But in terms of programming, we can do a lot more. Today it is the leader with 40-45 GRPs, why can’t it be 100 GRPs is the question I ask myself. The youth is watching content and in that context we have a lot of opportunities thrown at us.

     

    We have few daily shows like Sadaa Haq, D3, P.S I Hate You and Gumraah is twice a week. We plan to add more original hours of content. In the coming months, we are launching some very interesting new shows. One of them is called ‘Friends’.

     

    We are exploring ways of how we can grow the channel faster. It could be with more shows and more platforms. It could be either or both.

     

    What kind of platforms?

     

    Platforms like IndiaFest. It is one of the biggest youth festivals in the country, can that be made bigger? Are there ways to take the footprints of the brand beyond just TV and on TV what can we do more? The brand is good, the team is good, and my task is to grow the footprint of the brand.

     

    Do creative talent understand the youth programming today? Are there enough production houses which understand the youth content?

     

    Yes. And the younger they are the better they understand. We have a very young people as interns, who work in the team and they come up with some really good creative ideas. Answering second part of the question, there are enough writers. There is writing talent, the task is to find that talent and get them to work for us.

     

    You have to find a different set of story tellers, if you will take the same GEC story tellers, they will write it like a GEC. So, the challenge is how to find those new people. At Channel V, we are always looking for new writers and producers.

     

    Youth is a fickle audience with a very short attention span, so how do you plan to keep them engaged?

     

    Early days, don’t know, yet. But the channel will have a very big role to play in the life of the youth in India and that is what we are preparing for. We don’t know the answers yet whether it will be events or on-ground or digital or television.

     

    How do you see current competition coming from other channels?

     

    Channel V’s biggest competition is GECs; it’s not the youth channels. Because a lot of youth are watching GECs, so how do we convert them to watch Channel V. Channel V’s biggest competition is Life OK and Star Plus.

     

    It’s been a year since the revamp. How has it helped the channel, so far?

     

    We have seen almost 30-40 per cent growth in terms of viewership in across markets and it’s been growing steadily. It went up to a high of 50 plus TRPs, so I believe it is in a good space.

     

    How has been the advertisers’ response towards the channel?

     

    They are very happy with it. In fact our advertisers’ base has been growing; more brands are coming on to the channel. IndiaFest is happening is February and we have already sold it, so people are seeing the power. Everybody wants a pie of the youth and within that this is by far the number one platform.

     

    And how is the licensing and the merchandising business doing?

    Not very big right now. I am not very sure what to do with it. It’s an extension of the brand, but currently not on the radar.

     

  • Life OK gets bolder with action series ‘Pukaar – Call for the Hero’

    Life OK gets bolder with action series ‘Pukaar – Call for the Hero’

    MUMBAI: Off lately, Life OK, has been on an experimenting mode. After experimenting with different genres, the channel is set to introduce an action thriller series christened Pukaar – Call for the Hero.

    A tribute to the Indian army, viewers will get to see a different style of action rarely explored on small screen. Produced by the one who masters in the genre, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who has made films like Force, Commando and Holiday, which were based on ‘Men in Uniform’.

    With this show, Shah intends to raise the bar of action ever experienced on the small screen. According to him, viewers can expect a 70mm big screen feel while watching the show.

    The show has many firsts. It marks the debut of Rannvijay Singh and Adah Sharma in fictional space. The comedian actor, Devan Bhojani, enters the action genre as the co-director and legendary actor Raj Babaar returns to the television. Talking about action, the show gets its might right from Allan Amin, who is the action director.

    Currently the channel runs Tumhari Paakhi at 8.30 pm and Laut Aao Trisha at 9pm. With the new series on-board, the channel for the first time is putting a male centric show on weekdays (Mon and Tues). The hour-long show will see curtains down on Tumahri Paakhi.

    Life OK EVP and general manager Ajit Thakur say, “We were actually thinking of doing it on Saturdays and Sundays till three weeks back, but then we thought it will be lost somewhere as on weekends there are too many things happening.”

    Thakur states the decision of putting it up on Monday-Tuesday’s might stand out or fail, but it will not be lost. “Women may still not sample it all. That’s a risk. Weekends would not have been as much of novelty.”

    Talking about the theme, Thakur says that the channel wanted to create larger than life heroes which it started with Mahadev and Hatim, and it wanted to get Bollywood creative talent on television.

    Shah and Thakur met five months and after brainstorming, the duo locked on the final concept for two reasons. “If we talk about home grown action series there are shows like Shapath and CID. 24 was more of a thriller. We wanted something which was far more on local issues,” reasons Thakur.

    Also, the channel wanted to explore a new relationship between a father and a son. “While for me action is the main USP of the show, the bigger USP of the show is the father and son relationship that has been rarely been exploded on TV.”

    Isn’t it going in the same lines of Everest where the show talks about a father-daughter relationship? Thakur denies the fact and says that Everest is still centred around Star Plus’s belief on the female protagonist and her journey. “We wanted to continue doing more male centric shows and from that point of view it is his journey and in the context of to win over his father’s love. To that level there is a similarity and of course these are both very proficient Bollywood movie talent, but the similarity ends there.”

    The story is of a soldier (Singh) whose responsibility does not only limit to his country and his family but also to the common man, for it is he who rises above all odds to be recognised as people’s hero and a saviour against a tyrant ruling a city.

    One of the things that Thakur was very keen on doing was that can it not be just chases and explosions, but more than it. Shah completely agreed and came up with hand comb act. The show has used the best of technicians, cameras gadgets and locations for the show.

    Almost 10 episodes have been canned in various locales like Manali and Mumbai. Talking about the marketing strategies, Thakur believes the PR of the show is most interesting. The channel along with the cast will be travelling to the Lucknow and Kanpur Army cantonment and will be showing previews there. Moreover, the channel is aiming at putting longer promos and not restricted to 10-20 seconds. “It is very different type of content, so people will take time to get used to it.”

    The show has got LIC as its powered by sponsor and the channel is hunting for two presenting sponsors for the show.

     

  • Life OK revamp: From being alternate to primary

    Life OK revamp: From being alternate to primary

    MUMBAI: It’s a channel that had promised to be different and has stayed true to its word till date. Exactly two and half years ago, on the launch day, it had organised an eight-hour-long Mahadev Rockathon at a Mumbai hotel, which could be viewed online, as numerous rock bands, including Parikrama, Agnee, Euphoria and Shaa’ir and Func, strummed songs.

     

    Done by none other earlier, Life OK, the sister channel of Star Plus, broke the conventional shackles to free the views of the usual saas-bahu dailies. Growing steadily in terms of viewership ever since its launch in December 2011, the channel has carved a distinct identity for itself on the back of its immensely popular shows like Mahadev, Saubhagyavati Bhava, Savdhaan India and now Laut Aao Trisha, all focusing on different social issues.

     

    Once known as a re-packaged replacement for Star One, which had failed to generate eyeballs, Life OK started off with 2 per cent market share, now enjoying a good 14 per cent market share.

     

    Taking a step further towards differentiation, the channel is set to give a new avatar to it by re-vamping. Come November, viewers will be introduced to a new look and feel of the channel.

     

    “Now we are confident of success,” says Life OK EVP and general manager Ajit Thakur. He states three reasons behind the channel’s continuous success.

     

    Number one, viewers have noticed the channel. “We are among that one success story which is very well entrenched. You go and talk to any community, viewers, trade, or advertisers.”

     

    Thakur feels that everybody needs numbers, and are important in terms of market share and the channel has done it at lower investment than others.

     

    Second point he highlights that it’s a matter of pride for the entire Star network  to have done it differently, as promised.

     

    Thakur recalls that when the channel started out, it had promised two differences. One, the channel will target the family – men and kids will also have as much to watch as the women in the family. Second, it would be built around a promise of no or a very few saas-bahu soaps. “Can we create a channel that the whole family can watch? Today there is one channel for women, one for men and one for youth. But in the house there is mostly one TV, so could we have created a destination for family where everybody has something to watch?”

     

    He says that confidently, no other channel has the kind of variety of programming which Life OK delivers. “One can switch any particular channel and expect the same genre from it year after year. For instance, one channel only focuses on comedy while other only on soaps. So, today we have a channel showing just one genre which is skewed towards one demographic in the house. We have changed the pattern.”

     

    Thakur states that the channel has had a very different viewing pattern focusing on genres like mythology, thriller, love story, social issues and crime.

     

    “It is of course risky,” reveals Thakur and adds, “Because what we are expecting is women to come in first, then the whole family to join in for mythology and men to keep glued on post 10 pm.”

     

    “We will not grow by being similar; we will grow by being different. One of the problems of not doing soaps is the longevity of the shows as our channel’s shelf life is smaller and we agree to it.”

     

    Similarly, the channel has different content during weekends. When other channels are filled with reality shows and extended soaps, Life OK has a different story to tell. “Who has a show on GEC targeting kids? Followed by a big ticket reality show and then crime,” asks Thakur.

     

    Thirdly, Thakur highlights that along with the viewers, it has managed to hold on to its advertisers and cable operators.  “We have a fare share of FMCG brands because they have all the big GECs, but we have a fair share of male centric clients because they don’t have that option.”

     

    The next big change…

     

    Thakur does not wish to be an alternative platform anymore. This Diwali, the channel aims to be a primary destination. “What is important is what we have built as an alternative proof, now in the next three months we want to tell them this is your primary destination, everything else is alternative. This Diwali, there is no bigger entertainment destination than Life OK.”

     

    The channel is adding seven properties to its kitty. Come 7 October, in the lines of Saubhagyavati Bhava, viewers will be introduced to a women’s journey towards independence by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms, titled  Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh at 9:30 pm.

     

    Planning to tap into the comedy genre for a very long time, it is set to review the definition of fun and laughter with Comedy Classes at 10 pm from 7 October. Breaking away from the usual practice of airing comedy on weekends, the channel is launching a daily sitcom with the popular TV comedy stars.

     

    Next up, for the first-time ever the channel will telecast the world television premier of the movie, 2 States. “I deeply believe that the film has a strong social topic. Divide on basis of caste, religion is just artificial and love prevails over it,” says Thakur.

     

    On the occasion of Diwali, viewers will be treated with a grand event with big Bollywood stars. This will be followed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s action-thriller show staring the youth icon Ranvijay Singh, which will hit the television screens in the first week of November replacing the on-going reality show Dare 2 Dance. One more big name to the channel’s stable is Sooraj Barjatya’s new love story.

     

    Taking mythology to the next level, it plans to launch a big mythology in the month of December.

     

    “From October to mid December, seven big properties all put together in the span of 10 weeks, which normally takes a year to do. We are establishing the channel’s identity of differentiated content,” says Thakur.

     

    To tell the world about its revamp, the channel is putting full marketing muscle behind it. Every week, one will see promotions on 50 TV channels along with live sports, outdoors, malls and buses. Moreover, the channel for the first-time ever has done cinema hall branding and promos, which will go on till December. Even digital, radio and print will not be spared.

     

    Not only TV advertising, but the channel is focusing strongly on cable advertising as well. “We have always dependent on the reach of television, but this time we are going beyond. We are doing cinema integrations and cable activations which is new.”

     

    “We want to be the foremost GEC”

     

    Ad rates have been rising steadily as has the number of advertisers, from 30, in the beginning, to 200 in the last quarter. Of the initial lot, Shakti Bhog, the lead sponsor for Mahadev, and Idea have stayed with the channel right through.

     

    For a show like Mahadev, last year a 10-sec slot was Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000. Currently, it ranges anywhere between Rs 90,000 – Rs 1,10,000, sources from the industry estimate.

     

    Is the move in order to attract the advertising spends in this festive season? “The advertising for this season is already done and we are full. It is not about advertising revenue but telling the market our intent and ambition. We want to grow aggressively on the back of a strong platform that we have built over last two and half years. We haven’t talked too much, we have done it quietly, but now  we will let everyone know.”

     

    The channel has advertisers from all categories right from bikes to mobiles. “In terms of male targeting we have all the FMCGs. Compared to a GEC, we have a very different mix,” says Thakur and states the example of Kapoor’s show. “Usually a fiction show doesn’t get sponsors on-board before the telecast. But in this case, very different sponsors like Venus and Basmati Rice have come on-board,” he adds.

     

    Though advertisers are taking note of the channel, media planners unanimously believe that the channel’s growth is phenomenonal. However, they are apprehensive about it being counted in the top three as of now. “It will take some more time for the channel to become a ‘primary destination for the viewers,” says a media analyst.

  • Life OK to take ‘Comedy Classes’

    Life OK to take ‘Comedy Classes’

    MUMBAI: With high ambitions and the passion to reach the top, Life OK EVP and general manager Ajit Thakur, plans to achieve it all sans the sure-to-succeed saas-bahu soaps. “Though Life OK is not the staple diet of viewers, but whenever they want something different, they are most welcome,” he says.

     

    After exploring crime, thriller, domestic violence through its shows, the channel is ready to tap the genre, which Thakur believes is not much explored in India – comedy. 

     

    Christened ‘Comedy Classes’, it promises to add a smile on the face of its viewers by taking them back to the classroom. Produced by Optimystix, the new show is a sitcom about an acting school called ‘Ache Din Institute’ with a crazy bunch of teachers and students.

     

    The class consists of mad teachers such as Krushna, the flamboyant, flirtatious and artful acting coach who is a struggling actor himself and does odd jobs for a living. Bharti plays the dance instructor, whose contemporaries include Saroj Khan and Farah Khan. She has invented her own moves and grooves like Bharti-Natyamand Gambra (a mix of garba and bhangra).

     

    The ‘Kanjus’ but romantic old music master Sudesh who never misses a chance to mix two songs to create his ‘original’ compositions and the inimitable Urdu expert from Pakistan, Shakeel Siddiqui, who can speak no more than seven sentences in Urdu.

     

    “We thought we will not make a sitcom with the unknowns, so we have got on-board the four best stand-up comedians to create a big impact,” says Thakur on the star cast.

     

    Thakur informs that a recently-concluded survey conducted by the channel in Uttar Pradesh highlights that Indian men want more of comedy and crime. He believes that there is still so much one can do with the genre as today most channels only focus on either stand-up and drama comedy.

     

    “We wanted to get the genre on board and we got a lot of ideas as well. But since most of them revolved around stand-up, we said no. We finally cracked the code and settled for a sitcom,” says Thakur while adding that 10 years ago sitcoms ruled the Indian television screens with shows like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984), Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) Zabaan Sambhalke (1993), Shrimaan Shrimati (1995), Office Office (2001) and many more.

     

    Optimystix producers Vipul D. Shah and Sanjiv Sharma are confident that with a strong creative idea and powerhouse of talent, audiences will love its new age classes. “Comedy Classes is a very entertaining concept of mad teachers and students who will bring the house down with laughter through their weird classroom sessions,” say the producers.

     

    It won’t be all laughing business, the channel has taken it seriously and at the end of each episode, there will be a small goodness message delivered to the viewers.

     

    The new series will air five days a week at 10 pm from 7 October. It will be facing tough competition with properties like Aur…Pyaar Ho Gaya (Zee TV), Pyar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyara Pyara (Star Plus), Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi (Colors), Maharana Pratap (Sony Entertainment Television) and Chandrakant Chiplunkar Seedi Bambawala (Sab).

  • Sonali Bendre’s fiction debut on Life OK

    Sonali Bendre’s fiction debut on Life OK

    MUMBAI: It was in late 2011 when viewers were introduced to a new Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC). And now, after almost three years, Star Network’s Life OK is ready to challenge the established ones in the genre.

     

    Reasons being the ‘differentiated content’, the channel prouds itself of, and shows like Saubhagyavati Bhava’, ‘Savdhaan India’ and ‘Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev’. And recently, with shows like ‘Laut Aao Trisha’ and its biggest dance property, ‘Dare 2 Dance’, it has set a benchmark for itself in the GEC space.

     

    With the channel focusing on social issues like domestic violence and crime in a big way, it is set to highlight the issue of infidelity in its upcoming show, ‘Ajeeb Daastaan Hain Ye’.

     

    In association with the queen of television, Balaji Telefilm’s Ekta Kapoor, the story highlights the tryst of a woman who is estranged by her husband and is made to break out of her inhibitions in quest of finding happiness for her loved ones. The show marks the debut of Sonali Bendre in the fictional genre. She will play the role of the female protagonist along with other stars like Apurva Agnihotri and Harsh Chhaya.

     

    It highlights the journey of a tenacious woman Shobha (Bendre) who fights against all odds for her family and their well-being, who was happy and content in her own little world until she was left devastated after her politician husband, Samarth (Chhaya) was put behind the bars for breach of information.

     

    Overnight, she was left holding the reigns of her family in the aftermath of her husband’s conducts. While trying to collect all pieces and settle, she ends up meeting Vikram (Agnihotri), a coffee shop owner who hires her as his assistant. Apart from dealing with difficulties at home, she also faces her galling boss at work.

     

    The channel wanted a high impact cast, Life OK EVP and general manager Ajit Thakur reasons of getting Bendre on-board. He says: “We needed a woman who is very elegant, strong and yet very homely. She is a mother and wife also in real life.”

     

    Thakur further goes on to say that the show talks about women’s journey towards independence. “It is a matured friendship that is shown between two characters.”

     

    It was Kapoor’s concept which the channel took forward. Set for a finite series, it will be aired for six-eight months (120-150 episodes).

     

    Kapoor believes that relatable characters and diverse concepts are two key ingredients of all her shows. “Ajeeb Daataan Hain Ye captures the story of Shobha who becomes a ‘hero’ for her family after she surmounts harsh realities of life. I am looking forward to my association with Life OK to bring forth this grand venture through an interesting storyline.”

     

    Bendre revealed that initially she was little sceptical about taking up a fiction show until Kapoor narrated the story to her and then there was no looking back. “The strength of the character and how she faces her life head on is what appealed to me .The fact that instead of being treated like a doormat she picks up her life and decides to have a fresh start is what resonated with me,” she points out.

     

    With a heavy 360 degree marketing campaign, the channel is not going to leave any stone unturned to create buzz around the show. Moreover, the promos of the show are already on air and will also be shown in theatres during the release of Bang Bang.

     

    It is set to hit television screens from 7 October every five days a week at 9.30 pm. About the slot, Thakur believes that all slots are competitive and 9.30 pm is the highest viewership slot. The show will replace ‘Tumhari Pakhi’ which will now air at 8.30 pm followed by ‘Laut Aao Trisha’ at 9 pm. It is going to face neck-neck competition with ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’ on Star Plus, ‘Qubool Hai’ on Zee TV, ‘Bigg Boss 8’ on Colors, ‘Hum Hain Na’ on Sony Entertainment Television and ‘Badi Door Se Aaye Hai’ on Sab.

     

    To get male audiences also on-board, the channel plans to launch a comedy show at 10 pm followed by ‘Savdhaan India’ at 10.30 pm.

     

    Normally in a fiction show, sponsors are locked once ratings are out, but in this case, it has already got a presenting sponsor and powered by sponsor on-board. 

  • GEC is not Disney’s priority, says Siddharth Roy Kapur

    GEC is not Disney’s priority, says Siddharth Roy Kapur

    MUMBAI: The more the merrier seems to be the chant of all networks, these days.

     

    It was in 2011 that Star India launched its second general entertainment offering, Life OK. The sister channel of Star Plus, which replaced the defunct youth-oriented channel Star One, made headlines for its bold steps and differentiating content from the usual melodrama shown on the leading ones.

     

    Soon, Zee, the number two channel as per TAM TV ratings, plunged into already congested market with Zindagi. The second GEC from the network brought in popular shows from across the border to please the niche premium audience.

     

    If the two big networks had ventured into second GEC place, how could Sony stay behind? With Sony Pal, launched on 1 September, the Multi Screen Media (MSM) network added one more channel to its kitty.

    However, Disney, which has created content for channels, has popular television channels as well as numerous successful movies in different genres in its bag, still doesn’t have a GEC on its mind.

     

    “With kids’ channel we have presence among 4 to 14 years old, with bindass offerings we will be strongly placed for 14 to 34 years old and movie channels capture all across the age segments,” says Disney MD Siddharth Roy Kapur. The network will soon launch bindass Play, a music channel, which will take forward the philosophy and brand values of its most revenue generating channel, bindass.

     

    So will we see a GEC coming from the network’s stable? “We want to only concentrate on categories which are profitable and work with our core strengths,” he replies while elaborating that though everyone expects it to come up with a GEC, the network is not even thinking about it.

  • ‘Dare 2 Dance’: A step further to dance

    ‘Dare 2 Dance’: A step further to dance

    MUMBAI: Ever imagined grooving to music, with no dance floor? Giving the audience a break from the usual dance based reality shows, Life OK is all set to give the format a twist.

    Moving away from all the common theories of a huge stage where contestants showcase their talents, the show will have no dance floor to perform. Christened Dare 2 Dance, the contestants will be challenged to perform in the most difficult situations on land, water or air.

    Produced by SOL Productions, it is all about taking risks and re-inventing oneself. The Khiladi Akshay Kumar will take the mantle of a host, while he would also be seen playing a mentor to the contestants as he challenges contestants to dance on a narrow wall or even under water. Kumar will first demonstrate the format to each contestant with a commitment of a ‘first of its kind’ show.

    The channel has got Micromax on-board as its presenting sponsor and Honda as the powered by sponsor along with eight associate sponsors. According to a media planner, the title sponsorship is pretty high and would be around Rs 15 crore and powered by sponsor will be 15 per cent less.

    Life OK EVP and general manager Ajit Thakur states that getting Kumar on-board was the perfect choice. The channel wanted somebody who has been both seen as a dancer and a stunt hero. He adds, “Kumar has successfully managed to challenge the status quo with his constant need to push the envelope and move beyond the common. It was this need to challenge the norms and do something different that brought us together.”

    Thakur says that for a very long time the channel wanted to tap into the dance space, but couldn’t come up with an idea which could act as a differentiator. “But then we found Dare 2 Dance which went one step further with no stage or a set, but in open air on different locations.”

    Sharing his sentiments on coming on board for Dare 2 Dance, Kumar says, “What I like the most about the show, is the fact that it puts the contestants out of their comfort zone and challenges them. I’ve been so excited about it, right from the word go, and it’s been an amazing experience.”

    It has got 10 challenge takers on-board. Out of the 10, only two are actors, while the others are choreographers who have made a name in the fraternity by winning several dance reality shows. There are three international contestants as well, namely Emille Callion, a professional dancer from Paris, Scarlett Wilson, a British model and dancer and Karan Pangali a trained Kathak dancer originally from U.K. Among the actors are Ritwik Dhanjani who also got to fame as a winner of Nach Baliye, Sayantani Ghosh and Kunwar Amar, who shot to fame after Zee TV’s dance reality show Dance India Dance. The choreographers include Sanam Johar, Prince, Alisha Singh and Mayuresh Wadkar.

    “We needed people to dance at heights and inside water. So where you can’t even stand, they have to dance. We needed only accomplished dancers and that is why roped in dancers who had won many reality shows and became choreographers,” reasons Thakur.

    The highlight of the show is that it will see no eliminations for the first four weeks. “Contestants have rehearsed and worked very hard for it and so we thought it wasn’t fair from our part to eliminate them in the first week itself. So the eliminations will happen only after the fourth week,” informs Thakur.

    Moreover contestants will be given green or red card every week and the ones who will accumulate more number of green cards will have the chance of winning the show. The contestants will be challenged to prove their mettle as ‘Extreme Dance Ke Heroes’ in a hope to rise above all odds. Thakur reveals that many have walked out of the show after being told of the challenges. The lucky winner of the show along with a cash prize will get a Honda CBR 250R motorcycle.

    Except for the finale, all the other episodes have already been canned in Cape Town in South Africa. The show will spread for 16 episodes. While it has been choreographed by Sanjay Shetty and his team of professionals, the stunts have been designed by stunt co-ordinator and performer Francois Grobbelaar, who has earlier worked on a number of Hollywood and Bollywood projects.

    It has also left no stone unturned to ensure that contestants are left unhurt, and have taken a lot of safety measures into consideration. For every round, every platform has a safety auditor who would make his team of professionals go through the entire round and give an ok to it. Moreover, an ambulance was always kept on a standby.

    It took six months for the channel to plan and get things into place. Deciding the location was a tough task for the GEC. “You can’t shoot this anywhere in the world. You need to have that level of safety and different geographical elements which allows you to use different things,” opines Thakur.

    Thakur informs that around 30 per cent of the budget of the series will be spent on marketing. Since there are several foreign participants, apart from advertising on channels, newspaper, hoardings and radio announcements, social media will be used heavily to reach to the viewers overseas.

    Though Thakur refused to divulge any financial details regarding production cost of the show, sources close to the development reveal that the production cost per episode is anywhere between Rs 2-3 crore, this includes Kumar’s fee. The show will be aired from 6 September, every weekend at 8.30pm.

     

  • Channel V’s ‘Gumrah’ aims to make 1 pm a destination slot

    Channel V’s ‘Gumrah’ aims to make 1 pm a destination slot

    MUMBAI: What if your kid desires to be a murderer or a rapist when he/she grows up? Bringing home uncomfortable realities of teen crimes, Channel V is back with its fourth season of its crime-based property – Gumrah – End Of Innocence.

     

    Though television serials showcasing prevalent evils in society are not uncommon, the 13 episode series through its multiple seasons has always given a new outlook to how crime is perceived by viewers.

     

    The show tackles issues like peer pressure, the need to fit in, materialism and the dilution of morals, thus initiating a dialogue for the youth to express and address their problems. Taking a step ahead from the earlier versions, season four will focus on what actually makes the person a criminal, because nobody is born one!

     

    Come 31 August, the one-hour episode will showcase 13 episodes every Sunday at 1pm.

     

    Talking about the show Channel V vice president marketing Nipa Asharam believes that for it, Gumrah is more a brand than just a TV show. “Our realisation came after Gumrah season three that people are actually concerned about safety, so this season we thought about what new can we offer?”

     

    Staying true to its philosophy -‘to be politically incorrect and emotionally correct’, the channel has penned the series on the same line. According to Asharam, young kids talking about becoming a rapist or a drug dealer is unusual and hard hitting. “We are trying to make people see that criminal qualities have their roots in childhood so it is important to identify them,” she says.

     

    Produced by Balaji Telefilms, season four will be hosted by Abhay Deol with real life stories involving first hand research. Then, second hand research is done by talking to people who fit into those stories. With four episodes in the bank, the show has got on-board a few celebrities who will share any teen crime story that they have experienced or witnessed in the course of their lives.

     

    Channel V EVP and business head Ajit Thakur believes that the show is about the youth’s tryst with crime and the circumstances which led to the incident, rather than sensationalising the crime or the criminal himself. “Over the years, the show has gained popularity with its exceptional content and execution and we are upping the ante this time around, hoping to really get the message across,” he says.

     

    According to Asharam, the USP of the show is honesty. “In every way, we have tried to maintain the honesty of the initiative right from the first time we conceptualised Gumrah. Honesty is the big reason I think the series has been successful,” she quips.

     

    The channel is leaving no stone unturned to promote the series. It was created into a strong digital campaign along with TV. On the digital campaign front, it had an interactive banner ‘when I grow up I want to be a ————‘ and when people put in various positive career options, what comes up is only murderer, rapist etc just to let them know that no one is born a criminal and there are kids who are becoming that.

     

    At present, the show enjoys huge fan following on Facebook with 24 lakh likes at the time of penning this article.

     

    Asharam believes that the response of advertisers has been very encouraging season after season. They have started to view the show as a brand and want to endorse the message that Gumrah sends out. It has also opened up whole new categories as well like education, mobile and technology. She further goes on to say that in the first season, there were a lot of apprehensions, but this season, advertisers were open to it.

     

    The idea to air it at 1 pm was because it is a virgin slot when others usually show only repeats and movies. It aims to make it a destination slot.

     

    A highly placed media planner believes that though the channel took a bold move of airing at 1 pm, it won’t attract much younger people on-board. “Though the channel targets the youth, in the end it is the content that is king. If the content is the same as shown before, it will lose its charm and audiences,” he says.

  • What’s in store for Life OK in the coming months?

    What’s in store for Life OK in the coming months?

    MUMBAI: It was in late 2011 when viewers were introduced to one more general entrainment channel (GEC) and who had thought that in a short span of three years, Star Network’s Life OK would challenge the established ones.

     

    After climbing to the third spot in the TAM TV ratings chart and staying there for long now, the channel has proved its might. It created a niche for itself because of its path breaking content like ‘Saubhagyavati Bhava’, ‘Savdhaan India’ and ‘Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev’.

     

    The man behind the success, the channel’s general manager Ajit Thakur is a humble man who believes in delivering results rather than talking about it.

     

    Thakur who took the path less taken, in an earlier interview to indiantelevision.com, had said that before 2014 ends the channel will have new offerings for its viewers.   

     

    And keeping to his words of giving viewers a never-before-seen experience, the channel has announced its newest property. A dance reality show, ‘Dance to Dance’ will see Akshay Kumar mentoring the contestants as well as hosting it.

     

    Thakur had earlier said in a statement expressed that he has no aversions in doing what other channels are already doing, be it dancing, singing or saas-bahu soaps, but his focus will be on how to do it differently.

     

    The reality programme will see the dancers perform in challenging venues rather than on a stage or a set. One would dance on a narrow wall or even under water. Kumar will first demonstrate the format to each contestant in the dance format with a commitment of a ‘first of its kind’ show.

     

    Produced by SOL Productions, it is open to trained dancers from across the globe rather than just celebrities. Thakur informed that around 30 per cent of the budget of the series will be spent on marketing. Since, there will be several foreign participants, apart from advertising on channels, newspaper, hoardings and radio announcements, social media will be used heavily to reach the viewers overseas.

     

    Apart from this, there are two more new fiction shows that will grace the small screen, soon. The channel is open to work with new producers and agencies and take the channel to the next level.

     

    It has already joined hands with Rajshri Productions, Balaji Telefilms and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah. Sources close to the development reveal that all the shows are currently at the planning stage and will have clarity in the next two months.

     

    “The series will be on-air post Diwali,” adds the source.

     

    Thakur intends to maintain the momentum by continuing with non-traditional content on the channel. Ekta Kapoor’s programme tentatively titled – Bade Dhoke Hai Is Raah Mein Pyaar Ke marks the fiction debut of Sonali Bendre on television.

     

    Reported to be a story with a political backdrop, Bendre is supposed to play the protagonist, who will be forced to develop a career of her own after her husband would get caught in charges of corruption.

     

    Talking about the channel’s second upcoming property, Shah needs no introduction. The man who started off his career with the soap opera Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka has given the industry many successful movies in Aankhen, Namastey London, Singh Is Kingg, and many more. After the success of the game-changer show 24 on Colors, Shah’s show is touted to be another big success story.

     

    Tentatively titled Force, it will be an action-thriller series. It has also roped former Roadie Rannvijay Singh as the lead.

     

    Last but not the least, Rajshri Productions, which currently has ‘Pyaar Ka Dard Hai…’ on Star Plus, is set to narrate one more love story but in a different manner. The show that was tentatively titled Khel Khel Mein has got its final title in Mere Rang Mein Rangnewali.

     

    The serial stating true to Rajshri’s taste will see a joint family with three generations staying together. The show is touted to be a complete family drama with a ‘slice of life’ story about young love.

     

    “We have set a benchmark for new genres. We want to find more new stories and that as time goes by, will become the next level for Life OK. We have always taken pride in working with new people, both inside Life OK and the people we work with outside, our producers and agencies,” Thakur had said in an earlier statement.