Tag: Akshay Kumar

BookMyShow releases ad for I-day release ‘Gold’

MUMBAI: BookMyShow has launched an ad celebrating Independence Day with Akshay Kumar starrer Gold which covers Balbir Singh’s triumphant journey that helped India to win the first ever gold medal for hockey at the Olympics.

BookMyShow marketing and business intelligence SVP Marzdi Kalianiwala said,“Consumers are usually flooded with offer advertisements during holidays and the festive season, and we thought to have a light-hearted take on the situation with our latest film. Even in the case of our past films, the objective was always to be highly relevant and get inspired directly from conversations that take place all around. We hope the audiences will love the subtle use of humour in this particular digital film.”

BBH chief creative officer and managing partner Russell Barrett added, ”Go to where the people are. It’s that simple. With our advertising for BookMyShow, we’ve been able to tap into conversations that people are interested in rather than force a completely new conversation on the audience. Gold is a brilliant film about India’s first gold medal as a free country at the Olympics.”

“The movie releases close to Independence Day, when the airwaves and newspapers will be filled with ‘freedom sales’ and brands exhorting us to ‘stand’ for something. We just felt it was a great opportunity to capitalise on and we hope the audience enjoys the ad enough to go book a ticket on BookMyShow,” he added.

BookMyShow has also released a humorous take on the plethora of discount and promotion led advertisements that usually release around Independence Day.

August 13, 2018
A ‘Colors’ful decade

MUMBAI: It seems just like yesterday. How oft we have heard that phrase being spoken. So much so that it appears banal. However, in the case of Colors – the general entertainment channel from the now Reliance Industries majority-owned Viacom18 – it is so apt. 10 years have gone by since it started.

Twitterland has been buzzing with tweets from Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak, Colors itself, and nominated managing director Sudhanshu Vats celebrating the achievement of the landmark.

And why not? It seems not so long ago that Colors was flagged off under the baton of programming head Ashvini Yardi and the then CEO Rajesh Kamat. The former today is a successful producer and Bollywood icon Akshay Kumar’s production partner. The latter manages funds and is invested in the media space.

Colors disrupted the status quo – and how. At launch stage, expensive loss leaders like Khatron Ke Khiladi hosted by Akshay Kumar, accompanied by path breaking rural subject shows like Na Aana Is Des Laado, Balika Vadhu and Uttaran delivered a breath of fresh air to audiences, who stayed glued to the channel. This gave it unprecedented viewership ratings and made existing leaders Star Plus, Zee TV and Sony Entertainment raise their eyebrows in surprise, and later creased their brows with worry. It succeeded at a time when two other efforts, NDTV Imagine and Real Broadcasting, flopped and folded up. Both had big money backing them. And, no one expected Colors to be any different. The name itself was pretty oddball.

However, fully charged up distribution, sales and marketing teams – led by Kamat, then promoters Raghav Bahl, and then group CEO Haresh Chawla – worked day and night to make it a success. Ambition ran pretty deep. With failure not an option, there was only one path to beat, that of victory over India’s audiences.

Colors shot up the viewership charts dislodging leaders Star and Zee from their perches and carved out its place in the top 3 GEC sweepstakes. Of course, money had been burnt during startup as investment, and the cash burn continued. But the advertising and marketing community caught on quick and started ploughing media spends into the channel.

The Colors rosy tale continued until both Kamat and Ashvini departed, leaving a vacuum. And, like earlier, a surprise candidate was plonked in the drivers’ seat: Raj Nayak – a professional with experience of selling Star Sports and ESPN, then Star Plus in its early humungous success days, later NDTV and then with his own venture Aidem. Quizzical looks went around relating to the selection.

But Raj adapted quickly to the creative demands and brought in a former Sony programming head Manisha Sharma to help and fine-tune the selection of fictional and non –fiction shows. He continued to bet big on shows such as Bigg Boss, invested oodles of money on the Anil Kapoor-starrer 24, and went the mythological, fantasy and superstition way with shows such as Shani, Naagin, Chandrakanta, Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat and formats like Rising Star, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, India’s Got Talent, the superhit comedy show Comedy Nights with Kapil etc. . Most of Raj’s gambles worked. Shows like 24 and detective series Dev got him plaudits galore for investing in good and edgy content, while the others got the channel eyeballs.

And in Colors’ tenth year, it looks like there’s no stopping Raj and the colourful team. Firmly entrenched as a serious contender in the GEC leadership sweepstakes, Colors has spawned extensions in different languages, replicating the Hindi GEC’s success. A change of management twice – once when Raghav sold out to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance and recently when in joint venture Viacom18 American giant Viacom ceded majority to Reliance – has not dampened any spirits. It has only buoyed Raj, Sudhanshu and their merry men (and women).

More so when Ambani at a Viacom18 event in Mumbai late last year, told Sudhanshu — and over hundred guests present — that having invested time and money in the telecom venture Jio, it was time to devote some time to the TV venture, comprising GECs and news channels.

As the celebrations for a decade of existence continue, we at indiantelevision.com doff our hats to the Colors team and wish it success after success.

July 23, 2018
Akshay Kumar joins Harpic as brand ambassador

MUMBAI: Harpic, one of the leading toilet cleaners, has recently announced Akshay Kumar as its brand ambassador to drive the mission of ‘Har Ghar Swachh’. Harpic, along with Kumar, aims to provide universal access to clean toilets to each and every Indian and emphasise on the importance of maintaining a clean toilet.

With the new mission, Kumar plays an evangelist to emphasise the need for taking care of toilets, maintaining them regularly and cleaning them to ensure a healthier living.

He has been a strong supporter of the sanitation movement in India and has championed the social issue through his movies like Toilet Ek Premkatha which was instrumental in driving positive social change.

He is also the brand ambassador of the government’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’.

Speaking on his association, Kumar said, “There is a growing need to sensitise people on the need and importance of keeping their toilets clean and hygienic. It gives me immense pleasure to associate with Harpic to drive the ‘Har Ghar Swachh’ mission. We can no longer treat toilets as a stepchild of the home but consider them to be a source of pride and joy, hence I urge people to join me in this mission so that we can ensure a healthier and hygienic life for ourselves and for our families.”

South Asia RB Hygiene Home CMO, marketing director, Sukhleen Aneja said, “Harpic has been an expert in toilet cleaning for over 30 years now and has undertaken several initiatives to drive behaviour change towards driving transversal access to sanitation. Realising the need for educating consumers on the usage and maintenance of toilet, Harpic through its mission of ‘Har Ghar Swachh’ aims to sensitise people about basic cleaning habits and ensure that every Indian household has access to clean toilets.

“Professionally and personally, Akshay has been a key influencer to drive the sanitation mission and it’s an honour to have him as Harpic’s brand advocate to amplify our mission. Harpic stands for expertise, trust, reliability and positive social change values true to Akshay and thus, the partnership between Harpic and Akshay is a natural extension of these values. With Akshay as the perfect evangelist, Harpic will continue to driving this positive social change,” he added.

Harpic has been a pioneering toilet cleaning brand in India with undisputed market leadership within the specialist toilet cleaner category. With the ‘Har Ghar Swachh’ mission, it is determined to ensure that every home can be cleaned and maintained with Harpic.The association with Akshay will spin a holistic, multi touchpoint campaign that brings to life Harpic’s superiority as a specialist toilet cleaner.

July 2, 2018
Sun TV, Zee Anmol almost neck-to-neck in across genres

BENGALURU: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) free to air (FTA) Hindi general entertainment channel (Hindi GEC) Zee Anmol entered the bastions held by either the Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV or the channel that aired the Indian Premier League (IPL) in week 21 of 2018. Zee Anmol had then topped Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of the top 10 channels across genres, only to be overtaken by the normal occupant of the numero uno rank Sun TV in the following week. In week 23 of 2018 (Saturday, 2 June 2018 to Friday, 8 June 2018), the difference in the ratings between the top channel in the list, Sun TV, and Zee Anmol narrowed to just 1.073 million weekly impressions as compared to the normal difference between Sun TV and the second ranked channel of around 2-5 million weekly impressions in the previous year. Of course, during IPL weeks, it was generally the channel that aired the world’s richest cricket league competition that was ranked first in BARC’s weekly across genres lists.

Six Hindi GECs’, two Telugu GECs’ and one channel each from the Hindi Movies and the Tamil genres comprised BARC’s top 10 channels across genres list during the week under consideration. From the network’s perspective, three channels each from Star India and Zeel, two channels from Sony Pictures Network India and one channel each from the Sun TV Network and Viacom 18 made up BARC’s list of top 10 channels across genres in week 23 of 2018.

As mentioned above, Sun TV topped BARC’s across genres weekly list with 807.338 million weekly impressions in week 23 of 2018 as compared to 856.341 million weekly impressions in the previous week. The channel also was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry markets and the first four programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week were aired on Sun TV in these markets.

At second rank in BARC’s weekly across genres list was Zee Anmol with 806.265 million weekly impressions in the week under review as compared to 824.521 million weekly impressions in week 22 of 2018. Zee Anmol also topped BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking markets or HSM (U+R) and in HSM (R). The Balaji Telefilms produced soap Kumkum Bhagya that was aired on the channel was ranked third in the HSM (U+R) and was ranked first in HSM (R) in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week.

Climbing up three ranks was SPN’s women focused Hindi GEC Sony Pal with 654.741 million weekly impressions in week 23 as compared to 581.109 million weekly impressions in week 22 of 2018. Sony Pal was ranked second in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). The sitcom Tarak Mehta ka Oolath Chasma was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (R).

Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV climbed up a rank to fourth place with 634.961 million weekly impressions in week 23 of 2018 as compared to fifth rank and 624.069 million weekly impressions. Zee TV was ranked third in HSM (U+R) and second in HSM (U). Kumkum Bhagya, which was aired on Zee TV, and its spinoff Kundali Bhagya were ranked second and fourth in HSM (U+R), Kumkum Bhagya was ranked fifth in HSM (R), while in HSM (U) three programes on the channel – the two Bhagyas’ and Ishq Subhan Allah were among BARC’s top 5 Hindi GEC programmes based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week.

SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max was ranked fifth in week 23 of 2018 with 592.577 million weekly impressions as compared to rank four and 664.599 million weekly impressions in week 22. Sony Max also topped BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi Movies channels in the week in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) and was ranked fifth in HSM (R). In week 23 it was the airing of the first part of SS Rajamouli’s two film tale – Bahubali the beginning that helped the channel to its ranks in various BARC’s weekly lists including in the top 5 Hindi Movies programmes list based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). Other films aired on the channel during the week under consideration that were among the top 5 programmes lists were Kanchana Returns and Sultan.

The Balaji Telefilms produced supernatural seasonal soap Naagin has always catapulted Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors to amongst the ranks in BARCs’ top channels and programmes charts. Colors re-entered BARC’s top 10 channels across genres list in week 23 of 2018 at rank six with 571.151 million weekly impressions. Colors was ranked fifth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and was ranked first in HSM (U). The third season of Naagin or Naagin 3 started in week 23. In the week of commencement itself, the programme entered BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in HSM (U+R), HSM (U) and HSM (R). Another offering from the channel, the reality show Dance Deewane also entered BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U).

Retaining its previous week’s seventh rank in week 23 of 2018 was Star India’s FTA Hindi GEC Star Bharat with 559.746 million weekly impressions as compared to 540.519 million weekly impressions in week 22. Star Bharat was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and ranked fifth in HSM (U) and HSM (R).

Pushing its Telugu sibling channel Star Maa one rank to eighth place was another Star India FTA channel Star Utsav with 531.697 million weekly impressions in week 23 as compared to ninth rank and 501.065 million weekly impressions in week 22 of 2018. Star Utsav was ranked sixth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and was ranked fourth in HSM (R).

At ninth rank was Star India’s Telugu GEC Star Maa with 513.783 million weekly impressions in week 23 of 2018 as compared to eighth rank and 539.206 million weekly impressions in week 22. Star Maa was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh markets three of its programmes were among BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in these markets.

Also re-entering the list was Zeel’s Telugu GEC Zee Telugu at tenth place with 510.127 million weekly impressions in week 23 of 2018. Zee Telugu topped BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh markets and one of its programmes was included in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in these markets.

June 15, 2018
BARC Wk 22: Sun TV back on top across genres

BENGALURU: The Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV was back at the pole position in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genre – All India (U+R): 2+ individuals for week 22 of 2018 Saturday, 26 May 2018 to Friday, 1 June 2018 (week under review).

The Tamil GEC was followed at second place by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel)’s free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC Zee Anmol.

Three channels each from the Star India network and Zeel, two channels from the Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) and one channel each from the Sun TV Network and Viacom18 made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genre in week 22 of 2018.

From the genres perspective, six were Hindi GECs, two were Hindi Movies and there was one channel each from the Tamil and the Telugu genres, respectively, in BARC’s weekly across genres list for week 22 of 2018.

Sun TV moved up one rank in week 22 of 2018 to first place with 856.341 million weekly impressions as compared to second rank and 842.114 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Sun TV also headed BARC’s weekly list of top five Tamil channels in the Puducherry and Tamil Nadu markets. The first four programmes in BARC’s weekly list of top five Tamil programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in the same markets were aired on Sun TV.

Zee Anmol slipped a rank to second place in week 22 of 2018 with 824.581 million weekly impressions as compared to 893.536 million weekly impressions in week 21. Zee Anmol was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking or HSM (U+R) and individual rural Hindi speaking or HSM (R) markets during the week under review.

Two programmes, the Balaji Telefilms-produced soap Kumkum Bhagya and Mahek that were aired on Zee Anmol were among BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R).

Moving up a rank after the exit of the IPL 11-airing Star India’s Star Sports 1 Hindi was Viacom18’s FTA Hindi GEC Rishtey. Rishtey garnered 669.004 million weekly impressions in week 22 as compared to 691.066 million weekly impressions in week 21 of 2018. Rishtey was also ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and (HSM (R).

Buoyed by the strong performance of the concluding part of the Hindi version of SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Bahubali: The conclusion or BB2 in all the three markets — HSM (U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U) — SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max jumped up four ranks to fourth place in week 22 of 2018.

Sony Max garnered 664.599 million weekly impressions in the week under review as compared to 541.020 million weekly impression and eighth rank in week 21 of 2018. Sony Max topped BARC’s weekly list of top five Hindi Movies channels in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) and was ranked fifth in HSM (R). BB2 was ranked first in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi Movies programmes in all the three markets. Another Hindi feature film (HFF) Hichki, which aired on Sony Max, was also among the top 5 Hindi Movies programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) markets.

Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV retained its previous week’s rank, fifth, in week 22 of 2018 with higher ratings. The channel scored 624.069 million weekly impressions in week 22 as compared to 612.352 million weekly impressions in week 21 of 2018. Zee TV, ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R), was ranked first in HSM (U) and sixth in HSM (R). Three prgrammes from the channel, Kumkum Bhagya, its spinoff Kundali Bhagya and Mahek, were among the five most watched programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R), while the former two were among the five most watched programmes during primetime in HSM (U) and HSM (R).

SPN’s women focused Hindi GEC Sony Pal also retained its previous week’s rank, sixth, with 581.109 million weekly impressions in week 22 as compared to 605.098 million weekly impressions in week 21 of 2018.

Sony Pal was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) and third in HSM (R). The sitcom Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah that was aired on Sony Pal was among the top five programmes during primetime in HSM (R) in BARC’s list of the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime based on average rating across all airings (original and repeat) in the week in HSM (R).

Ranks seventh, eighth and ninth in week 22 of 2018 were held by three Star India channels. The FTA Hindi GEC Star Bharat retained its previous week’s seventh rank in week 22 of 2018 with 540.519 million weekly impressions as compared to 568.156 million weekly impressions in week 21. Star Bharat was ranked fifth in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GECs in all the three markets – HSM (U+R), HSM (U) and HSM (R).

At eighth rank in week 22 of 2018 was Star India’s Telugu GEC Star Maa with 539.206 million weekly impressions as compared to the ninth rank and 509.836 million weekly impressions in week 21. Star Maa topped BARC’s weekly list of the top 5 Telugu channels in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana markets. Three of the top five Telugu programmes during primetime in these markets were aired on Star Maa.

Re-entering the list in week 22 of 2018 was another FTA Hindi GEC channel Star Utsav with 501.065 million weekly impressions. Star Utsav was ranked sixth in BARC’s weekly list of top10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) and ranked fifth in HSM (R).

Zeel’s Hindi Movies channel Zee Cinema entered BARC’s across genres list for the first time in calendar year 2018 in week 22. The channel was also ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi Movies channels in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U). The world television premier of the Akshay Kumar-starrer HFF PadMan, which was among the top five Hindi Movies programmes during primetime in the HSM (U+R) and HSM (R) and the Rajshree Productions’ hit Hum SaathSaath Hain from the year 1999 in HSM (U) were also responsible for the channel’s entry into the top 10 channels list

June 8, 2018
Akshay Kumar extends sanitation drive by associating with Swachh Bharat Mission

MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has joined hands with Indian government’s cleanliness initiative Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) and launched a new campaign.

The campaign was launched at a Collectors Convention for Toilet Technology organised in Delhi and focuses on promoting the twin pit toilet technology in rural India, and also features actor Bhumi Pednekar along with Kumar.

In his welcome address, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation secretary Parameswaran Iyer spoke about the contribution made by Kumar to the Swachh Bharat Mission. He said that right from his movie, Toilet Ek Prem Katha, which was seen and appreciated by rural and urban people across the country, to his participation in the twin pit toilet advertisement campaign for the Swachh Bharat Mission, Kumar has been a strong supporter of the sanitation movement underway in the country.

Kumar interacted with Swachh Bharat Mission officials, district collectors, communication experts and members from the media on the occasion. During his interaction, he spoke about the need for influencers of society to talk freely about toilets, and empty toilet pits around the country to destigmatise cleaning of one’s own toilet by members of the family itself.

The district collectors and field officials, during the interaction, spoke about the power of women in leading the sanitation mission in rural areas, and the role played by the movie, in leading this behaviour change. It was also announced by the ministry of drinking water and sanitation on this occasion that the producers of Toilet Ek Prem Katha have given rights to all state and district teams of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) to screen the movie in villages on a non-commercial basis.

The twin pit toilet technology was invented in India and is the most well-suited toilet technology for rural India, and is recommended by Government of India and the World Health Organisation. It is scientifically proven that a pit in a standard twin-pit toilet model fills up in roughly five years for a 6-membered family.

The states are continuously encouraged by the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) to include awareness generation about the above facts as part of their grassroots information, education and communication (IEC) efforts.

The advertisement campaign launched is an effort, supported by the World Bank, towards encouraging this technology using mass media.

The advertisement will be translated in several regional languages including Hindi on television channels.

May 30, 2018
Policybazaar, Paisabazaar sign Akshay Kumar as brand ambassador

MUMBAI: ETechAces Marketing & Consulting, which owns insur-tech brand, PolicyBazaar.com, and marketplace for lending products, PaisaBazaar.com, has roped in actor Akshay Kumar as its brand ambassador.

Policybazaar.com and Paisabazaar.com have launched their biggest ever marketing campaign, spread across the financial products basket of term insurance, free credit score and others.

The campaign was launched with a video of Kumar donning the avatar of Yamraj for Policybazaar’s campaign on the digital platform. The first TVCs from the duo will be aired across a spectrum of TV channels, including the IPL broadcast.

Commenting on why the maverick actor was a natural choice for the brand to sign as its ambassador, policybazaar.com co-founder and group CEO Yashish Dahiya says, “He is self-made, speaks directly and delivers important messages with humour, these attributes make him a perfect fit for our brands. Like him, our brands stand for transparency, positive social change, reliability, trust and have a genuine connect with the masses. So, this partnership is a natural extension of the values that we share with him. Our shared passion for fitness is an added plus.”

paisabazaar.com co-founder and CEO Naveen Kukreja adds, “Being the market leaders for both insurance and lending products, our next step is to take our brand to every Indian household and who better than Akshay Kumar to spread this message. Along with being one of the biggest names in the Indian entertainment Industry, he is also the face that the common man resonates with. We strongly feel our association with Akshay would further build customer’s trust on Policybazaar and Paisabazaar.”

Policybazaar.com and paisabazaar.com associate director and group head of marketing Sai Narayan mentions, “Our latest marketing campaign, featuring Akshay Kumar, is aimed to garner a wider reach for both Policybazaar and Paisabazaar’s key messaging around financial products. We have already upped the ante through our ongoing campaign during the IPL broadcasts, and will be launching our new campaign with Akshay in the IPL later this week. We will also launch other product-specific campaigns with Akshay through the year.”

The high-impact campaign will be aired on Star Sports, Star Sports HD, Star Gold, &Pictures, &TV, Discovery Channel, History TV18, National Geographic, NDTV 24×7, India Today, Mirror Now, Zee TV, Aaj Tak, ABP News and others.

May 14, 2018
Akshay Kumar’s Padman releases exclusively on ZEE5, the digital entertainment destination

MUMBAI: Akshay Kumar’s movie Padman breaks the stereotype of premiering on a television platform and is screening Theater Ke Baad, Pehli Baar on ZEE5, the largest multilingual digital entertainment destination for India! Post its blockbuster theatrical release, ZEE5 has been the first destination to premier Padman exclusively for an anytime, anywhere watch from May 11.

Expressing his thoughts on Padman’s digital release Akshay Kumar said, “With millennials more inclined towards digital entertainment, we know where the future is. ZEE group has always been at the forefront to highlight social issues and Padman being a movie based on a social cause, there couldn’t have been a better digital platform than ZEE5 to premiere it.”

Padman, through the courageous story of Arunachalam Muruganantham (played by Akshay Kumar), draws attention towards the sensitive topic of menstrual hygiene and how it is essential for the society that women have a right to it. The movie showcases true life story of a common man, who for the love of his wife tried to bring a social reformation by introducing low cost sanitary napkins in India.

Taking forward Padman’s concept, ZEE5 is doing their share by tying up with Saafkins and contributing to the #GiveHer5 campaign. For every subscription, ZEE5 will donate Rs 5 to Saafkins, world’s first reusable/ washable sanitary napkin, #KadamChhotaChangeBada. While an initiative by ZEE5, looks at making a difference; a social thought presented with honesty makes Padman, a must watch family film.

Archana Anand, Head of Digital – ZEE5 India Business said, “Padman has bought about a phenomenal change in the way society is looking at menstrual hygiene and we are proud to showcase the film on our platform. The movie is a take on a subject most Indians are reluctant to talk about and Padman puts it on the forefront which is a commendable effort. By associating with Saafkins, ZEE5 is doing their little bit via #KadamChotaChangeBada to contribute to the worthy cause and make a difference in the lives of underprivileged women.” The movie will premiere on ZEE5 on 11th May.

Apart from having a rich bouquet of exciting original content lined up across 6 different languages, ZEE5 will showcase latest blockbuster movies on the platform. With a slate of 20 Originals to be launched in 2018, the platform will have 90+ shows by the end of March 2019.

Availability: ZEE5 App can be downloaded from Google Play Store http://bit.ly/zee5andand iOS App Store http://bit.ly/zee5ios. Also available at www.zee5.com, as a Progressive Web App (PWA), and on Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick. ZEE5 also supports Chromecast.

Pricing: Freemium pricing model with both free and paid premium content (including Originals) is available to cater to a mix of audiences. Viewers who subscribe to the ZEE5 subscription pack will get access to the entire library of content at a special launch offer price of INR 99 per month instead of the actual monthly pack price of INR 150.

May 10, 2018

Exclusive political debate with Chief Minister creates huge media buzz at Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year Awards 2018

Mumbai: Lokmat, Maharashtra’s and Pune’s Number 1 newspaper, hosted the 5th edition of its highest platform of recognition – ‘UPL presents Lokmat Maharashtrian of the year Awards 2018 powered by Money Trade Coin Group. This initiative by Lokmat honored the most exceptional work done by individuals in their respective sectors. Power packed with eminent political bigwigs, it witnessed 1st time Shri Devendra Fadnavis in an explosive interview with Mr. Sanjay Raut, Executive Editor, Dainik Saamna. The event with 360 degree marketing is one of the sought after and well attended events in Mumbai which boasts of 70 nominees, 17 winners, 15 jury members, 4500 audience backed by 1st of its kind unique content in the presence of people as Piyush Goyal, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ravi Shastri, Shreya Ghoshal amongst others. The event got a multimedia presence amplified in print, digital, outdoor, PR and TV. The awards received an overall 360 degree media reach of 150 MN and online voting of 2.2 MN. #MaharashtrianoftheYear was trending for 24hrs with a reach of 20 MN on Twitter. The event was executed by Taplight.

Winners of 2018 –

Sr. No.	Category	Winner
1	Maharashtra Bhushan	Piyush Goyal
2	Power Icon	Kareena Kapoor
3	Social Influencer	Akshay Kumar
4	Maharashtracha Abhimaan	Ravi Shastri
5	Lifetime Achievement	Dr. D. Y. Patil
6	Social Service	Dinkar Kamble
7	Social Service	Shantilal Muttha
8	Sports	Aakanksha Hagawane
9	Theatre (Male)	Chandrakant Kulkarni
10	Theatre (Female)	Rutuja Bagwe
11	Film (Male)	Sumeet Raghavan
12	Film (Female)	Sonali Kulkarni
13	Film (Female)	Sumitra Bhave
14	Performing Arts	Shreya Ghoshal
15	Medical	Dr. Milind Kirtane
16	Business	Rahul Dhoot
17	IAS – Promising	G. Sreekanth
18	IPS – Promising	Abhinav Deshmukh
19	Powerful Politician	Dhananjay Munde
20	Powerful Politician	Poonam Mahajan
21	CSR	Procter & Gamble

Esteemed jury for the 2018 award ceremony included Mr. Prakash Javdekar (Union Minister), Shri Prithviraj Chauhan (Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra), Padma Shri Dr. Abhay Bang renowned social worker, Dr. Rajendra Bhadwe (Oncologist), Mr. Vikram Shroff (Executive Director, UPL), Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar (Former MP, Economist & Ex-Vice Chancellor), Mr. Prasoon Joshi (Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification), Mr. Raj Nayak (CEO Colors-Viacom 18), Mr. Anu Malik (Music Director), Mr. Ajay-Atul (Music Director-Composer), Mr. Rahul Joshi (Group Editor, Network 18), Ms. Nivedita Saraf (Marathi Actress), Mr. Ravi Jadhav (Film Director) Mr. Ayaz Memon (Sports Journalist) and Mr. Vijay Darda, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (1998-2016) & Chairman – Lokmat Media Group).

Founder of LMOTY – Mr. Rishi Darda, Joint Managing & Editorial Director, Lokmat Media Group said, “Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year Awards is a true testament of the dedication and sheer hard work of people who emerge winners due to their contribution in that area. With a huge round of expectation from our readers and partners, this event brings people from sports, lifestyle, cinema and politics on one platform bringing out the best in each one of them through candid conversations. The interview of Shri Devendra Fadnavis, prior to elections, has been one of the most viral videos from the event and has taken the social media by storm. Content and great engagement with readers is something that Lokmat stands for. ”

“I am extremely delighted that we have honored the eminent personalities who are drivers of change in Maharashtra through Maharashtrian of the year. The awards are a testimony of the positive impact made by individuals to promote Maharashtra on the national and global platform and from UPL we are happy to be part of this uniquely prestigious property that involves great level of public voting as well as a jury shortlist process. Apart from print of Lokmat, the property is amplified in other media and through noteworthy alliances which gives us a widespread visibility.” said Mr. Jai Shroff, Global CEO, UPL – Presenting Sponsor.

Partners of the event were – Presenting partner – UPL, powered by Money Trade Coin Group, investment partner – IIFL, realty partner – Sai Estate Consultant, jewelry partner – Goodwin, outdoor partner – Bright Outdoor, associate partner – New India Assurance, intellectual partner – Crossword, radio partner – 92.7Big FM, mobility partner – Ola and TV news partner – ABP News and ABP Majha. The TV partners of the event – ABP News and ABP Majha telecasted a special episode on April 15th to show the highlights of the event for a larger TV audience.

April 23, 2018

Zee Cinema airs Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan’s superhit film Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love

Zee Cinema, Home of Blockbusters, brings you the power-packed emotional drama, ‘Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love’ that airs on the channel on Saturday, 3rd February at 8 PM. With performances that truly touch the heart and India’s acting power-houses – ‘Big B’ and the ‘Khiladi of Bollywood’, this movie showcases varying relationships that exist between the members of a household and how familial ties truly bind individuals to each other. The two superstars, Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar were seen sharing screen space for the very first time in ‘Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love.’

Directed by Suneel Darshan, this family drama features melodious songs like Ek Dil Hai and Hum Khush Hue by music composing duo of the 90s – Nadeem-Shravan. With Karisma Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and Mohnish Behl in pivotal roles, grab your loved ones and get ready for an emotional roller-coaster that will captivate the whole family.

Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love is the story of Ajay (Akshay Kumar) who returns to India after completing his education overseas. His father Vijay Kapoor (Amitabh Bachchan), who is a successful businessman, expects him to join the family business. While Ajay chooses to follow his own path, Rajesh, an orphan in search of a job (Mohnish Behl) enters their family and tries to influence Vijay. Oblivious to his hidden motives and infuriated by Ajay’s decision, Vijay hands over the power of attorney to Rajesh and marries his daughter Priti (Juhi Chawla) to him. As a result of this, the family goes through a complete upheaval at Rajesh’s hands.

Will Ajay return to his family and help them get out of this mess? Is blood really thicker than water?

January 30, 2018