ITV

Tag: Anupam Kher

  • Indu Sarkar…….Who cares!

    There seems to be some kind of intent among some filmmakers to please the present dispensation at the helm in India. So, we have a film here which concocts a story around 1975/1977 Emergency declared in India by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi to save her government and her position. This is a women-oriented film, following soon in the line-up of recent failures such as Mom, Mattr and the ilk.

    Emergency was a black spot on the world’s largest democracy, India. And, it was a serious issue when the best and bravest of nationalist leaders either went into hiding or were whisked off from their homes at midnight and consigned to jails.

    And, when all and mighty of the opposition were helter skelter, running to save their own skin, filmmaker, Madhur Bhandarkar, finds this underdog played by Kirti Kulhari, a stuttering marriage unhappy woman, to take on the might of the authority of the emergency imposing powers. Her inspiration being the character of Anupam Kher, leading an identifiable Hindu right wing group who arouses her conscious and edges her on to lead a move to free the country!! One wonders, why Kher and his group expect a woman to take on the might of emergency while they stay in the background!

    There are references and scenes dedicated to the excesses of the emergency era like slums demolitions and forced nasbandi (sterilisation) on young and old alike (Though this was limited to the Hindi belt, mainly to Delhi and UP, and bore no all India effect.) besides strong armed tactics and violence by those ruling. Kirti finds her cause in life when she learns that her husband, played by Tota Roy Chowdhury, being a government servant, is responsible for acts of slum demolitions etc.

    Indu Sarkar, the title, has the connotations that Indira (Gandhi), referred to as Indu by those close to her including Moraraji Desai, was the Sarkar, the ultimate authority. But, that hardly adds to the film’s USP.

    The Emergency, like many other events such as the Sikh massacre, are a thing of the past and of use only for the sling matches by the opposing political parties. Indians forget and forgive fast.

    This is 2017 and this film bears no relevance today and is a futile exercise and waste of resources. Films like Nasbandi (IS Johar) and Kissaa Kursee Kaa (Amrit Nahta), released soon after the Emergency, were disasters.

    Producers: Bharat Shah, Madhur Bhandarkar.

    Director: Madhur Bhandarkar.

    Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Supriya Vinod, Anupam Kher, Tota Roy Chowdhury.

  • Arnab stomps into digital space with republicworld.com

    MUMBAI: The game has just begun! That is what he had stated on his last day at Times Now. And Republic TV’s founder editor Arnab Goswami is living up to that promise.

    Two months from the day he announced the launch of the news channel Republic TV he has formally announced the unveiling of its digital cousin –Republicworld.com – on 7 July.

    And it looks like an impressive offering to say the least. First of all, the design and the look of republicworld.com is very clean, and visual heavy with news being segregated under various sections right from general news to politics to sport to lifestyle to tech to entertainment. Of course, visitors can also watch Republic TV’s shows such as Arnab’s Sunday debate, The Anupam Kher show, R.Access, Patriot, and the new one: The Nation Wants to Know.

    But, the killer app is that the reader can customise the language for the site, according to his preferences. Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, and Odiya are the options given to him.

    Republicworld has been able to offer that wide a range of thanks to its partnership with various media houses with eight of them being specifically with digital outlets. The media partners include Business World, OTV, Sambad, News Live, Niyomiya Barta, North East Live, Punjab Kesari, Aajkaal, S Newz, Dainik Bhaskar, Nirmana News, Kashmir Monitor, Lokmat, Vikatan TV, Polimer, Asianetnews.tv, Asianet News, Kannada Prabha, Suvarna News, News Mobile.in; across India and the community partners include tripoto.com, RSJ, LBB.in, yourstory.com, digit.in, and AutoX.

    Additionally, what strikes you is the experimentation that is being attempted on republicworld.com in the form of the handful of 360-degree videos that have been put out on the site. Republic’s video content is being streamed in HD with the app slated for a launch in the next three weeks. It will feature long-format live and VoD content in the form of vertical videos, especially created for mobile audience as reported by indiantelevision.com on 30 June.

    Some may call this as resorting to gimmicks, but Team Republic says they know what they are doing.

    Says Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani: “Innovation is very critical to succeed. We were clear that we want to differentiate. Look at the digital success and traditional success stories. Often, one of the primary reasons behind the triumph is technology, which is as important as content. Also, one needs to understand the consumer and the journey across platforms. Therefore, it’s critical to make sure that you are able to draw up a strategy that gives you maximum reach.”

    Adds Republicworld.com COO Jay Chauhan: “In the digital content space, there is no dominant global player operating out of south Asia, and that’s a big opportunity for us. Republicworld.com is at the intersection of content and technology, so we will keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to constantly engage and improve upon the user experience.”

    Clearly, Chauhan is the right man for the job. Arnab and Khanchandani poached 20-years NDTV veteran from the Prannoy-run outfit. During his career at the news network, Chauhan headed its technology consulting division and bagged numerous international awards for technical innovation.

    The editorial responsibility for republicworld.com has been put in the hands of deputy news editor Sriram Sivaraman. And a team of 30 – including editors, producers and journalists – are running the site.

    Says Chauhan: “Within India, regional content consumption is growing exponentially, and with the excellent network of our digital partners, this launch reaffirms our objective to work as a force and consistently engage with our audience in the language and habit of their choice.”

    On the technology front, RepublicWorld has tieups with American and Canadian companies. Pierre Friquet (VR director/ writer/ consultant) from Canada and Ando Shah (founder & CEO at Tesseract) from San Francisco trained its producers for a month to shoot content in VR.

    Sources indicate that republicworld.com will be burning cash in excess of Rs 2 crore a month, something which Khanchandani is unwilling to confirm. Says he: “Content delivery is a significant cost, and it will expand. Our investment will increase as more and more consumers will start consuming.”

    With that high a burn rate, it’s imperative that revenues start kicking in – and quickly. But, Khanchandani says that has already been taken care of as some of the ad deals it has signed for Republic TV include republicworld.com. He and his team will be reaching out to sign on newer advertisers too.

    He explains: “We were waiting to make the digital announcement, and now, it’s a good time to go to market. We will have sponsored content. If you look at the landscape of display advertising, it has changed significantly. If you see revenues of Yahoo and Microsoft, display business has come down — dramatically. Video is easier to buy and create. Video advertising, native advertising and sponsored content is what we are looking at.”

    Republicworld.com seems to be luring in visitors if one looks at its traffic statistics, courtesy Amazon-owned web tracker Alexa. According to this morning’s update, Alexa showed that republicworld.com had screamed up 179,000-odd spots to rank at 38,167, amongst all sites globally. And its Indian rank is a healthy 2,830. What’s important is the engagement in terms of the amount of time being spent on the site: a healthy 3 minutes and 33 seconds per visitor session. However, it has a high bounce rate of 65 per cent.

    As TV viewers would confirm, Arnab does this to people.

  • Steps to encourage ease of doing film business under way

    NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting secretary Ajay Mittal has said the Ministry has initiated a series of measures to promote ease of doing business and reiterated government’s commitment to work closely with the film industry.

    Mittal was speaking at a function where megastar Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the new office premise of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Mumbai yesterday.

    A number for film personalities including former CBFC Chairman Anupam Kher, Ramesh Sippy, Raveena Tandon, Sonu Sood, Pritish Nandy, Manmohan Shetty, Gajendra Chauhan, Kiran Shantaram, Mukesh Sharma were among those present.

    CBFC, which had been functioning from the Bharat Bhavan in the White House Complex on Walkeshwar Road since 1950s, was facing severe space constraint against drastic increase in work load.

    Mumbai, being the centre of the Hindi, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi film industry, accounts for nearly 60% of all certification work of CBFC. During 2015-16, it certified over 11,000 films of various duration including 787 Indian feature films and 690 foreign films for theatrical release in India.

    Faced with an acute space constraint, lack of parking facility for visitors, CBFC moved a proposal for allocation of space in the Films Division Complex for a modern, digitally enabled office. It may be recalled that the online film certification system of CBFC was launched by Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi last week.

    Ramesh Sippy welcomed the online film certification system saying it would facilitate quicker certification of films.

    The Civil Construction Wing of Prasar Bharati has refurbished the new office, which houses the chambers of the Chairman, CEO as well as the Mumbai Regional Office. CBFC, besides its own preview facilities, can now utilize additional preview theatres of Films Division as well to quicken the process of film certification.

    The Films Division Complex now houses the offices of Films Division, Children’s Film Society of India, CBFC and also the upcoming National Museum of Indian Cinema, which is expected to promote synergy among different institutions of the I &B Ministry.

  • Naam Shabana……Halfhearted!

    MUMBAI: You realise that whatever Naam Shabana had to show has already been shown in the film’s promos. The strategy may draw the initial audience to an extent but, since they are not going back being a very happy lot that is about all.

    Akashy Kumar did Baby with Tapsee Pannu (2015) playing a brief role. Akshay, being a star of over 25 years of standing, is accepted readily playing an action hero. But, when you are letting loose a female protagonist who you expect to carry a film through in place of Akshay, you need a build-up for her. So Tapsee who featured in Baby is given a backstory here. Her past, which makes up for the first part of the film and, when she is assigned a mission, that makes for the latter part of the film.

    If you look at the film that way, it is what is referred in the West as a double bill: two films at the price of one.

    Tapsee, playing Shabana Khan, is one stern person drained of all emotions. Brought up in predominantly Muslim locality of Mumbai in a small flat, she and her mother have suffered heavily from her drunkard father. Both women, Tapsee and her mother, have been at the receiving end of nonstop violence. Not to be a victim of any kind of violence again, Tapsee is training for martial art.

    Relentlessly wooed by her college mate, played by Taher Mithaiwala, Tapsee is not ready for any sort of commitment. Her idea about men is not positive thanks to her father’s behaviour. The only person Tapsee trusts and confides into is her mother.

    Taher finally manages to win Tapsee’s love and, after spending a cosy evening with him but before she could say she also loves him, Tahir becomes the victim of a group of spoilt boys from Delhi making merry in Mumbai. While that saves Tapsee from being molested, the experience also leaves her devastated as well full of rage.

    Tapsee now wants revenge, nothing sort of kill the perpetrators. The police is no help. That is when she starts getting help from anonymous source. Tapsee is trained to be a lethal weapon by her benevolent caller. Her offenders are located for her and all the arrangements are made for her to get to her enemies and kill them. Also shadowing her is her guardian angel played by Akshay Kumar.

    Having sought her revenge, Tapsee is now ready for the purpose her helpers had in mind for her. It seems, a national agency was tracking her moves and aggression all along and intended to enrol her as a spy to work for the country. Her handler so far keeping tabs on her is the character of Manoj Bajpayee.

    Having agreed to join the agency, Tapsee’s assignment is to liquidate an international arms supplier played by Prithviraj Sukumaran. Many agents have earlier lost their lives trying to tackle Prithviraj and, he also keeps getting his looks changed through plastic surgery.

    Finally, Prithviraj is tracked to Malaysia and it is time to move the narration out of congested Mumbai streets and to a more picturesque locations in Kuala Lumpur. Here, after some more trackers losing their lives to Prithviraj, it is left to Tapsee to tackle him singlehandedly.

    Naam Shabana, in an effort to give a back story to Tapsee, fails to connect the two parts. The way other characters are etched out make Indian spies look like fools and their parts look like they are playing a game of spies. Then, to send a novice agent to a villain who has been painted huge is not convincing. And, making Akshay her shadow and a guardian angel seems more an attempt to keep Akshay on the screen so the viewer does not feel cheated.

    Direction fails to detect or solve these and other glitches. While the first half story has been seen in few films earlier, it is still watchable due to Tapsee’s efforts. The second half sags. Music though out of place comes in three songs. Dialogue is good in parts. Editing needed to be sharper.

    Tapsee Pannu performs very well carrying her angry young girl image through with conviction. Akshay Kumar has really nothing to do and he does nothing to alleviate the situation. Prithviraj Sukumaran makes a mark. Manoj Bajpayee is okay.

    Danny and Anupam Kher make fleeting appearances to no avail. Taher Mithaiwal is fair. Naam Shabana is a halfhearted effort, the only comfort being in its seemingly low making costs.

    Producers: Neeraj Pandey, Shital Bhatia.

    Director: Shivam Nair.

    Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Akshay Kumar,. Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa, Prithviraj Sukumaran.

  • Max Fashion launches ‘Max Emerging Star’

    MUMBAI: Max, a leading international fast fashion brand, has announced its new property ‘Max Emerging Star’ which will serve as the perfect platform for India’s aspiring actors, dancers and fashion enthusiasts to fulfill their dreams and get groomed for superstardom. The contest is focused on the search for the most fashionable aspirant: Mr. and Miss Max Emerging Star, who has talent, the right body language, attitude and the passion to get closer to making it to Bollywood.

    Nowadays, the harbinger of performing arts is not just metropolitan cities anymore, it is the Indian tier 2 cities that are now the new drivers of acting, dance and fashion. Even with the advent of communication technology, the locals do have to struggle as there are not many avenues or platforms for them to showcase their talent. Hence, with Max Emerging Star, Max aims at reaching out to these talents from small towns and provide them that perfect launch platform.

    Starting from 7 March this year, auditions for the contest will be held in 04 cities including Vadodara, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar and Lucknow. Contestants will be judged by an esteemed jury panel in each of these cities and winners will be announced. These city winners will then undergo a final selection round in Mumbai on 7th April. The jury panel for the final selection round includes acting legend Anupam Kher, Actor and supermodel Marc Robinson and India’s favorite dance Guru Terence Lewis.

    The schedule for the City Auditions is provided below –
    Vadodara – Tuesday, 7th March 2017 at Inorbit Mall
    Visakhapatnam – Saturday, 11th March 2017 at Chitralaya Mall
    Bhubaneshwar – Thursday, 16th March 2017 at Rajmahal Chowk Store
    Lucknow – Wednesday, 29th March 2017 at Fun Republic Mall

    Registrations in each of the above cities would be 11am to 1pm on the above mentioned dates.
    Eligibility criteria –
    Age of participants should be between 18 to 24 years
    Participant’s marital status should be single
    Minimum height requirement – 5’5” for females and 5’10” for males
    Participants should be of Indian nationality

    Winners of each City Finale will receive a cash prize of rupees 40,000/- , will get featured on hoardings in their respective cities and will also get chance to be groomed by Actor and Supermodel Marc Robinson. The National Winners – Mr. and Miss Max Emerging Star, will be gratified with a three-month acting course at Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares – The school for the actors and a one month intensive dance course at Terence Lewis professional training institute.

     

  • M S Dhoni: The Untold Story…Makings of a hit, but targets big

    M S Dhoni: The Untold Story…Makings of a hit, but targets big

    M S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ is one biopic that has caused enough curiosity in the trade circles as well as amongst moviegoers. While most biopic come years after the person and his/her heroics have faded from the public memory, this one comes just in time. Even as Indian cricketer Dhoni probably now is closer to calling it a day, the legend and excitement is still very much alive.

    The first half is all about the untold part of Dhoni’s life: his dreams and struggles. Something that few have known or cared to know as long as their idol was excelling on the field.

    The coach of the school cricket team, Rajesh Sharma, is at his wits end as the lad he counted on as the team’s wicket-keeper has ditched him. It is only two months to exams and his parents think studies are more important than cricket. Can’t blame the parents since, till then, cricket had remained more a metro-centric game. At least, as far as team selections and spotting new talents were concerned. Cricket as a career had no future for small town lads.

    Sharma happens to watch the school football team practicing and the goalkeeper catches his eye. The lad does not let a single shot get through to the post. But, Dhoni, (Sushant Singh Rajput) would have none of it: playing with a small ball is not his idea of sport. Also, when it comes to cricket, he would rather bat than field. Finally, when Rajput agrees, his father, Anupam Kher, is reluctant. As he grows, Dhoni, keeps on improving his skills and makes progress locally moving from a Rs 600/ pm stipend to Rs. 1500 and, finally, landing a job with the Railways as a ticket checker.

    Dhoni keeps taking big strides but local authorities’ negligence results in him missing a chance to be selected for the Under-19 Indian team. The budding cricketer is depressed as his career is stuck as a ticket checker.

    Dhoni’s luck seems to brighten up eventually. The chairman of the Indian cricket board (late ex-Chairman Jagmohan Dalmia lookalike) decides to spot talent from the hinterlands of India instead of just concentrating on big towns. Dhoni’s skills are noticed. But, there are four other contenders for the wicket-keeper’s job. Finally, it is Dhoni’s batting, coupled with his wicket-keeping abilities, which earns him a spot in the national team.

    After failing badly in initial matches, Dhoni makes his presence felt with a century and, for him, there is no looking back thereafter. He is selected to lead Team India and scales glories as his team wins both the One-Day as well as T20 world championships.

    The long first half is all about Dhoni’s struggles and the ultimate rise to the top.

    The second half deals mainly with a celebrated cricketer’s life beyond the game. Dhoni comes across his first love, Disha Patani, at a time when he has failed on his debut. While Dhoni is in Pakistan playing for the country, Disha, out to buy a Valentine’s Day gift for him lost in the thoughts, meets with a fate that alters the love narrative.

    Dhoni meets Sakshi (Kiara Advani), a trainee with a 5-star Kolkata hotel who has no knowledge about cricket. Taken in by her innocence, love happens to Dhoni again.

    The film attempts to go too much into the details of Dhoni’s life and takes its own time doing so. In the process, its run time extends to three hours and five minutes. The film misses out on the vital junctures of his life like his appointment as the captain bypassing many senior players of the time.

    Rather than showcase the cricketer’s prowess as a wicket-keeper, which was his forte, most of the footage is devoted to his batting capabilities and how it often helped India win. All that should have come in the latter part of the film that lacks in cricket and concentrates more on his love life. The matches and crowd footage acquired by the makers from various TV networks saves the film from shoddy crowd scenes seen in most cricket-oriented films. The film has songs in the background that are soothing.

    Replicating a living and still active cricket legend is tough, but Sushant Singh Rajput slips into the role easily within few scenes into the film. He has done an able job. Disha Patani and Kaira Advani are good in small roles. Anupam Kher and Bhumika Chawla lend good support, while Rajesh Sharma, Mukesh Bhatt and Brijendra Mishra impress as usual.

    `M S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ generated enthusiasm during pre-release period and is now getting positive response from the audience, thanks to the popularity of Dhoni. The film has all the makings of a hit were it not for its high cost of production.

    (The film is being released simultaneously in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu versions.)

    Producers: Arun Pandey, Fox Star Studios.

    Director: Neeraj Pandey.

    Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anupam Kher, Bhumika Chawla, Kiara Advani, Disha Patani, Rajesh Sharma, Mukesh Bhatta, Brijendra Mishra.

  • M S Dhoni: The Untold Story…Makings of a hit, but targets big

    M S Dhoni: The Untold Story…Makings of a hit, but targets big

    M S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ is one biopic that has caused enough curiosity in the trade circles as well as amongst moviegoers. While most biopic come years after the person and his/her heroics have faded from the public memory, this one comes just in time. Even as Indian cricketer Dhoni probably now is closer to calling it a day, the legend and excitement is still very much alive.

    The first half is all about the untold part of Dhoni’s life: his dreams and struggles. Something that few have known or cared to know as long as their idol was excelling on the field.

    The coach of the school cricket team, Rajesh Sharma, is at his wits end as the lad he counted on as the team’s wicket-keeper has ditched him. It is only two months to exams and his parents think studies are more important than cricket. Can’t blame the parents since, till then, cricket had remained more a metro-centric game. At least, as far as team selections and spotting new talents were concerned. Cricket as a career had no future for small town lads.

    Sharma happens to watch the school football team practicing and the goalkeeper catches his eye. The lad does not let a single shot get through to the post. But, Dhoni, (Sushant Singh Rajput) would have none of it: playing with a small ball is not his idea of sport. Also, when it comes to cricket, he would rather bat than field. Finally, when Rajput agrees, his father, Anupam Kher, is reluctant. As he grows, Dhoni, keeps on improving his skills and makes progress locally moving from a Rs 600/ pm stipend to Rs. 1500 and, finally, landing a job with the Railways as a ticket checker.

    Dhoni keeps taking big strides but local authorities’ negligence results in him missing a chance to be selected for the Under-19 Indian team. The budding cricketer is depressed as his career is stuck as a ticket checker.

    Dhoni’s luck seems to brighten up eventually. The chairman of the Indian cricket board (late ex-Chairman Jagmohan Dalmia lookalike) decides to spot talent from the hinterlands of India instead of just concentrating on big towns. Dhoni’s skills are noticed. But, there are four other contenders for the wicket-keeper’s job. Finally, it is Dhoni’s batting, coupled with his wicket-keeping abilities, which earns him a spot in the national team.

    After failing badly in initial matches, Dhoni makes his presence felt with a century and, for him, there is no looking back thereafter. He is selected to lead Team India and scales glories as his team wins both the One-Day as well as T20 world championships.

    The long first half is all about Dhoni’s struggles and the ultimate rise to the top.

    The second half deals mainly with a celebrated cricketer’s life beyond the game. Dhoni comes across his first love, Disha Patani, at a time when he has failed on his debut. While Dhoni is in Pakistan playing for the country, Disha, out to buy a Valentine’s Day gift for him lost in the thoughts, meets with a fate that alters the love narrative.

    Dhoni meets Sakshi (Kiara Advani), a trainee with a 5-star Kolkata hotel who has no knowledge about cricket. Taken in by her innocence, love happens to Dhoni again.

    The film attempts to go too much into the details of Dhoni’s life and takes its own time doing so. In the process, its run time extends to three hours and five minutes. The film misses out on the vital junctures of his life like his appointment as the captain bypassing many senior players of the time.

    Rather than showcase the cricketer’s prowess as a wicket-keeper, which was his forte, most of the footage is devoted to his batting capabilities and how it often helped India win. All that should have come in the latter part of the film that lacks in cricket and concentrates more on his love life. The matches and crowd footage acquired by the makers from various TV networks saves the film from shoddy crowd scenes seen in most cricket-oriented films. The film has songs in the background that are soothing.

    Replicating a living and still active cricket legend is tough, but Sushant Singh Rajput slips into the role easily within few scenes into the film. He has done an able job. Disha Patani and Kaira Advani are good in small roles. Anupam Kher and Bhumika Chawla lend good support, while Rajesh Sharma, Mukesh Bhatt and Brijendra Mishra impress as usual.

    `M S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ generated enthusiasm during pre-release period and is now getting positive response from the audience, thanks to the popularity of Dhoni. The film has all the makings of a hit were it not for its high cost of production.

    (The film is being released simultaneously in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu versions.)

    Producers: Arun Pandey, Fox Star Studios.

    Director: Neeraj Pandey.

    Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anupam Kher, Bhumika Chawla, Kiara Advani, Disha Patani, Rajesh Sharma, Mukesh Bhatta, Brijendra Mishra.

  • Zindagi expands programming duration; to launch HD, bi-lingual feed

    Zindagi expands programming duration; to launch HD, bi-lingual feed

    MUMBAI: Zee Le Zindagi. Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel), Zindagi, positioned itself as a premium Hindi-Urdu channel.

    Launched in 2014 as the channel for broadcasting short-run programming, it is now expanding the duration of programmes from 26 episodes to 96 episodes. “One of the learnings we had is that people need time to connect with the characters and storyline. Earlier, we tried to the cater audience with less number of episodes but it didn’t work out well, but it will never be three or four years long shows,” says ZEEL chief business officer Sunil Buch.

    The channel has also changed its slogan from ‘Jode Dilo ko’ to ‘Yeh Lamha Hi Hai Zindagi.’

    Starting on 3 October, the channel is introducing a new line-up. The new shows include a light-hearted Turkish drama, Little Lord, three Indian originals that push societal thinking including Sunjoy Wadhwa’s Sphere Origins’ ‘TV Ke Uss Par’, ‘Khwaabon Ki Zamin Par’ by Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares and ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ by Gulshan Sachdeva’s Film & Shots. Bringing different cultures together is a co-production with Geo TV titled, ‘Teri Meri Jodi.’ Also, Zindagi’s blockbuster Turkish drama Fatmagul will continue to entertain viewers.

    Buch adds, “Zindagi was launched with the promise of bringing the best shows from across the world to the Indian television screens. Our compelling content has always been our calling card. A thought-leader in premium entertainment with a distinct character, Zindagi presents finite world stories with bold narratives which unveil universal emotions. The Alpha Club numbers give us resounding encouragement that we are on the right path of providing premium entertainment. What sets the channel apart is its consistent commitment to show real, vibrant, and premium world stories.”

    Hand-picked stories from India, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Pakistan, Latin America and Korea will now be available on Zindagi.

    The channel is also planning to launch the HD feed. “We are waiting for the licensing process to be completed. For our bi-lingual premium audiences, Zindagi will soon be available on a dual feed of Hindi and English,” he informs.

    The channel’s positioning ’Yeh Lamha Hi Hai Zindagi’ mirrors the essence of the word ‘Zindagi.’ Anywhere in the world, life is a finite progression of moments and it’s important that we live each and every one of them. There is no sense in doing rewind – play and lose our today, our moment, in the quest of analyzing / living in the past. That’s the top line of the channel, literally. Again a departure from traditional base lines associated with most brands/channels and true to the thought leader grain of Zindagi,” adds Buch.

    Unparalleled creativity and innovation will be a part of the robust marketing campaign designed to deliver across all traditional and digital mediums about Zindagi. The channel’s campaign will be initiated with a simple yet thought-provoking catchphrase ‘#ZindagiKehtiHai’ that is designed to create conversation around our life, our Zindagi.

    #ZindagiKehtiHai will dip in the currency of the world happenings and reflect the sentiments of people as they voice their views on everything that affects their lives. There will be a high impact roadblock across Zee network of 33 channels on 30 September. Engaging campaigns that will empower audiences will be visible across print, TV, DTH, digital, cinema, mobile and OOH. The publicity campaign will build advocacy through unique experiences that evoke the brand proposition and mirror the viewer’ premium lifestyles.

  • Zindagi expands programming duration; to launch HD, bi-lingual feed

    Zindagi expands programming duration; to launch HD, bi-lingual feed

    MUMBAI: Zee Le Zindagi. Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel), Zindagi, positioned itself as a premium Hindi-Urdu channel.

    Launched in 2014 as the channel for broadcasting short-run programming, it is now expanding the duration of programmes from 26 episodes to 96 episodes. “One of the learnings we had is that people need time to connect with the characters and storyline. Earlier, we tried to the cater audience with less number of episodes but it didn’t work out well, but it will never be three or four years long shows,” says ZEEL chief business officer Sunil Buch.

    The channel has also changed its slogan from ‘Jode Dilo ko’ to ‘Yeh Lamha Hi Hai Zindagi.’

    Starting on 3 October, the channel is introducing a new line-up. The new shows include a light-hearted Turkish drama, Little Lord, three Indian originals that push societal thinking including Sunjoy Wadhwa’s Sphere Origins’ ‘TV Ke Uss Par’, ‘Khwaabon Ki Zamin Par’ by Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares and ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ by Gulshan Sachdeva’s Film & Shots. Bringing different cultures together is a co-production with Geo TV titled, ‘Teri Meri Jodi.’ Also, Zindagi’s blockbuster Turkish drama Fatmagul will continue to entertain viewers.

    Buch adds, “Zindagi was launched with the promise of bringing the best shows from across the world to the Indian television screens. Our compelling content has always been our calling card. A thought-leader in premium entertainment with a distinct character, Zindagi presents finite world stories with bold narratives which unveil universal emotions. The Alpha Club numbers give us resounding encouragement that we are on the right path of providing premium entertainment. What sets the channel apart is its consistent commitment to show real, vibrant, and premium world stories.”

    Hand-picked stories from India, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Pakistan, Latin America and Korea will now be available on Zindagi.

    The channel is also planning to launch the HD feed. “We are waiting for the licensing process to be completed. For our bi-lingual premium audiences, Zindagi will soon be available on a dual feed of Hindi and English,” he informs.

    The channel’s positioning ’Yeh Lamha Hi Hai Zindagi’ mirrors the essence of the word ‘Zindagi.’ Anywhere in the world, life is a finite progression of moments and it’s important that we live each and every one of them. There is no sense in doing rewind – play and lose our today, our moment, in the quest of analyzing / living in the past. That’s the top line of the channel, literally. Again a departure from traditional base lines associated with most brands/channels and true to the thought leader grain of Zindagi,” adds Buch.

    Unparalleled creativity and innovation will be a part of the robust marketing campaign designed to deliver across all traditional and digital mediums about Zindagi. The channel’s campaign will be initiated with a simple yet thought-provoking catchphrase ‘#ZindagiKehtiHai’ that is designed to create conversation around our life, our Zindagi.

    #ZindagiKehtiHai will dip in the currency of the world happenings and reflect the sentiments of people as they voice their views on everything that affects their lives. There will be a high impact roadblock across Zee network of 33 channels on 30 September. Engaging campaigns that will empower audiences will be visible across print, TV, DTH, digital, cinema, mobile and OOH. The publicity campaign will build advocacy through unique experiences that evoke the brand proposition and mirror the viewer’ premium lifestyles.

  • Buddha in a Traffic Jam premieres on Spuul

    Buddha in a Traffic Jam premieres on Spuul

    MUMBAI: Spuul brings Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘Buddha In A Traffic Jam’ to its catalogue of films. This movie will be available across devices like web, mobile (iOS, Android), Amazon Fire TV, Android TV & Apple TV along with Airplay on iOS, and Chromecast on Android. The film is available to all of Spuul’s premium subscribers across the world.

    Buddha in a Traffic Jam is one of the most controversial films of the year, released just a month back in May, with protests against the movie in many parts of India for alleged propaganda. The film depicts various themes ranging from corruption in the country to campus politics, moral policing, crony socialism and the fight against injustice. It stars Arunoday Singh, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi and Mahie Gill.

    Speaking on this development Spuul Global CEO Subin Subaiah said, “We’re happy to bring a film like ‘Buddha In A Traffic Jam’ to our viewers. Our platform has always strived to provide shelf space to bold filmmakers to reach their audiences. This is just a step further in bringing fresh content to our 12 million viewers.

    Commenting on this association, Vivek Agnihotri, Director, Buddha in A Traffic Jam, said, “Spuul is one of the oldest video streaming services today, and we’re happy to be associated with them for the internet premiere of Buddha In A Traffic Jam. It is a story that needed to be told, and we hope this association with Spuul helps us spread the word far and wide.”