Tag: Azaad

  • Rural entertainment channel Azaad launches its new show ‘Kasturi’

    Rural entertainment channel Azaad launches its new show ‘Kasturi’

    Mumbai: India’s first rural entertainment channel, Azaad has launched a new show Kasturi, a story inspired by the life of Padma Shri Rajkumari Devi popularly known as Kisan Chachi. It is the story of a village girl, who broke conventional myths with her spontaneous grit & determination to become independent, self-supportive and a big crusader for social change.

    The channel of Beginnen Media has been growing week on week with its affinity towards rural audiences. Over the past year, Azaad has built a runway to launch new shows with rural values and heart-touching stories. Beginnen Media managing director Bharat Kumar Ranga said, “Azaad has grown its market share in the last couple of months and is here to stay. We have witnessed a 110 per cent growth in female viewership and 67 per cent in the rural market between March 2022 and May 2022.”

    On the new show

    Kasturi is based in a village near Patna and will showcase how a young Kasturi lives her journey from living with her parents, younger sister and grandmother to adjusting to post-marital issues and becoming an independent farmer and teaching new farming techniques to other farmers which got her the coveted Padma Shri Award.

    Azaad chief content, creative & consumer officer Anooj Kapoor said, “We are excited about the launch of Kasturi which is an inspiring story of how a village belle in extremely adverse conditions, not only achieved financial independence through farming, a first for a woman; but she also learned and taught innovative cropping techniques to other farmers, helping them as well to prosper. We have tried to tell the story through a slice of life narrative with both bitter and sweet moments woven together.”

    The show has been produced by founder Rajeev Singh’s Ideaz Pictures. The show’s protagonist Kasturi is played by India’s Best Dramebaaz 2016 runner-up Tammanna Deepak. 

    Kasturi will air on Azaad from Monday to Saturday at 8:30 pm and also on MX Player.

  • Azaad launches first two Originals designed for the rural mindset

    Azaad launches first two Originals designed for the rural mindset

    Mumbai: Beginnen Media’s first consumer-specific entertainment channel, Azaad has announced its Originals content offering exclusively designed for the ‘Rural Mindset’.  The premium Hindi rural entertainment channel will be launching two new shows titled ‘Meri Doli Mere Angana’ and ‘Pavitraa Bharose Ka Safar’, both of which have been created after deeply understanding the rural person through years of periodic syndicated research, said the channel on Tuesday.

    Staying true to the brand proposition of ‘Hamari Mitti Hamara Aasman’, themes have been specially created to attract, engage and connect with this super mass. Starting 14 September, ‘Meri Doli Mere Angana’ will air at 9:00 p.m and ‘Pavitraa Bharose Ka Safar’, at 9: 30 p.m on Azaad as well as on MX Player (digital partner).

    Produced by Jitendra Gupta and Mahesh Tagde from Tell-A-Tale Media, ‘Meri Doli Mere Angana’ portrays the beauty and complexities of relationships in the Bithoor-based Singh family, especially the loving bond between Janki and her father. The show captures Janki’s journey from being an innocent daughter to becoming an experienced daughter-in-law who learns to manage complex situations and relationships in a society that differentiates between the two roles. Astha Abhay plays the lead protagonist Janki. Surendra Pal, Rudrakshi Gupta and Ankit Raizada will be seen in key roles.

    ‘Pavitraa Bharose Ka Safar’ is a family drama set in Meerut. While it is based on the main themes of encouraging women empowerment and battling societal issues, the show also depicts the passionate love story of two diverse personalities. Produced by Santosh Singh, Rochelle Singh, and Pearl Grey from Parth Production, ‘Pavitraa Bharose Ka Safar’ is the story of Pavitraa, the daughter of an underprivileged taxi driver who aspires to complete her education and become self-reliant. She fights against all odds to become a successful entrepreneur who strived to make other women capable of taking care of their families and themselves in all respects. The role of Pavitraa is played by Shaily Priya. The cast also includes Neelu Vaghela, Kumaar Raajput and Sheezan Mohammed.

    Commenting on the Originals launch, Beginnen Media Pvt Ltd (BMPL) managing director, Bharat Kumar Ranga, said, “It’s an industry-first with Azaad making the shift from a creative to a consumer-focused business model. Gaining the trust of our viewers is at the heart of our model as our customer experience is based on deep insights. Our Originals have a rural consumer-centric proposition which places the viewer, rather than the creative at its core.”

    Welcoming the viewers who had joined the launch event live from different villages in North India, he added, “By its sheer size, the rural super mass is clearly emerging as a segment with huge untapped opportunities. Azaad’s philosophy of ‘People Centricity’ reflects the rural DNA that is the Unapologetically Real Indian (U-R-I). We are delighted to present the ‘UnionShip’ with our content creators, Jitendra Gupta, Mahesh Tagde, Santosh Singh, Rochelle Singh, and Pearl Grey who have created our first two originals. The shows are relatable and would inspire the U-R-I mindset to reconcile with rural traditions and values while ushering in a sense of dynamism and growth to meet their aspirations.”

    “Azaad is a first on many levels. There has always been a clear-cut divide between urban and rural India, where rural in spite of being a majority, unfortunately, has always got a hand-me-down treatment in every sphere of life. And that’s what we want to change with our’ rural first’ approach,” commented Beginnen Media, general manager – product, Doris Dey. “At Azaad we truly believe in democratising the entertainment industry by creating content for much-ignored Rural India, as well as creating an ecosystem where equal opportunities are provided to existing and new makers. We are a ‘challenger brand’ determined to create a unique parallel ecosystem within the industry. I am sure that we will set new benchmarks with the unwavering support and participation of all our stakeholders.”

    Azaad’s brand proposition, Hamari Mitti Hamara Aasman, was developed in partnership with Scarecrow M&C Saatchi Ltd. The idea was arrived at through an extensive consumer study of the rural person by Future Brands. The unique proposition spells out rural dreams and aspirations and wears the rural pride. Both the brand film and the brand anthem are devised and created by Azaad’s internal on-air promotions team. The brand film takes a closer look at the U-R-I’s mindset to reveal the pride they take in their roots, culture, and belief systems. Music director Santosh Nair and singer, Divya Kumar rendered the brand anthem.

  • Beginnen Media’s Azaad and MX Player announce strategic partnership

    Beginnen Media’s Azaad and MX Player announce strategic partnership

    Mumbai: Beginnen Media’s premium rural entertainment channel Azaad and entertainment app MX Player have announced a strategic partnership to enable exponential growth by bringing together the linear, rural, and digital worlds.

    With the strong belief in the ‘power of engaged connections’ and the aspiration to meet its viewers at their doorstep, Azaad and MX Player are all set to reach out to the Indian diaspora with new stories embedded in the rural fabric and culture, said the statement. “Azaad will soon add to its repertoire original content, besides the syndicated content that is currently on air,” it added.

    Beginnen Media recently launched Azaad with the premise of being ‘People First. Rural First’ and MX Player, with its large and diverse audience of over 200 million monthly active users caters to its audiences with varied entertainment palettes.

    “The union with MX Player offers a seamless consumer experience on both mediums as we attempt to be innovators at the intersection of TV and digital,” said Beginnen Media’s managing director, Bharat Kumar Ranga. “Azaad is for people with rural mindsets where people access entertainment on both TV and the internet. We needed to find the right anchor that compliments Azaad on the internet. MX Player immediately aligned to our vision as we share a commonality of consumer centricity that will assist us with our expansion goals. MX valued our idea and intent, and Azaad loved their youthfulness, vigour, hunger for growth, and uncanny consumer centricity. For consumers, MX and Azaad will appear like one common platform. This reflects Beginnen Media’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to using our experience of innovation as the roadmap for propelling the industry forward to an all-new way of doing business,” he added.

    “In an industry first, this association will transcend traditional TV and digital OTT to drive synergies and foster growth for both players, by creating innovative new content and catering to a larger audience set. As a platform that can reach consumers at every touchpoint, this strategic partnership with Azaad is sure to entertain the masses and drive more engagement for both brands,” shared MX Group CEO, Karan Bedi.

    “We believe that this distinct UnionShip with MX Player will surely be the best manner in which two standalone brands together will unlock the power of TV and OTT in an integrated manner by leveraging synergies to reach and engage with maximum viewers,” said Beginnen Media CMO, Rachin Khanijo. “We have approached this association creatively as well as strategically to ensure that there’s a strong audience fit and have planned on scaling it with projected metrics of what TV and digital are expected to deliver – both at an attributed and holistic level.”

    “This unique union compliments MX strategically – adding many hues of entertainment to our diverse content offering and bringing with it fresh, young, and new flavours reflecting the ethos of today’s rural Indian fabric,” said MX Player, SVP, and head – content acquisitions and alliances, Mansi Shrivastav. “With this distinctive slate, we are well poised to cater to every palette and are excited that this association with Beginnen Media’s premium heartland entertainment channel Azaad will enhance viewership and aid market expansion.”

  • Salman Khan’s ‘Mental’ to be rechristened ‘Azaad’

    Salman Khan’s ‘Mental’ to be rechristened ‘Azaad’

    It’s quite normal for movies to be in the news over the change of star cast but the Dabangg star’s Mental is in the news over its title. According to sources Salman Khan’s Mental has received yet another title change and apparently it’s been rechristened as Azaad.

    The Khan brothers can’t seem to finalise a name for their next film. The film tentatively titled Mental was renamed as Jai Ho. However, the filmmakers have changed their mind again and Jai Ho will now be Azaad, but this name isn’t final either.