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Tag: Bengali Content

  • Tata Play Binge brings bengali entertainment by onboarding hoichoi

    Tata Play Binge brings bengali entertainment by onboarding hoichoi

    Mumbai: Diversifying its content offerings, content distribution platform Tata Play (formerly known as Tata Sky) has added its 13th OTT platform, Hoichoi, to Tata Play Binge. The integration carries forward Binge’s objective of providing users access to content from across all OTT platforms in multiple languages, as well as easing the process of content discovery. With the incorporation of SVF Entertainment, owned and maintained by Hoichoi, users will have access to a library of movie titles and 100+ original series in Bengali. Enabling a wider audience appeal, the key shows are also dubbed and presented in Hindi. The content bouquet can be enjoyed with subtitles through large-screen connected devices—Tata Play Binge+ Android Set Top Box and Tata Play edition of the Amazon FireTV Stick—along with the Tata Play Binge mobile app and the website.

    Tata Play chief commercial and content officer Pallavi Puri said, “Entertainment in the digital age is breaking barriers of language and borders, leading to a widened horizon for content discovery. This allows viewers to choose their titles based on storylines and not restrict themselves to a particular language or region. With this partnership, we aim to take Hoichoi’s vast Bengali movie and original series collection to the whole of India and diversify the watch preferences of the viewers. “

    Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta said, “As a brand, Hoichoi always aims to provide quality entertainment across the nation and globe and to as many people as possible. This partnership with Tata Play Binge takes us a step closer to that goal. With this collaboration, we can reach a wider audience and have our content on a platform that traverses language barriers, and we are glad to be doing this.”

    Hoichoi has shows and movies across genres, like Eken Babu, Hello!, Rekka, Mandaar, Indu, Haami, Tiktiki, Srikanto, Mon2 Pilot, Feludar Goyendagiri, “Byomkesh,” “Cheeni,” “Dwitiyo Purush,” “Tasher Ghawr,” “Refugee,” and many more.

    Hoichoi joins 12 OTT platforms on Binge – Disney+ Hotstar, ZEE5, SonyLIV, Voot Select, SunNxt, Hungama Play, Eros Now, ShemarooMe, Voot Kids, CuriosityStream, EPIC ON and DocuBay. 

  • Zee5 unveils its Bengali content slate for Durga Puja

    Zee5 unveils its Bengali content slate for Durga Puja

    Mumbai: Zee5 has launched #AamarPujoSobarPujo, a digital campaign for Durga Puja 2021 encouraging viewers to celebrate togetherness through the platform. As part of the campaign, a fresh slate of Bengali festive content comprising featured shows, web series, and direct-to-digital releases have been announced.

    During Durgotsav the platform will stream pujo special programming and new films every Friday in October along with popular TV shows like “Mithai,” “Amader Ei Poth Jodi na Sesh Hoy,” “Aparajita Apu,” “Dadagiri” (season 9), and “Uma,” and originals such as “Lalbazaar and Kaali” (season 1 and 2).

    The campaign video featuring people immersed in festivities on one side, and several workers such as a police officer, cab driver, sanitisation lady, and waiter selflessly going about their jobs on the other, celebrates the spirit of togetherness that marks Durga Pujo in Bengal.

    “With inclusivity at the heart of the brand, this campaign brings forth the recognition of those who have selflessly contributed to the community through the good and the tough times,” stated Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra. “With #AamarPujoSobarPujo we want to bring entertainment home to everyone and have an inclusive occasion by delivering our durgotsav specials hailing from the heartland of Bengal, extending the celebration across geographies and borders.”

  • Hoichoi gives a glimpse of its 2021 content slate

    Hoichoi gives a glimpse of its 2021 content slate

    KOLKATA: Bengali streaming giant Hoichoi today unveiled its content line-up for, 2021, which includes  18 powerful and irresistible stories. Apart from its impressive March line-up, the OTT also plans to add more shows and movies this year than it did in the past years.  

    Hoichoi has roped in top talents of the industry, such as Rahul Bose, Dev, Anirban Bhattacharya, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Srabanti, Soham, Swastika Mukherjee, Sohini Sarkar, Monami Ghosh, Saswata Chatterjee, Anirban Chakrabarti, Arjun Chakraborty, Anindita Bose, Tridha Choudhury debutants Soumya Mukherjee, Sweta Mishra, Susmita Chatterjee, Debasish Mondal. Along with Bangladesh sensations like Mosharraf Karim, Badhon, Shamol Mawla and more; creators Srijit Mukherji, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Anindya Chattopadhyay, Anjan Dutt, Sahana Dutta, Mainak Bhaumik, Anirban Bhattacharya’s directorial debut will also join its vast library.

    In a statement, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta said, “At Hoichoi, we aim to bring distinct stories for our diverse audiences with variant taste. Our upcoming line-up is a reflection of that idea; each one of which is a gripping story of human emotions, filled with suspense, comedy, love, drama, thrill and longing. Every season we try to reinvent ourselves, with content from the brightest and newest creators of the region. So, #NotunGolpoHoyejak?”

    The exciting line-up is as follows:

    1.     Maradonar Juto – Directed by Mainak Bhaumik, this romantic comedy with a fresh casting, filled with the spice of family drama talks about neighbouring families, residing in North Kolkata (Dutta family & Chowdhury family), who have a generational feud about a pair of shoes, which belongs to the great football legend, Maradona.  

    2.     Dujone – A thriller, not a love story, Dujone marks the digital debut of much-loved on-screen pair, Soham and Srabanti, which talks about a wife’s dilemma to decipher her husband’s true personality.

    3.     Mohomaya – Helmed by Sahana Dutta, Mohomaya is a unique tale of a boy, jilted by his traumatic past, involving his mother, essayed by National Award-Winning actress Ananya Chatterjee, at a tender age, finds affection he longed for all his life in his friend's mother, played by powerhouse actress Swastika Mukherjee. National Award-Winning director Kamaleswar Mukherjee marks his digital directorial debut with the series.

    4.     Mohanagar – The story revolves around three characters and a pair of police officers whose lives get connected due to an incident that changes them and their belief in the system. Mohanagar marks the hoichoi debut of Bangladesh superstar Mosharraf Karim.

    5.     Srikanto – A modern day take of the cult novel in & within the matrix of childhood simplicity, adolescent innocence to complex neo-liberal social & interpersonal predicament of human existence. Will star a young talent Rishav Basu, in the lead.

    6.     Mandaar – Created and directed by Anirban Bhattacharya, Mandaar will be the first among ‘hoichoi World Classics’ segment that will bring Shakespeare's literary classic, Macbeth, to screen, featuring Debashish Mondal, Sohini Sarkar and Anirban Bhattacharya himself in the lead.

    7.     Mouchaak – A dark comedy, which will mark the digital debut of television personality, Monami Ghosh, Mouchaak chronicles a series of funny unfortunate events surrounding a housewife under house arrest, a series of guests and a lottery ticket.  

    8.     Robindronath Ekhane Kawkhono Khete Aashenni – An adaptation from the popular Bangladesh novel of the same name by Mohammad Nazim Uddin, which will mark Srijit Mukherji’s first series on hoichoi starring the dynamic Rahul Bose as the detective who reaches a famed restaurant to uncover the truth behind its mysterious owner, Muskaan Zuberi, essayed by Bangladesh sensation, Azmari Haque Badhon.

    9.     Murder in the Hills – The suspicions death of a Bengali film star of the 90s unravels to expose the seedy underbelly of Darjeeling’s pasts. Written, directed and acted by Anjan Dutt, the series is well balanced with a slew of casts, such as Arjun Chakraborty, Anindita Bose, Rajdeep Gupta, Sandipta Sen, Sourav Chakraborty, Suprobhat Das amongst others.

    10.  Shei Je Holud Pakhi 2 – The much-awaited series returns with its second season which will culminate the popular musical-drama about Vaidehi’s death. Saswata Chatterjee and Tridha Choudhury are reprising their roles in this season.

    11.  Paap 2 – with Puja Banerjee & Rahul Banerjee as the lead, the mysteries of season 1 will unravel in season 2 with another set of deaths and unexpected deaths.

    12.  Eken Babu S5 – Anirban Chakrabarti will reprise the role of Eken Babu as the much-loved crime-thriller returns for its fifth season with a new mystery that unfolds itself.

    13.  Byomkesh S7 – Starring the very versatile Anirban Bhattacharya as Byomkesh, along with Suprobhat Das as Ajit, and Ridhima Ghosh as Satyabati, our popular detective will return with a new mystery based on Byomkesh Bakshi created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.  

    14.  Tangra Blues World Premiere – A story of a failed musician and a band on a verge of oblivion with Tangra – the most notorious slums in Kolkata as a backdrop, the film will see the fresh pairing of Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Madhumita for the first time.

    15.  Prem Tame World Premiere – It's a story of a revolution, within a young heart, inside a home, and in society. The film brings together the fresh casting of Soumya Mukherjee, Sweta Mishra and Susmita Chatterjee.

    16.  Kakababur Protyaborton World Premiere – Audience's beloved Kakababu, aka Raja Roychowdhury, essayed by Bengal’s industry himself – Prosenjit Chatterjee, returns for the third instalment of this popular franchise with his nephew, Shantu, this time traversing the dangerous terrains of Africa. This time, the film is based on Jongoler Moddhe Ek Hotel by Sunil Gangopadhyay.

    17.  Psycho World Premiere – Anirban Bhattacharya and Birsa Dasgupta return to team up for a thriller that is about a psychiatrist-turned-resident criminologist who teams up with the top-rank officials of law enforcement to hunt down a psychopath.

    18.  Golondaaj  World Premiere – A biographical sports drama directed by Dhrubo Banerjee, starring superstar Dev in the lead, is the story of a pioneer in Indian football, named Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari.

  • Bengali OTT players prioritise market growth over competition

    Bengali OTT players prioritise market growth over competition

    MUMBAI: Demand for regional content has received a boost like never before thanks to the smartphone and internet explosion in tier II and III cities. Not only are international and national over-the-top (OTT) players delving into regional content, but also local players.

    One such upcoming regional OTT market is the Bengali one. Though Hoichoi is climbing the ranks to the top, Addatimes is also chasing not far behind. For now, the two players believe in healthy co-existence rather than competition.

    Addatimes and Hoichoi, both were launched in the same year, i.e. 2017. For obvious reasons, Hoichoi could come up with more content and better market strategy because of its parent company SVF’s huge capital. Now, Surinder Films, another leading production house in Bengali industry has started investing in Addatimes for a 33 per cent stake which could give a major boost to the platform.

    Addatimes managing director and founder Rajiv Mehra had a 14 years stint in the Bengali television industry. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Mehra said that he felt there was no creativity left in daily soaps and channels had the ultimate power in hand. Then came the inflection point when he decided to start a digital venture. Despite knowing the fact that it would take a long time to break even, he trusted the digital medium.

    All content was free for the first five months and then a subscription model was added at Rs 100 for three months and Rs 300 for a year. The Addatimes spokesperson claims to have 30,000 subscribers currently and 39 lakh unique viewers.

    Since its launch, it has emphasised on original content but there are some movies also. From mid-August the films produced by Surinder Films will be available on Addatimes. Till July, the platform will see the launch of one web series and one movie a month and from August onwards, there will be two of each.

    Mehra expects the business to break even in 2021. Due to limited funds, it is strategically avoiding cash-burning mode so that the platform can sustain in the market for the next three to four years.

    Hoichoi isn’t too concerned about competition in the market. “We don’t think about competition because it’s not critically important today. It’s about getting more and more people in online ecosystem to grow. Having more players is better because that helps to grow the ecosystem, grows awareness and creates a habit among consumers,” said Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta. He also sees opportunity in the market for more players dedicated to Bengali content. Other than West Bengal, Bangladesh is also a potential market for both the platforms.

    Mehra also reflected the same tone. “It’s not about what we have, they don’t have. Everyone is going forward with their own strategies for the business. But since they (Hoichoi) have more capital, they might reach the desired target one year before us. Eventually, we will also reach the target,” he commented on the competition with Hoichoi.

    These apart, deep-pocketed players at the national and international level will also be able to get into people’s phones faster than the regional ones. If the regional players fail to make a mark soon, they will face difficulty in grabbing a larger market share.