Tag: Bhanwar

Zee TV ropes in Rohini Singh as head of commissioning

MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Zee TV has appointed Rohini Singh as its new head of commissioning. In her new role, she will be responsible for developing fiction content for the channel.

She comes to Zee from Star Plus where she was heading the fiction content development division. She has also spearheaded several milestone projects on Indian television since 1998.

After completing her graduation in B A Hons (Political Science) from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi and a Comprehensive Television Course from Academy 18 (A division of Television 18 Networks, Delhi), Singh was working with TV 18 and was part of many projects including Bhanwar (Sony TV) and Haadsa (Sab TV) from 1998 to 2000.

She has previously also worked with many brands including BBC (Jasoos Vijay), Twenty Twenty TV Company (Kaajjal – Sabbki Aankhon Mein Basi, on Sony & Darna Mana Hai) and Cinevistaas (Dilll Mill Gayye on Star One). She then joined Star Network and handled shows on Star One (Dill Mil Gayye, Milley Jab Hum Tum, Geet- Hui Sabse Parayi amongst others.)

Singh was responsible for the concept development of shows like Geet, Pratigya and Maryada. As head of Star Plus, fiction content development division, she launched shows like Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon, Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna, Pyaar Ka Dard, Veera, Arjun, Kaali, Saraswati Chandra, Meri Bhabhi, Ek Ghar Banaounga and Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon 2.

Zee TV business head Pradeep Hejmadi said, “Rohini has an exceptional track record for delivering outstanding drama. Her work speaks for itself and is driven by her passion for writing and storytelling. Her focus is always on recognizing and developing projects based around strong ideas with the potential to engage and entertain audiences. With her vast experience, Rohini will bring the very best from the established and emerging writers talent pool to Zee TV. Known for its original and differentiated dramatic range and quality, Zee TV has scored some notable successes recently and Rohini is the right person to take it on to a new level. She and Charu Singh (head- fiction) will make a formidable team.”

Singh added, “I look forward to steering Zee TV into the future and building on its success as it continues to be the home of the most original storytelling across a range of drama that is unique to it in the rapidly changing Indian television landscape. I am most excited to have this opportunity to commission and make entertaining, popular programmes for Zee TV audiences. We aim to make programmes that people watch and talk about in equal measure, and that’s a challenge I look forward to.”

August 13, 2015
Sony re-jigs weekend programming for ‘Indian Idol Junior’

MUMBAI: While it may not have found favour with audiences on its fiction fare recently, Sony Entertainment Television is all set to enthrall audiences with the second season of its popular singing reality show format – Indian Idol Junior.

The show, which will launch on 30 May, will be aired at 8.30 pm on weekends. With this, Adaalat, which was aired from 8 – 9 pm on Sony, will now get a new time slot and will be aired from 7.30 – 8.30 pm. Additionally, Bhanwar, which aired at 9 pm will be taken off air. The show’s last episode will be on 24 May.

Indian Idol Junior, this time round, will see the juniors paying a tribute to the maestros of Indian music at the season’s grand launch. With the success of the first season, Sony Entertainment Television is upbeat about giving talented youngsters this platform to exhibit their talent yet again.

What’s more, the talent quotient for this season has gone several notches higher with the inclusion of actor Sonakshi Sinha as one of the judges.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com at the launch of the show, Sony Entrainment Television senior executive vice president and business head Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “The unique thing about this show is that for the first time ever, we are using a celebrity i.e. Sonakshi Sinha as a representative of the common people. You normally find that the judges are experts in their own fields but with Sonakshi, we want to explore the connect further.”

“With the second edition of Indian Idol Junior, we intend to bring the entire family together and recreate the entertainment quotient of this season substantially while gifting the music industry with some really outstanding talent,” Pantvaidya added.

Sharing insights on her television debut, Sinha said, “Playback singing is unique to Indian cinema. For our films, music is as essential an entity as the story. With every era of movies, there has come a whole generation of musicians who have almost immortalized some movies through the music. I’m really excited and happy to be associated with Indian Idol Junior, a reality show that celebrates music and creates platform for young talent to follow their dreams and reach out to the stars.”

Sony Entertainment Television chief creative officer Ajay Bhalwankar added, “The whole selection process, auditions, theatre took about a year. The gala rounds episodes will go on for fourteen weeks and will have the normal voting system like previous formats.”

Fremantle Media India managing director Anupama Mandloi said, “It’s always been nice to work with this format. We have been doing it for years now and this time it’s special because we found talent across the country – north, south, east and west. Also in time to come, you will see what surprises this season will bring.”

Sony has brought on board three sponsors for the second season of Indian Idol Junior. While Horlicks is the ‘presenting’ sponsor, Lifebuoy and Aquaguard have associated with the show as ‘co-powered by’ sponsors.

Apart from Sinha, the show will have judges like Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and Shalmali Kholgade. It will be hosted by Hussain Kuwajerwala and Asha Negi.

May 22, 2015
‘Bhanwar’: Sony revives its tried and tested label in the crime genre

MUMBAI: It’s survival of the fittest in a highly-competitive TV world. One needs to keep re-inventing oneself and that’s exactly what works wonders in the end. Likewise, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), has gone back to its tried and tested formula gory crime!

The crime genre has until now, been the bread and butter for the channel. Programmes like C.I.D, Crime Patrol and at times, Adaalat have gripped audiences and thus, Sony has unanimously got a thumbs-up for its non-fiction, criminal offerings.

SET literally takes the viewer through a virtual reality show. It gives them a gripping courtroom drama series, an enthralling and emotional journey, engaging their consciences in matters of right and wrong, and the ultimate balance of justice.

Christened – Bhanwar – Kalyug Ki Hairatangez Kahaniyaa, its provocative stories will compel our society to sit up and take cognizance of the fact, that for every crime committed under the Indian Penal Code, there is an equally harsh justice system meted out.

You may recall, in the late 1990s, Sony had launched a series with an identical name that dealt with landmark judgements from the Indian judicial system. Produced by TV18, the show was so popular that it enjoyed re-runs on SAB and Fox History to boot. Its audiences were treated royally for over two years on Sony, and its episodes were remarkably directed by Sanjay Ray Chaudhari.

It’s back with a bang with a fresh menu of juicy, judicial cases. Come 10 January, 2015, the two veterans of TV production, Contiloe Entertainment’s Abhimanyu Singh and Sunshine Rise Productions’ Anshuman Kishore Singh, will present true-to-life stories of human excesses, which depict volatile social relationships of today.

SET chief creative director, Ajay Bhalwankar, believes that the name of this series is defined by the twists and turns of true events, which often shows that ‘truth is stranger than fiction.’ “Presented in a unique style, the show promises to raise the benchmark of crime shows on Indian television.”

He feels, “The channel has invested a lot of time in researching and digging out real-life stories that take place in a courtroom. It took three months for the channel to pick up the best stories, which were then executed in a fictional manner.”

With this new property, the channel now has a complete portfolio focusing only on crime properties on weekends, starting with Adaalat at 8 pm, Bhanwar in close succession at 9 pm, followed by C.I.D and Crime Patrol at 10 pm and 11 pm respectively. “Sony has been a pioneer in crime genre. We have made a lot of sense and the outcome has turned out very well. We are confident that audiences will relate to this kind of drama that occurs in a courtroom,” asserts Bhalwankar.

“I think this is a good move that the channel has made. In a way, they want audiences to stay tuned to the channel and sample the content one after the other. C.I.D and Crime Patrol both have been consistently delivering decent numbers and Bhanwar will follow suit and jump on the bandwagon, considering its different content. But on the other hand, experimentations have happened on the channel, but viewers haven’t really accepted it; I hope this one pays off for Sony,” says a media planner.

The one-hour courtroom drama TV series is going to face tough competition from Bigg Boss eight on Colors, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs five on Zee TV, Diya aur Baati Hum and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (Saturday) and Airlines (Sunday) on Star Plus, Supercops vs Supervillains… Shapath on Life OK and The Great Indian Family Drama on Sab.

January 10, 2015