ITV

Tag: Chetan Bhagat

  • 92.7 Big FM, Virender Sehwag join hands with Goonj for 4th edition of Daryadili

    92.7 Big FM, Virender Sehwag join hands with Goonj for 4th edition of Daryadili

    MUMBAI: 92.7 Big FM has always been at the forefront to contribute to the welfare of the nation. The largest FM conglomerate is all set to announce the 4th successful year of its heart-warming initiative – Daryadili. In an endeavor to support people battling against the bitter cold each year, 92.7 BIG FM has been bracing its 3 year old campaign by bringing together people from different strata of  society  to provide warm winter clothes and other  essentials to those in need.  A marquee initiative, Darya Dili 2014 will see the coming together of Radio Industry’s No. 1 Network – 92.7 BIG FM with Ace Cricketer Virender Sehwag and renowned NGO Goonj to support and uplift the marginalized. Over the last three successful years of the campaign, 92.7 BIG FM has been scaling up its social campaign to go pan India across its 45 station network dramatically increasing the reach to 4.3 Cr. To help accomplish the bold mission this year, the face of Darya Dilli, Virender Sehwag will come on the breakfast show every morning and promote auctions with a message.

     
    Eminent celebrities such as Sunidhi Chauhan, Farah Khan, Smriti Irani, Bappi Lahiri, Chetan Bhagat and Shaan have whole heartedly come forward to support the campaign. Renowned BIG FM RJs- RJ Siddharth, Yaadon Ka Idiot Box fame Neelesh Misra, Celeb RJ Richa will contribute to the cause. In Hyderabad, BIG FM RJs along with NGO will appeal listeners to educate kids from the street. In Bangalore and Chennai 92.7 BIG FM will support the under-privileged to hone their hidden talents and skills along with NGO Bhumi. In Chennai, RJs will appeal listeners to provide lesser privileged kids with stationary, toys and books. 92.7 BIG FM RJs across the country will touch the philanthropic side of listeners to make a positive impact on society.

     
    Speaking on the occasion, National Business Head, 92.7 BIG FM, Mr. Ashwin Padmanabhan stated, “92.7 BIG FM has always pioneered initiatives that contribute to the welfare and well-being of the society. It wasn’t long ago when we launched Darya Dilli with the aim of bringing people together to assist and aid those in need and it gives me great pleasure to announce that we have made good progress in a short span of just 3 years.  We are also delighted to announce the expansion of our campaign down south and Maharashtra that increases the reach to more than 4.3 crore across the nation. It is humbling to see how an idea that we thought of three years ago, has grown from strength and strength and today we have here with us a cricketing icon, Mr. Virender Sehwag, who has chosen to come forward and associate with us for this noble cause.”

     
    Speaking of his association with 92.7 BIG FM and Darya Dilli, Virender Sehwag stated, “It is with a deep sense of humility that I have associated with Daryadili. Making an effort to give warm blankets in the sheer cold of the north is a cause I’m personally and emotionally involved with.   These initiatives bring people together to realize, understand and contribute to building a more caring and compassionate society. I am extremely proud to be associated with 92.7 BIG FM, a brand that has been at the forefront of the helm in their endeavor to sensitize everyone towards issues that plague people every year and the steps one can really take to help one another.”

     

  • ‘Half Girlfriend’ is a work of fiction, says Chetan Bhagat

    ‘Half Girlfriend’ is a work of fiction, says Chetan Bhagat

    KOLKATA: Author Chetan Bhagat has described his book ‘Half Girlfriend’ as a work of fiction and has ridiculed allegations that its contents had insulted the former kingdom of Dumraon in Bihar.

     

    “‘Half Girlfriend’ is a work of fiction. It is a mere coincidence that a character Madhav Jha belongs to a royal family,” Bhagat said while addressing a gathering at Infocom 2014 in Kolkata.

     

    The author, who has penned popular books like ‘Five Point Someone’, ‘One Night at the Call Centre’ and ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’, said he did not require a controversy to become popular.

     

    “Madhav Jha does not exist. It appears some old kings of Dumraon are alleging I have insulted the kingdom. They wrote to me. I have replied politely. I said they have been instigated by someone. I also told them I have made Dumraon famous,” he signed off.

     

  • Tata Sky Scholarship winners with Chetan Bhagat

    Tata Sky Scholarship winners with Chetan Bhagat

    MUMBAI: The first ever Tata Sky Scholarship Quiz winners were declared and felicitated by Tata Sky today. Winners were presented with scholarship worth Two Lakhs rupees each, by author & motivational speaker Chetan Bhagat and Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Sky.

     

    Tata Sky Scholarship Quiz, was an innovative format that encouraged children to learn from edutainment channels & interactive platforms on Tata Sky, participate through television from the comfort of their homes and get rewarded. Conducted on Independence Day (15th August), the interactive quiz was well received by subscribers from across the country. Prize money worth Twenty Lakh rupees was hand to top 10 winners between the age group of 8 to 18 years. Winners were selected on the criteria of maximum right answers in minimum time taken to answer the 50 questions.

  • Tata Sky launches the first ever Scholarship on television

    Tata Sky launches the first ever Scholarship on television

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky, the leading digital Pay-TV player in the country, has taken edutainment to the next level by announcing the launch of the first ever Scholarship for kids that can be availed through television. Author & motivational speaker Chetan Bhagat has been roped in to promote the Tata Sky Scholarship Quiz – a gratifying concept of edutainment.

    For the first time ever television will be the medium of participation for children to win the edutainment based Tata Sky Scholarship. Tata Sky subscribers will be able to participate in the quiz on 15th August’14 by simply answering questions on television, with a click of their Tata Sky remote control, from the comfort of their homes.

    Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer at Tata Sky explained, “The varied range of learning channels and interactive services for children on Tata Sky has been an apt medium to deliver edutainment and knowledge based content, as kids always grasp more from what they see and hear. Now with the Tata Sky Scholarship Quiz we look forward to quizzing and rewarding children across the country, for their vast exposure to educative content.”

    Tata Sky will roll out scholarships worth Rs. 20 lakhs with top 10 winners being entitled to a scholarship worth Rs. 2 lakhs each. Tata Sky is also launching a kid’s campaign titled – ‘Ab Bachchey Seekhein TV se…’, conveying the fact that television is a good learning aid for children.

    Promoting the TataSky Scholarship Quiz, Chetan Bhagat said, “It gives me great pleasure to be associated with Tata Sky. Their unique edutainment platform gives a great opportunity for children to learn through television. The scholarship provides an impetus to fulfil their future dreams and aspirations.”

  • Ramesh Sippy and Hema Malini to work together after 39 years

    Ramesh Sippy and Hema Malini to work together after 39 years

    MUMBAI: Legendary director Ramesh Sippy will be directing once again, a film called Shimla Mirchi starring Hema Malini and Rajkummar Rao. 

     

    Actress opposite Rajkummar Rao is yet to be finalised. The film goes on the floor in August and is a sweet, romantic story with its quirky twists.

     

    Ramesh Sippy’s cult classic Sholay was released 39 years back in 1975, when he created the character of Basanti with his favourite actress Hema Malini. Sippy is going to work with Hema Malini after Sholay in Shimla Mirchi and like his other films, the first letter of his next film is also with the letter ‘S.’

     

    Sippy always chose to make diverse films right through his career in spite of him being a blockbuster director. While he began with mature love story Andaz, he went on to making comedy Seeta aur Geeta, action adventure Sholay, slick action Shaan, family drama with Shakti,  to romantic love story Saagar.

     

    Rajkummar Rao opted out of the film to be made on Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Revolution 2020’ for Ramesh Sippy’s upcoming Shimla Mirchi.

  • Akanksha, O&M ‘force’ celebs to help for free

    Akanksha, O&M ‘force’ celebs to help for free

    MUMBAI: If you are an organisation in desperate need of a service but don’t have the money to put out an advertisement, what do you do? Well, just let the advertising agency do the talking!

    That’s what NGO Akanksha did when it could no longer wait for teachers for the underprivileged kids under its care and protection.

    Akanksha’s brief to Ogilvy & Mather was clear: “The organisation does not have money for advertising, but it needs to reach out to thousands of people and tell them we need teachers, because when that happens, the teacher applications will go up.”

    O&M lost no time in getting onto the job at hand and the result was ‘Message Barter’, a ‘smart yet sweet’ way of getting celebrities to help these children without spending a rupee. “The insight was that you cannot say no to a child, especially when a child does you a favour and asks for one in return. You just can’t refuse! So in a way, we actually ‘forced’ the celebrities to help us,” says O&M associate CD Jigar Fernandes.

    “Another very, very important guiding point is that when you meet the kids from Akanksha, they are so intelligent, well spoken, street smart and always up for fun. I can guarantee you that if you do not know of their backgrounds, you would never guess, where they come from. So yes, the idea had to reflect the smartness and cheeky attitude of these cool kids.”

    A video was filmed with Hrithik Roshan being ‘forced’ to ask his fans to apply as teachers with Akanksha in return for services rendered by the kids – promoting the actor’s film Krrish 3 outside theatres and on streets. Similarly, Farhan Akhtar and Chetan Bhagat among other celebrities, and social media influencers featured in the video. The video was then mailed to the celebrities. Luckily, the Bollywood brigade jumped into the fray and through their facebook pages and twitter handles, urged people to not only watch the video but also apply for the job of teacher at Akanksha.

    Akanksha authorities were rendered speechless when traffic on the NGO’s official website (www.akanksha.org) increased four-fold and teachers’ applications witnessed a 160 per cent rise.

    “We didn’t set ourselves any target because this was a very new and unexplored experiment. In the end, it worked,” says Fernandes, proudly. A 10 member team worked on the campaign and took almost a month to execute it. Akanksha too was involved in the process; the NGO’s Chitra Pandit and Nupur Bhargava believed in the idea and were part of it from the scratch itself.

    The digital space was chosen as the destination as Akanksha’s target audience is largely urban educated youth which is most likely to be on social networks.

    The first-of-its-kind campaign, not only wooed celebs and helped the organisation, but it also won the agency the interactive award by BestAdsOnTV.com.

    Click here to watch the video

     

  • Shaadi.com ties knot for ‘2 States’

    Shaadi.com ties knot for ‘2 States’

    MUMBAI: Shaadi.com is all set to be associated with 2 States, the forthcoming movie co-produced by Dharma Productions and Sajid Nadiadwala. The matrimonial site has become the official matrimonial partner for the movie. The movie is based on the book ‘2 States’ authored by Chetan Bhagat.

     

    Commenting on the association, Shaadi.com COO Gourav Rakshit said, “For over 17 years, we at Shaadi.com have been helping people create their own love story, so it is only natural for us to be associated with a beautiful love story like 2 States. We are delighted about this relationship with Dharma Productions and we wish them great success with this movie.”

     

    The film revolves around a Punjabi boy (Arjun Kapoor), who falls in love with a Tamil girl (Alia Bhatt) and all the hardships they go through because of the cultural differences between the two families. The film is distributed by UTV Motion Pictures and scheduled to release on 18 April 2014.

     

    “We are glad to be associated with Shaadi.com. The movie is a love story which revolves around two people and their families who are from two different states. So this relationship with Shaadi.com is a perfect fit,” added Dharma Productions CEO Apoorva Mehta.

  • 7 RCR- A New Series on ABP News

    7 RCR- A New Series on ABP News

    NEW DELHI: 7 RCR- an impactful series on News television in India, begins January 11th. This series will be presented by renowned author & columnist, Chetan Bhagat. 7 RCR would present to the audiences a picture of how India would appear in the near future. Today the biggest question before us is that who would form the government and who would take on the mantle of Prime Minister after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections? In such a scenario, 7 RCR, an impactful series in the history of News television, would profile all those who could become contenders for this position.
     

    Starting 11th Jan, the series 7 RCR will air on ABP News every Sat and Sun at 10 pm.  This series will depict the journey of all those who have the mettle to make it to 7 Racecourse Road, the Prime Minister’s residence.  So what is the politics of these contenders and what is the reality behind them. 7 RCR will provide the answers to such questions.
     

    With the series 7 RCR Chetan Bhagat will return to the television screen. Not only is Chetan Bhagat a successful author who has six popular books to his credit, he is also a well-known columnist who has been writing extensively on social and political issues. Some of his books have even been made into popular films.
     

    A significant feature of this series is the exhaustive research done on the personalities who have been profiled and the interviews related to them.  Besides research, its remarkable cinematography and dramatic reconstructions make this series so unique and impactful. Audiences will get an opportunity to see an extremely interesting and authentic series.

  • Disney UTV to make screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Revolution 2020’

    Disney UTV to make screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Revolution 2020’

    MUMBAI: Disney UTV is all set to direct the screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Revolution 2020’. The studio has roped in Raj Kumar Gupta of Aamir, No One Killed Jessica and Ghanchakkar fame to direct a movie based on Bhagat’s novel ‘Revolution 2020’.

    This will be studios second adaptation of Bhagat’s novel, the first being Kai Po Che!, an adaptation of Bhagat’s ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’.

    It was during the pre-production of Kai Po Che! that Bhagat shared the draft of his latest book with the creative team at Disney UTV. The Studio saw the cinematic potential in the novel, which is high on drama and entertainment and at the same time hugely relevant to the youth of today.

    Disney UTV had snapped up the rights to the book, a few months before it was launched. The novel will be made into an epic drama with strong roles for the three main leads, who will play the characters of Gopal, Raghav and Aarti, whose destinies are intertwined.

    “We are really excited about working again with two incredibly talented individuals, with whom we’ve made some great movies. In the past, Raj Kumar Gupta directed powerful films like Aamir and No One Killed Jessica for us. And there’s Chetan Bhagat who we’ve had a great time working with on the immensely successful Kai Po Che! So we’re looking forward to bringing both of them together on ‘Revolution 2020’. Raj Kumar Gupta bringing his cinematic vision to Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Revolution 2020’ is something to look forward to,” Disney UTV senior creative director – Studios Rucha Pathak.

    “I am delighted to work with UTV again after Kai Po Che!, that not only did extremely well at the box office but also was considered one of the best films of the year. Raj Kumar Gupta is brilliant director, especially for a story like ‘Revolution 2020’, steeped in contemporary Indian realism with a strong emotional content. ‘Revolution 2020’ is an intense love story, in the backdrop of corruption in the education sector, which exists and affects millions of youth across the country. Set in Kota and Varanasi, the book has sold a million and half copies, and has held pan-Indian appeal, including in the smaller cities. I expect the film to do the same. I can’t wait for Gopal, Aarti and Raghav to be cast and come to life,” added author Chetan Bhagat.

    “I read Bhagat’s ‘Revolution 2020’ and was quite moved by it. It is a very simple and heartfelt story about being young, being confused, being in love, getting corrupt. I am looking forward to writing and directing this book for the screen,” said Raj Kumar Gupta
    The screenplay of the film is currently underway and it is expected to go on the floors mid 2014.

  • Revathi returns to Bollywood with 2 States

    Revathi returns to Bollywood with 2 States

    MUMBAI: Actress-director Revathi is set to make a comeback in Bollywood with 2 States.

     

    A screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat‘s bestseller, 2 States is about a Punjabi boy who falls in love with a Tamil girl, which causes a regional-culture clash. Alia has been paired with Arjun Kapoor in the film. Seen in Hindi movies Love and Raat, Revathi is reportedly playing Alia‘s Tamilian mother.

     

    Revathi is quite happy and excited about the role. She will be seen in a prominent role in the movie and one schedule has already been shot.

     

    The 47-year-old had also directed critically acclaimed Hindi movie Phir Milenge with Shilpa Shetty, Salman Khan and Abhishek Bachchan in the lead roles.

     

    The film is being directed by Abhishek Verman and co-produced by Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala under their respective banners Dharma Productions and Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment.