ITV

Tag: Debi Prasad Padhi

  • Sarthak TV to air ‘Nua Geeta Nua Swara’ starting January

    Sarthak TV to air ‘Nua Geeta Nua Swara’ starting January

    KOLKATA: Come 2015 and Sarthak TV from the Odisha-based Sarthak Entertainment Group, is all set to launch a reality show, ‘Nua Geeta Nua Swara’ (NGNS), starting 5 January every Monday and Tuesday for one hour.

    “This is a unique televised singing talent hunt where the participants will be performing on a virgin composition which has never been recorded anywhere for any public listening. The concept has not yet been explored by any other channel across the country,” said Sarthak Entertainment Group marketing manager Debi Prasad Padhi.

    For pre-auditions and audition phases, the team of NGNS will travel to different districts of the state to handpick the budding hidden talents of Odisha and groom them to become professionals by the end of the show. “Contestants would be undergoing through the pre-auditions round where their vocal ability and their composition (own/new) will be judged by two affluent persons from the music industry of Ollywood,” informed Padhi.

    Those who successfully cross pre-auditions, will face the three main judges in the audition round and on successful completion of this, the contestant will move to the next level where they will sing with instruments, further explained Padhi.

    For the mega audition, only a few handpicked talents will be given a chance to perform to prove themselves, thus winning the title.

    The show will have close to 40-50 episodes.

    On the unique selling proposition (USP) of the programme, he said, “This show will witness the freshness of the new lyrics, new composition and a new voice.”
     
    Radhakanta Mishra would be the judge and anchor during pre-auditions while the auditions will be judged by music directors Manmath Mishra and Bikash Das.

    Apart from this, renowned Ollywood film personalities, serial stars and famous singers will also appear as guests on the reality programme.

    In four years since its inception, Sarthak TV has launched Odiya mega serials along with reality shows like ‘Rajo Queen’, ‘Gruha Laxmi’ and many more to appeal to the tastes of Odiya viewers.

     

  • Soon: Swara Odishara on Sarthak TV

    Soon: Swara Odishara on Sarthak TV

    KOLKATA: Beginning 3 July, a musical talent hunt show, Swara Odishara will air on general entertainment channel Sarthak TV from the Sarthak Entertainment Group every Thursday and Friday between 9.30pm and 10.30pm.

     

    Debi Prasad Padhi, marketing manager, Sarthak Entertainment Group, says, “We are coming up with a competitive reality show Swara Odishara. We expect a participation of more than 5,000 people. The one-of-its-kind musical talent hunt will have 21 episodes in all which includes the grand finale”

     

    The actual duration of the show is 48 minutes while the target audience is CS 4+.

     

    When asked about the USP of the show, Padhi says it will feature playback singers and musicians from both Bollywood and Ollywood (Odisha film industry). “It will have a high emotional connect and cut-throat competition as the selection of singers from the Odisha hinterland will be done by three of the best mentors. There will also be huge marketing opportunities at each location and level,” explains Padhi.

     

    “Music is special for the Sarthak Group as ours is a phenomenal contribution to the music industry in the state for the past 32 years, with a library of over 20,000 songs. Ours is one of the best platforms for budding singers. We have a collection of 12,000 albums and devotional songs and an additional 4,000 film songs,” he informs.

     

    Sarthak Entertainment Group has identified locations such as Balasore, Berhampur, Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar for the first and second round of auditions for the show. Zeroing in on talent and forming teams will be the job of the celebrity mentors including Bollywood and regional playback singer Shaurin Bhatt, Oriya singer Sritam Mohanty and music composers Bikash Mishra and Manmath Mishra. The contestants selected after rounds one and two will have to face a higher level of audition at the same location to be part of the top 24 finalists.

     

    The judges include singer Namita Agrawalla, singer/lyricist/music director Srikant Goutam and music and movie director Malaya Mishra. However, for the elimination rounds, the judges will be Sravan, Kumar Sanu, Lalit and Sanjeev Darshan while for the grand finale, they will include Md Ajiz, Suresh Wadekar, Namita Agrawalla and Udit Narayan.

     

    The show will be hosted by debonair Oriya hero Debasish.

     

    While the presenting sponsor was supposed to be Idea initially, it is now Lalchand Jewellers. It will be called “Lalchand Jewellers Swara Odishara powered by Pran Foods,” reveals Padhi.

     

    About Lalchand Jewellers showing interest in such a show, a media expert says, “Name anything with reach, brand enhancement brand recall….such shows give superb mileage.”

     

    Replying to a question about TRPs and advertising rates expected, Padhi says, “We are expecting a TRP of 3-4+ in CS4+ TG and targeted advertising rates are Rs 10,000 for 10 seconds.”

  • Sarthak TV giving a taste of reality to Oriya viewers

    Sarthak TV giving a taste of reality to Oriya viewers

    KOLKATA: Sarthak TV from the Odisha-based Sarthak Entertainment Group has two aces up its sleeve in terms of reality shows this season.

     

    One – Mu be Heroine Hebi, will be aired August or September onwards, while dates of the other – Sadhaba Pua hasn’t been finalized yet.

     

    According to Sarthak Entertainment Group marketing manager Debi Prasad Padhi, Mu Be Heroine Hebi is a one-of-its-kind show that has never been attempted before either in the Odiya or the Hindi industry. It is meant to be a stepping stone for actresses aspiring to make a mark on the silver screen. Whereas, Sadhaba Pua is a reality show for men. “The new reality shows apart from season 2 of the existing ones will give the industry a turnaround in Odisha as they will be the first of its kind,” said Padhi.

     

    For Mu Be Heroine Hebi, it is likely that the three male leads of Sarthak Entertainment Group’s next film, Raghupati Raghava Rajaram – MP and megastar Siddhanta Mahapatra, Sabyasachi and Akash DasNayak – may tour the state of Odisha in search of their respective heroines.

     

    “The name of the movie is decided and the release date is scheduled for 1 January 2015. The film will be shot and edited in three months,” informed Padhi.

     

    The actors will select 12 girls from across the state based on various criteria while leading filmmakers will then pare down the list to three. “These three girls will play the female leads opposite the three male leads in the film. This time, we’ve decided to give a mega block buster so we are doing this combo of finding heroines… as well as giving a chance to new talent,” said Padhi. “Everyone will be raving about this show. We believe that no national channel has done this till date.”

     

    The first couple of episodes of the 20-episode show will be shot at six outdoor locations across Odisha. The following episodes where the final three contestants have to be selected will be shot indoors. Each episode of Mu Be Heroine Hebi is estimated to cost around Rs 3 lakh with a total spend of approximately Rs 60 lakh.

     

    The media house is said to be looking at buying production houses like ‘One plus One’ of Kolkata and ‘Asian Shopping Club’ of Odisha but nothing has been finalized yet. “In a week or so, we will finalize the production unit,” he added. “We are expecting a TRP of 4+ in CS4+ TG and targeted advertising rates are Rs 10,000 per 10 seconds.” ITC Vivel has evinced interest in becoming the presenting sponsor and others will follow suit.

     

    When contacted, an Odisha media expert said, “Name anything from mileage to reach, brand enhancement, brand recall….such shows give superb mileage.”

     

    He went on to comment, “Simple girls participating in the reality show and then becoming lead heroines for the movie is a strategy of Sarthak TV to connect with the masses. Innovators win, others can’t survive.”

     

    On channel viewership, Padhi said Sarthak TV had Odiya viewers in other parts of the country as well as outside India.

     

    In four years since its inception, Sarthak TV has launched three Odiya mega serials along with reality shows like ‘Rajo Queen’, ‘Gruha Laxmi’ and many more to appeal to the tastes of Odiya viewers.

  • Ollywood TV to become satellite channel, September onwards

    Ollywood TV to become satellite channel, September onwards

     KOLKATA: Early this month, Odisha-based Sarthak Entertainment Group, launched general entertainment channel, Ollywood TV. While the 24×7 cable channel reaches almost all cable TV homes in Odisha, the group is now looking to make it a satellite channel starting September this year.

     

    “We have got all approvals for setting up the satellite channel from September this year,” confirmed Sarthak Entertainment Group marketing manager Debi Prasad Padhi.

     

     Meanwhile, Ollywood TV isn’t the only GEC from the group; another GEC, Sarthak TV, completed four years since its inception and has to its credit three mega serials, reality shows like Rajo Queen and Gruha Laxmi, and lots of new and entertaining content to satiate the Odiya TV viewer. “We are available across the country through different DTH platforms like Tata Sky, Airtel, Videocon and Dish TV. We aim to come up with many more entertaining programmes in the days to come,” said Padhi about Sarthak TV.

     

    Quoting from the latest, week 16 report released by TAM on GECs in Odisha, Padhi said that Sarthak TV had gained big by reporting a gross rating point (GRP) of 207 points. While in the week 15, the GRP reported was 204 points.

     

    Why another GEC when Sarthak TV is doing well as compared to other GECs in Odisha? “We want to launch new reality shows and serials apart from airing our own serials. We have more than 250 Odiya movies in our library. If there is anyone who can win in the GEC space in Orissa, it is the one who can entertain audiences via innovative formats,” said Padhi. “We are far ahead of others in the genre. In terms of content, people want soaps, drama, aspirational and progressive shows.” He further cited examples of serials doing well as ‘To Aganara Tulasi Mu’, ‘Pari’, ‘Badhu’, ‘Mahadev’, and ‘Prithviraj Chauhan’.

     

    Three decades ago, there was very little scope for entertainment for the people of Odisha, but that has changed now. “We are the only organisation in Odisha equally successful in TV broadcasting, producing movies and music. We will continue to entertain Odiya speaking people even more in the years to come,” Padhi signed off.