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Tag: Devotional content

  • Hari Om OTT offers free subscriptions at Maha Kumbh Mela 2025

    Hari Om OTT offers free subscriptions at Maha Kumbh Mela 2025

    MUMBAI: Amidst the sacred chants, the rhythmic clang of temple bells, and the timeless ritual of dipping into the holy Ganges, a new chapter in India’s devotional journey is being written.

    What began decades ago with Doordarshan bringing the Maha Kumbh into Indian living rooms has now evolved into a digital revolution.

    Have you ever wondered how ancient traditions meet modern technology? Hari Om, India’s first devotional OTT platform, is stepping into this celestial spotlight, offering free subscriptions to all attendees of the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025.

    Set against the backdrop of Prayagraj’s historic ghats, this Maha Kumbh is unlike any other. Held after an extraordinary 144-year gap, thanks to a rare planetary alignment, the gathering promises to be one of the largest spiritual congregations in human history.

    Hari Om’s initiative ensures that even those unable to attend can virtually partake in the grandeur, bringing the soulful experience of India’s most cherished spiritual festival to screens worldwide.

    As the world converges in Prayagraj from 13 January to 26 February 2025, Hari Om OTT promises not just to connect hearts, but also to bridge tradition with technology, making the divine accessible to all.

    Hari Om strives to connect India’s rich spiritual heritage with today’s tech-savvy audience. The platform features over 20 devotional shows, including popular titles like Shri Tirupati Balaji, Mata Saraswati, Jai Maha Lakshmi, and Jai Jagannath. Beyond streaming, it offers a comprehensive devotional experience, with features such as:

    . Video and audio bhajans

    . Animated devotional stories

    . Live aartis from prominent temples

    . Prasad booking services

    .  Donation options

    . Spiritual podcasts

    This user-friendly platform aims to be a one-stop destination for spiritual engagement, bringing devotion closer to the hearts of millions.

    Hari Om founder, Vibhu Agarwal shared his excitement about the initiative, “We are thrilled to associate with India’s biggest festival, the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025. Devotees attending the Kumbh often seek cultural and religious content to preserve the essence of Sanatan Dharma. As a token of appreciation, we are offering free subscriptions to our platform, giving back to those experiencing this monumental cultural event in our country.”

    Wouldn’t it be amazing to explore devotional shows and live aartis right from your device while participating in such a massive event?

    The Maha Kumbh Mela exemplifies India’s spiritual and cultural richness. Hari Om’s partnership with the festival showcases how technology can enhance the traditional experience. The OTT platform enables devotees to carry the essence of the Kumbh back home, with its 24/7 access to prayers, bhajans, and stories of divine deities.

    As millions gather on the ghats of Prayagraj to celebrate the Maha Kumbh, Hari Om is poised to become an integral part of their spiritual journey. This initiative highlights how faith, tradition, and technology can come together to create meaningful experiences.

    Would you like to explore the divine at your fingertips? The Maha Kumbh and Hari Om make it possible.

  • Shemaroo gears up for digital era; adds devotional app Ibaadat

    Shemaroo gears up for digital era; adds devotional app Ibaadat

    MUMBAI: Right at the opportune time, one of India’s oldest media companies, Shemaroo Entertainment, has launched a new devotional app called Ibaadat.

    The Islamic devotional app will contain live feeds, devotional tunes, an e-commerce platform, donation service, etc. Over time, customer feedback will enrich the app’s growth.

    On the reason for picking the Islamic faith, Shemaroo Entertainment CEO Hiren Gada said, “For us, it is not about choosing a particular religion. We already have content and presence in all the major religions in India whether it’s Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism or Jainism. In fact, we already have a Hindu app in place, Hari Om. The next biggest population is the Islamic population. So, the idea is how many more people we can help connect with their faith.”

    About five years ago, there was an inflexion point when the company realised that digital is soon going to explode. “There are a lot of changes overall as an organisation that we have been going through the last few years. We have been preparing ourselves for the digital era. Some of these initiatives which we are seeing are a result of this,” he said.

    While the company’s digital segment has grown at roughly 40 per cent y-o-y, it stands roughly around 25 per cent of the total business.

    Very recently, Shemaroo opened its US office which is still in its initial stage. Rather than making content to cater to the US audience, it will try to serve the diaspora with existing content. “First opportunity is to be able to serve the diaspora with existing content we have in a much better way because we felt that it was clearly an underserved consumer segment for us which we saw based on various platforms we were present. So that was our first target, and that itself is a large task by itself,” Gada said.

    He did not reveal any firm plan on whether the company wanted to go the OTT way any time soon.

    The Ibaadat app is free except for some services which have minimal charge. For now, it is only available on Android and the iOS version is on the way. For promoting the app, Shemaroo is targeting DTH and social media.

    The content library is a combination of outsourced as well as the content created in house. It will be tying up with more shrines in future.

    Just three months ago, Hari Om was launched where people could tune into live telecast of aartis, order Prasad at their doorstep from temples across the country, listen to teachings of top gurus and even book religious services or orders.

    Once associated with classic movies of the previous century, Shemaroo has evolved over time staying relevant to the current age. The next challenge is to make Shemaroo digital-savvy.

  • Curation brands the need of the hour in digital: Kranti Gada

    Curation brands the need of the hour in digital: Kranti Gada

    MUMBAI: From starting her career at an FMCG company to mastering the entertainment business, the journey of Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd’s (Shemaroo) chief operating officer, Kranti Gada, in the world of business is quite intriguing. One of the youngest COOs in the industry, Gada was elevated to the position in March this year after witnessing many a change within the company and the industry. She has been championing the ‘Go Digital’ initiative right from its nascent stage at the company.

    The beginning

    Gada started working with PepsiCo after finishing her course in marketing at NMIMS in 2004. She set her sights on working for an FMCG company and only applied to such companies during campus placement. It is at PepsiCo—while moving from shop to shop selling packets to travelling in unreserved compartments of trains and conducting various surveys—that she got to know customers’ mindset innately. The lessons learnt during these two years with the company have served her well.

    She believes that staying connected with customers is critical for any company, whether it is B2B or B2C. “If you are B2C, you have to be in contact with these customers. But if you are B2B2C like us, while our content may be sold to a network that is B2B, the ultimate group that the stakeholders are servicing are consumers. So, knowing what he likes or dislikes is really important,” Gada said in an interaction with indiantelevision.com.

    A new innings

    In 2006, due to unavoidable reasons, Gada returned to Mumbai. Even as she was returning, she got an offer from a leading FMCG company that she turned down 12 days prior to joining. The very same year, she joined Shemaroo, an unlikely move for a person “who was not a heavy consumer of entertainment content”. She got into the company at a time when it was in the midst of evaluating new areas to enter. Out of those new initiatives, the digital piece was the one on which Gada focused on since the beginning. Another area on which she kept a keen eye on was gaming, a very forward-looking initiative at that point.

    Unbeknownst to many, Shemaroo dabbled in the gaming sector for 1.5 to 2 years after one year of Gada’s joining. The initiative, however, did not take off as well as they thought. “We had a development studio. India had not come up with its own IPs still. We wanted to create IPs around our brands,” she said. Despite creating learnings for the future, success was elusive for the company in gaming.

    The digital push

    Being early in the digital piece, however, really paid off for Shemaroo. From early 2000, the company started buying digital rights in a bid to create a library. When it decided to go ahead with the mobile division, it already had a library of content to offer. While the company was largely associated with home videos in the 1990s, after the change in focus, Shemaroo reoriented its offerings by repurposing content for digital.

    At present, YouTube is a monetised platform for the company. It has teams actively curating content for more than 50 YouTube channels under the umbrella. The eternal appeal of classic Hindi songs helps FilmiGaane, one of its flagship channels, to add a million subscribers every 45 days.

    With the digital revolution, the Indian media landscape has changed dramatically in the last two years. While many content companies and broadcasters are coming up with OTT platforms, content curation remains a big challenge. While some of the OTT platforms have really niche content, several platforms are vying to become a “mini-YouTube”. Along with explosion of content creation, Gada feels that there is a real need for curation brands that understand consumers well.

    OTT plans

    “I would say that at Shemaroo we absolutely should do the curation piece for sure. But I would say that having your own OTT platform is little beyond just curation. There is the technology piece and the customer acquisition piece, which is very critical,” she commented when asked if Shemaroo had plans to get into the space.

    “We will definitely have our own technology platform; we will invest in it and build out a platform. It’s the consumer strategy that we are still figuring out,” Gada added. For a brand like Shemaroo, which has been in the content business for a long time, it would be relatively easy to leverage that customer understanding after years of tracking the market one would imagine.

    Areas of focus

    While digital is going to remain a focus area in the next few years, few other areas such as multi-genre and multi-language strategies in content will remain critical. The company has also been building up its devotional content in a big way. In the pursuit of creating a new offering, the company has created several documentaries in the form of travelogues. Moreover, to make consumers aware about its new initiatives, Shemaroo has new marketing strategies up its sleeve.

    After 12 years into her journey with the company and being an inseparable part of Shemaroo’s digital strategy, Gada, as the new COO, has come to terms with the demands of her position. Despite being young in age and experience, she is thankful to Shemaroo’s management for keeping the faith in her.

    Also Read:

    Shemaroo Entertainment announces two new appointments

    Shemaroo Entertainment Strengthens its Live Darshan Offerings