MUMBAI: One hour filled with laughter- that’s the promise Star Pravah is making to viewers for its upcoming show Dhabal – Ek Taas Time Pass with Marathi star Swapnil Joshi and his co-stars. Replacing the Supriya Sachin Show, the laughter riot is all set to begin from 12 May on Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:30 pm.
The mega marketing effort is to ensure that viewers get acquainted with the meaning of Dhabal before they watch the show. In Marathi ‘Dhabal’ typically means a katta or a hangout zone. To familiarise people with the concept of ‘Dhabal’, Star Pravah has undertaken a mega on ground event organising real life ‘dhabal’ in various cities and inviting viewers to come and watch it. According to Star Pravah marketing head Mayuresh Wadke, the Kolhapur and Pune auditoriums were houseful while the next two are in Mumbai and Nashik.
Apart from this, the on air campaign consists of asking viewers to nominate two people they know who don’t laugh very easily, to come and watch the show and get entertained. The radio promotion is being done on Red FM 93.5 where Joshi and his cast will be on Malishka’s popular show in the morning as well as on the evening show to talk about Dhabal. “The focus is more on innovating rather than going out and shouting,” says Wadke.
The casting itself took a long time. It includes Siddharth Chandekar, Viju Khote, Vijay Patwardhan, Mrunmayee Godbole, Suhas Paranjape, Sarthak Ketkar, Atul Todankar, Prajakta Hanamghar, Abhijeet Chavan, Prabhakar More, Rasika Agashe, Anand Patil, Sachin Bhangre and Siddheshwar Zadbuke who will be recurring while some episodes will have guest appearances. The effort is to make each episode different whether topic wise, issue wise or celebrity wise. “We have got an action plan for sustenance of good humour. Apart from me and Srirang Godbole there are 10 writers for the show,” says Star Pravah programming head Jayesh Patil. In production since six months, Dhabal is the product by Indian Magic Eye production house headed by Srirang Godbole who is the chairman and managing director.
As of now, Vicco Vajradanti has been signed as the title sponsor while the hunt for other sponsors and advertisers is still on. The channel is also looking at brand integration inside the show which won’t be overtly loud. Even though four episodes have been completed, certain scenes have been shot on chroma background to keep the possibility of integration open.
Star Pravah nonfiction head Amit Phalke is aware that comparisons will be made to other comedy shows. “With a comedy show there will be a comparison and why should we be shy about it?” he says. Phalke who has been an actor as well as worked with Zee Talkies and ETV Marathi while it launched Kon Hoeel Marathi Crorepati is well aware of working with tight budgets.
Repeats of the show will begin from the second week as the channel does not want to spread the audience so soon. However, those who miss the show on TV will only get to see a short capsule on the digital platform.
