ITV

Tag: Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani

  • Hindi GECs to celebrate New Year with special programming

    Hindi GECs to celebrate New Year with special programming

    MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) are all set to welcome 2016 with a host of special programming. From Star Plus, Zee TV to Colors, while some have lined up special shows, some others have kept their line-up unchanged for New Year’s eve.

    Let’s look at what the major Hindi GECs have in store:

    Star Plus

    To make New Year’s eve special for viewers, Star Plus will be airing the sixth edition of Big Star Entertainment Award 2015. The award function will be aired on 31 December at 7:30 pm.

    Star Plus has roped in Vaseline as the presenting sponsor for the show and Panasonic smart phones as the co-powered by sponsor. Some of the other brands that have associated with the special show are Godrej No.1 and Reliance.

    Colors

    Colors will be playing it safe on 31 December and will be moving away from the traditional award night airing on New Year’s eve. Instead it will be airing the Stardust Awards on 10 January at 7 pm.

    Though the channel has kept the programming line-up unchanged on 31 December, it plans to introduce new twist & turns on its current shows. Therefore, under the label of 31 New Year Dhamaka, Colors will start its prime time from 6:30 pm with its shows namely Ishq Ka Rang Safed (6.30 pm), Thapki Pyar Ki (7 pm), Sasural Simar Ka (7.30 pm),Balika Vadhu (8 pm), Udaan (8.30 pm), Chakarvartin Ashok Samart (9 pm), Swarigini (9.30 pm), Meri Ashiqui Tum Se Hi (10 pm) and ending with Bigg Boss Nau New Year special at 10.30 pm.

    Zee TV

    On New Year’s eve, Zee TV’s primetime dramas namely Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani and Tashn-E-Ishq will welcome 2016 with a star-studded evening showcasing performances by popular faces of Indian television.

    With each of Zee TV’s shows seeing twists & turns, the new primetime on 31 December will be from 6 – 11 pm.

    It may be recalled that to mark the end of this year, Zee TV aired Jashn-E-Umeed 2015  on 27 December, a two hour special celebration episode, which was aired from 5 – 7 pm. The highlights of the year gone by was presented through thematic acts and hilarious gags by the most popular faces of Indian television.

    Sony Entertainment Television

    Sony Entertainment Television will welcome 2016 by raising a toast to movies, Bollywood actors and music with the telecast of the Guild Awards 2015, which will be aired on 1 January at 8 pm.

    The channel has roped in Renault as the presenting sponsor, whereas Lux and Quick Heal have hopped on board as the co-powered by sponsors.

    Life OK

    Life OK will be ringing in the New Year with a two-hour special called Comedy Classes – Hansi ka Shree Ganesh on 31 December. Along with the regular cast, other popular comedians and celebrities from tinsel town and television will also be seen in this special, which will air at 10 pm on 31 December.

  • Zee builds up period drama with marketing innovations that #TurnBackTime

    Zee builds up period drama with marketing innovations that #TurnBackTime

    MUMBAI: Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Zee TV is all set to #TurnBackTime for its new period drama EK Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani that promises to be recreating the opulence of the 1940s on Indian television. 

     

    The channel is leaving no stone unturned in transporting the audiences back to pre-Independence India. Zee TV, as part of promotions for the new show, which went on air on 27 July, has rolled out its marketing campaign across TV, print, radio, cable, DTH, digital and cinema.

     

    With the core proposition of #TurnBackTime, the communication across platforms gives the audiences a real taste of the golden era gone by.

     

    The objective of the marketing campaign is to reach out to the largest denominator, targeting the loyalists while also bringing on board new audiences. 

     

    On the day of the show’s launch, a print innovation that aimed to take the readers of Mumbai’s top English dailies back in time was unveiled. The front page of Hindustan Times was an exact recreation of the actual newspaper on 27 July 1942, replete with the original masthead. On the other hand, DNA After Hrs took a trip down memory lane, dug out movies that were to release during July-August in 1942 along with the entertainment news of that time and created a special front page as it would have appeared, had it been published on 27 July, 1942. Bombay and Delhi Times carried double spread sepia-toned creatives with the lead actors’ pictures. The print campaign was also extended across key HSM markets of UP and Gujarat.

     

    A differentiated show requires a distinct campaign, hence a three phase television campaign was rolled out. The first phase started with a teaser where audiences got a sneak peek into the worlds of the protagonists. The second phase set the show premise and showcased the stark contrast between the backgrounds of the protagonists. The third phase spoke about the intricacies of the royal world that a common man is unaware of. Also a week prior to the launch, two character promos further established the protagonists – Gayatri as a young, unassuming, simple yet free spirited and ahead of her times girl and Ranaji as a handsome, brooding prince but dutiful towards his kingdom.

     

    What’s more, the radio waves took on a classic feel as radio spots with India’s most iconic radio announcer – a voice synonymous with the Golden age of All-India Radio – Ameen Sayani were played across stations. A tie-up with Big FM had its RJ Neelesh Mishra give viewers a preview of Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani two days prior to its premiere on the show Yaadon Ka Idiot Box. Furthermore, on the day of the launch, for the first time, Big FM had three of its RJs travel back in time to the 1940s and give trivia on fashion, cuisine and style related to that era.

     

    On the digital front, the channel hosted a ‘Vintage Photography Competition,’ wherein consumers were asked to capture today with yesterday’s lens to #TurnBackTime. A ‘tweet a postcard’ activity was also initiated for the Twitterati, where their messages for loved ones were put on an actual postcard and sent across. The campaign has already garnered a digital reach of 15 million.

     

    Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani, with its sheer scale, is one of the biggest fiction launches of the year. It aims to give viewers an up close and personal view of the lifestyles and some of the most closely guarded secrets of the rich and royal of the 1940s.

  • Zee TV slots pre-Independence period drama at 9.30 pm

    Zee TV slots pre-Independence period drama at 9.30 pm

    NEW DELHI: Zee TV is all set to replace its existing 9.30 pm prime time show Qubool Hai with its new magnum opus Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani, which will showcase the lifestyle of royalty in pre-independent India against backdrop of history. Debuting on 27 July, the show will air from Monday to Friday at 9.30 pm.

    With this, Qubool Hai will move to 7:30 pm slot, further fortifying the early primetime band.

    Zee TV generally spends four to five per cent of the budget of any series on marketing and advertising the show and will do the same this time round too.

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com Zee TV business head Pradeep Hejmadi said that while the amount of money being spent on Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani will be more or less the same as in previous programmes, it may be lower percentage-wise as the budget of the show is much higher.

    The show is being presented by Kelloggs and is being promoted across all television channels including the Zee network, and in other forms including newspaper advertisements and hoardings.

    What’s more, with an aim to pull in a new set of audience comprising mainly the youth, which is interested in history, Zee is also looking at marketing the show aggressively on the digital medium.

    Talking about the show, Hejmadi said, “Even when it comes to genres such as history and mythology, a most fascinating period that remains unexplored by Indian television is the pre-Independence era. This vibrant period of India’s history that saw a great upheaval also saw intense drama unfold in the lives of the royalty of the princely states. Behind empty walls of grandeur and fake displays of splendour was hidden the truth of erosion of wealth, insecurities, succumbing to British dominion, depression and bankruptcy. Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani is a story of love set against this most interesting canvas. It aims to give viewers an up close and personal view of the lifestyles and some of the most closely guarded secrets of the rich and royal of the 1940s. It is a work of fiction that draws inspiration from the lives of the royalty of that period.”

    Referring to why the series had history as a backdrop and not as the main peg, Hejmadi said, “Today’s generation is aware of history in terms of the Quit India movement etc. but not so aware of the way the royalty of the time lived and their mysteries. There has been an increased interest from the younger generation in the country’s history, and so the backdrop of the show had been placed in history amidst the World War and the freedom movement even though the story has been based on a fictional love story.”

    Hejmadi admitted that in view of the high budget on the series and opulence of the sets, the ad space had been sold at a premium rate. 

    The show has been produced by Sphere Origins’ Sunjoy and Comall Wadhwa along with Nilanjana Purkayastha.

    Since the series is based in the 1940s, a replica of a grand palace was constructed by 300 workers in a space of 19,000 sq ft and the entire work from sketches to actual set had taken over six months.

    Sunjoy said, “The idea has been to look back at a glorious period of history for inspiration and churn out a timeless masterpiece that will entertain and enthrall TV audiences. The most daunting task at hand has been the re-creation of the pre-Independence era and the majestic lifestyles of the kings and queens of the princely states. Enormous research has gone to ensure authentic representation of the era and to create magic on screen. We have on board an ensemble of extremely impressive actors who beautifully fit the parts they are playing. The show will definitely turn out to be a clutter-breaker and hopefully, the biggest fiction show of the year.”

    Producer Wadhwa said that great effort had been made to not just create the ambience, but use the kind of apparels, jewellery, cutlery, vehicles and art work amongst other things from that era. 

    Wadhwa added that the show was set against a fascinating backdrop of the lifestyles, motivations, hopes, aspirations, insecurities and the mysteries that shroud end the Indian royalty of the 1940s.

    The show’s cast includes Siddhant Karnik and Dhrashti Dhami in title roles, Anita Raj, Surekha Sikri, National award-winning actor Darshan Zariwala, Moon Bannerjee and Akshay Anand.

    The grand palace constructed on the outskirts of Mumbai for Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani is one of the most expensive sets in the history of Indian television. The palace has a façade inspired from the famous Baroda Palace and is also, currently, the only waterproof set for a TV show.

    Additionally, the cast and crew has also shot extensively in the palaces of Rajasthan.