Tag: Ekta Kapoor

ALTBalaji COO Sunil Nair steps down

MUMBAI: ALTBalaji chief operating officer (COO) Sunil Nair has stepped down from his current position. However, he will be serving the Ekta Kapoor-led OTT platform till 30 September.

After nearly 4 years of association with ALTBalaji, he has resigned from his role as the COO to pursue new adventures.

He joined the organisation in June 2015, even before the service was launched successfully on 16 April 2017. He was responsible for building India's first pure-play original video content platform. He also worked with brands like Reliance Jio, Star India.

Notably, Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sunil Lulla also quit last month. A few days after his resignation, Lulla announced his in-residence consulting service, The Linus Adventures.

September 12, 2019
White Rivers Media powers launch campaign for ‘Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain’ S2

MUMBAI: White Rivers Media helped ALT Balaji, the OTT platform from Balaji Telefilms Ltd, in successfully launching the second season of one of its marquee series Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain by creating a three-week long digital campaign ‘Will the heart ever be happy with what it has’, for its promotions. The idea was to establish the show’s premise, where the audience could experience a heightened emotional relatability.

The 360-degree campaign was inclusive of packaged as well as organic content, which pushed POVs of the characters to maximise social sentiments of audience w.r.t each during pre-buzz. With a concentrated approach, the campaign flowed towards the launch, while instigating an equitable conversation around dynamics of a complex relationship, aspirations of an emancipated woman, and life after divorce.

White Rivers Media chief executive officer and co-founder Shrenik Gandhi said, “We’ve been associated with ALTBalaji since its inception. If a show comes from Ekta Kapoor, one knows it has to be about breaking records and much more! This campaign brings back the nostalgia of success we achieved for the brand with this marquee show’s first season. This one is even special because we broke through all pre-set benchmarks from the previous year. We are very happy with the positive response and look forward to a similar response for ALTBalaji’s power-packed line-up this year.”

ALTBalaji senior vice president and head of marketing Divya Dixit said, "Ekta Kapoor undoubtedly understands the pulse of Indian OTT entertainment better than anyone else, and produces one blockbuster after another. Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain is very special to us as a concept, and so was this launch campaign for this second season. Right from the build-up of this campaign to the launch of the show and activity line-up, it has been a data-intensive and strategic call. It gives me immense pleasure to see that what was once up on our whiteboards is now at play on digital grounds with collaborative help from White Rivers Media. We are also grateful to our millions of subscribers for their support and we are glad it is winning hearts.”

February being the month of love #GetLoveZoned being the social theme at ALTBalaji; the launch hit close to home with its matured take on love and relationships. The campaign has already hit 20 million views on social media itself in 2 weeks and is rearing to go forward. Netizens, influencers, and celebrities across the country have flooded all social and digital platforms with outpouring of love.

February 22, 2019
&TV presents Ekta Kapoor’s new horror-mystery Daayan

Mumbai, 4th December 2018:Na zinda, namrit… woh raat ki raani hain, ek shaitani taakat hain. Apno ke beech chhupi, kaun hai woh? Transporting its viewers into an alternate world of mystery and horror, &TV and Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms’ present Daayan. The show is a gripping tale of a girl’squest in revealing the identity of the evil force hidden amongst her close ones and defeating its sinister plans.With popular television actors Tinaa Dattaa and Mohit Malhotra in the lead, the new weekend fiction property is slated to go on air from 15th December 2018 every Saturday and Sunday at 9.00 pm only on &TV.

Daayan is a mystifying narrative of a young Jhanvi Morya (Tinaa Dattaa), a well-educated and family-oriented girl hailing from Ujjain. It maps her race against time as she stumbles upon a dangerous ploy of the evil force, as many unusual and mysterious happenings repeatedly occur in her hometown. With a threat to her life, it’s her journey of unmasking the identity of the ‘Daayan’ who is one of her close ones. Accompanying her in this mission, will be Jhanvi’s childhood friend and love interest, the wealthy and chivalrous Akarsh Sharma (Mohit Malhotra). The show also brings together a powerful ensemble cast with names like Amit Thakur, Aakash Talwar, Rishita Nag, Kanika Shivpuri, Prabhat Bhattacharya, Priya Bhatija amongst others in various roles.

Commenting on the new offering, Vishnu Shankar, Head, &TV said, “At &TV we aim to cater to the evolving content palette of our viewers, which is why creating unexplored genres is an immensely exciting proposition for us. We were the first to combine supernatural and romance with Laal Ishq, which has created a niche of its own in the cluttered GEC category. This has encouraged us to now interweave horror and mystery in our new show Daayan. Placed at the primetime weekend slot of 9.00 pm, the audiences are in for thrilling weekends, starting 15th December. The show is a riveting narrative of a young girl Jhanvi Morya’s journey to unveil the identity of the evil Daayan. We are extremely delighted to join hands with Ekta Kapoor and Balaji Telefilms for this project and wholeheartedly welcome the team to the &TV family.”

Talking about her show, Producer Ekta Kapoor, Balaji Telefilms said, “The team and I are very kicked to present Daayan and have worked really hard designing the show over the past few months. We are happy to see it come to life so beautifully with &TV. Taking viewers through the protagonist, Jhanvi’s journey of unraveling the mystery of the Daayan, the show promises horror, drama, thrill, romance, mystery, an all-in-all great entertainer. With a fantastic team of artists on board, we are sure to create intrigue with the layered plot that will keep the viewers guessing. I have enjoyed creating content in the horror space and I’m glad that audiences have responded well to it. This time too, I’m positive that we have a winner on our hands. With the blessings of God, now the show belongs to the audiences.”

Having essayed varied roles in the past, talented actress Tinaa Dattaa said, “I’m grateful to have been chosen to play Jhanvi, working with Balaji Telefilms and Ekta again. Horror-mystery as a genre has seen great interest from viewers at large and I’m excited to make way in this space. Jhanvi’s character is unlike any that I have played before, she grows from being vulnerable to being courageous, battling her own demons at times. It’s a thrilling narrative of a simple girl’s repeated trysts with the supernatural and her journey to unveil the evil Daayan amongst her close ones.”

Playing the role of the male lead, popular actor Mohit Malhotra said, “This is my second show with &TV and Balaji Telefilms has always been like a second home to me, so I was more than happy to play the character of Akarsh Sharma as the male protagonist. Daayan is in the mystery-horror genre which I have been wanting to experiment with for a while now, so this was an opportunity that I just couldn’t miss. This being an interesting genre with mystery and horror intertwined, my character Akarsh is key to the narrative, who is not just Jhanvi's love interest but a constant companion throughout the story."

Driven by her fate upon the deepest and darkest alleys of witchcraft, Daayan aims to raise several mysterious questions in the mind of the audience. Will Jhanvi be able to ever unravel the truth behind the Daayan or will she crumble against the shadow of the evil? With a mystery to her identity and an unconventional form to her appearance, &TV brings forth a world where evil lurks arounds the corner and where everything seems real, yet nothing is.

December 5, 2018
‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2’ to launch on 10 September

MUMBAI: A show that stormed TV channel Star Plus 17 years ago is making its comeback. Ekta Kapoor’s famed Kasautii Zindagii Kay is relaunching with a new cast and story from 10 September weekdays at 8pm.

The Balaji Telefilms produced show released its first promo in July featuring Erica Fernandes as Prerna in the show, while the male lead will be played by Parth Samthaan. Ekta Kapoor had used social media to convey that “Love never dies!!! When you think it’s over, it returns! Here it is Kasauti Zindagi Kay!”

Kasauti was one of the most successful shows, not just for Balaji Telefilms but also Star Plus. The channel has been revamping its lineup frequently in the recent past as it grapples with low ratings. Shweta Tiwari and Cezanne Khan have played iconic characters and it may be difficult for the audience to imagine new faces. However, the gap would mean there are newer audiences who may not have watched the earlier version and Kapoor’s hint that the rebooted version will also be an emotional drive is likely to mean that the storyline will be suited to modern times.

Currently, the political satire Har Shaakh Pe Ullu Baithaa Hai is being aired at the 8pm slot but it will go off air. Earlier, newly launched Nazar was supposed to take over but it has been given the late night slot of 11pm.

August 7, 2018
‘Kasauti Zindagi Kay’ season 2 to return on Star Plus

MUMBAI: One of the love sagas by Ekta Kapoor, Kasauti Zindagi Kay is all set to hit the small screen after 17 years. The third longest running show from the K-series is back again on Star Plus. Produced by Balaji telefilms, the show successfully ran for seven years with Shweta Tiwari as Prerna, Cezanne Khan as Anurag Basu and Ronit Roy as Mr Bajaj.

Recently, the first promo of Kasautii Zindagii Kay was released. The promo features Erica Fernandes as Prerna in the show, while the male lead will be played by Parth Samthaan.

On this, Ekta Kapoor used social media to convey that “Love never dies!!! When you think it’s over, it returns! Here it is Kasauti Zindagi Kay!”

Kasauti was one of the most successful shows, not just for Balaji Telefilms but also Star Plus. The channel, which is currently facing a hard time owing to low ratings, has been brainstorming on ideas to get its audience back. It may be difficult to imagine new faces in these roles. But as hinted by Ekta in the post, the rebooted version will also be an emotional drive and audience will love this season as well.

July 23, 2018
Netflix streams first Indian original series ‘Sacred Games’

MUMBAI: Netflix has finally started streaming its much-hyped first Indian original series Sacred Games. After two and a half years of its entry in the crowded Indian OTT (over-the-top) market, the streaming giant has tuned in to Bollywood flavour by starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte.

In the Indian OTT market, almost every player is betting big on originals. Ekta Kapoor-owned ALTBalaji has emphasised on originals as well. Netflix’s international rival Amazon Prime has already launched two Indian original series Inside Edge and Breathe along with one non-scripted show Remix. Though Netflix has won the heart of viewers with original US shows like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Stranger Things, it has realised the importance of local content to woo Indian audience.

Netflix: Kashyap, Motwane to direct parallel ‘Sacred Games’, targeting 5-6 originals in a year

The crime thriller is based on the critically acclaimed novel, Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap, co-founders of Phantom Film co-directed the new series.

“There are great stories everywhere, but there are really four or five centers of TV and film (globally). Mumbai (Bollywood) is certainly one of them, and it is important for us, because we are going to be actively invested in India,” Netflix international originals VP Erik Barmack said as quoted by Reuters.

Still now Netflix is far behind in the competition in the Indian market compared to Hotstar, Voot and Amazon Prime. A KPMG-FICCI report read that Netflix’s total active subscriberswas 4.2 million in January 2017 while Hotstar had 63 million, Voot had 13.2 million and Amazon Video had 9.5 million. However, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has high hopes as he said earlier that the next 100 million subscribers of the company would come from India.

Given the dominance of regional languages apart from Hindi, domestic players have already been very bullish about regional content too.

“There is an argument to be made that each region in India is rich enough to be developing series, as if it is its own country. We should and we will. It is a matter of sequencing,” Barmack commented on the issue.

July 8, 2018
Guest column: TV Analytics on Colors Tamil

Viacom’s entry into a new regional market with channel Colors Tamil has made big news since its launch in February this year. With its sampling phase for content still running, the channel’s performance has a dynamic impact on the regional television landscape. We studied the key viewership metrics for Colors Tamil over a month and found interesting content preferences among “core audiences” – a segment determined by individual exposure to TV content.

What kind of impact does Colors Tamil have on the industry? What does “core audience” analysis mean for broadcasters competing for higher share of eyeballs, and how can media planners leverage this data?

Colors Tamil is among Top Ten most watched Tamil channels

Despite airing much lesser amount of content compared to veteran players, Colors Tamil has earned a spot on the top ten most watched Tamil channels in just three months after its launch. Calculated by number of minutes spent by unique individuals, viewership share for the new channel reveals that Colors is a fast-growing contender in the Tamil segment on TV.

Top performing content on Colors Tamil: Matrimonial show woos maximum viewership

An analysis of top performing shows by viewership share (minutes viewed) revealed that 53.30% share went to Enga Veetu Mapillai, a matrimonial show similar to Hindi entertainment’s ‘Swayamvar’, hosted by South Indian actor Arya who also doubles up as the brand ambassador for Colors Tamil. Ranked second is Naagini with 21% viewership share, a Tamil dubbed version of Ekta Kapoor’s hit TV series on Colors TV (Hindi).

The success of both Enga Veetu Mapillai and Naagini suggests that trends in popular culture hold true across different language markets. The challenge lies in identifying the pulse of entertainment running across different ethnic markets. This can be derived by diving deep into content consumed by unique socio-cultural regions (SCRs) via TV audience research.

Overlap studies among ‘Core’ Colors Tamil audiences: What else do they watch on TV?

Overlap studies were conducted to see what else Colors Tamil audiences watch on TV, helping to further profile the channel’s viewer-base according to content preferences. These studies were conducted purely among the channel’s “core audiences”, people who watched the channel for more than 30 minutes during the analysis period.

The author is the VP of Data Insights at Zapr Media Labs.T he views expressed here are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them

June 18, 2018
Dialog ViU partners ALTBalaji for original Indian content

MUMBAI: Dialog Axiata PLC from Sri Lanka has announced its partnership with ALTBalaji to provide users of its ViU service with original Indian video content for the first time in Sri Lanka, at subsidised rates.

Dialog Axiata PLC senior general manager Global and content services Mangala Hettiarachchi said, “The launch of the ViU app signified a new era of accessible content for Sri Lankan consumers, not only in terms of local content but regional and international as well. Dialog’s partnership with ALTBalaji strengthens our commitment to providing consumers with a host of diversified content including programming in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and more at affordable prices.”

Available in 90 countries with a global paid subscriber base of over 2.5 million, ALTBalaji is rapidly growing towards four million subscribers. With a growing library of original shows and a robust distribution strategy, ALTBalaji aims to reach out to audience worldwide.

Commenting on the association, ALTBalaji group COO and CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “ALTBalaji is constantly working towards creating path-breaking content which caters to the Indian language urban mass audience. The response to our content so far has been overwhelming and we wish to make it available to audience inside all environments. Our association with Dialog will help us with a unique opportunity to reach out to a wide customer base and let them enjoy the content we are proud to present.”

This strategic partnership with Dialog through the ViU app will result in the introduction of original Indian content to over one million Sri Lankan users, diversifying its already varied portfolio of offerings. To access over 150 hours of original content in various Indian languages, ViU users simply need to log into the app, click on the ALTBalaji for Dialog icon to download the app and subscribe at a subsidised rate. ViU users are entitled to a one-month free subscription and are required to pay only Rs 160 per month thereafter.

June 1, 2018
Sunil Lulla joins Balaji Telefilms as group CEO

MUMBAI: Indian production company Balaji Telefilms has appointed Sunil Lulla as its new group chief executive officer. His new role will be effective from 25 May 2018. He will replace Sameer Nair who quit the company to join Applause Entertainment.

Speaking on his appointment, Lulla says, “I am incredibly excited to join Balaji Telefilms at this stage of the company’s evolution into a B2C media business. Balaji Telefilms has a great combination of engaging and compelling content and distribution on the back of explosive growth in online video consumption. Balaji Telefilms is well positioned to become a leading player in the Indian media sector and I am motivated to join the leadership team and all the great people that have fuelled Balaji Telefilms success so far.”

Balaji Telefilms managing director Shobha Kapoor adds, “We are pleased that Sunil will be joining us as group CEO and are confident that he is the right person to lead Balaji to the next stage of growth and value creation. He is a seasoned leader with a stellar leadership reputation and brings with him a wealth of consumer business experience. The Indian media sector is undergoing massive change which also creates enormous opportunities for us at Balaji Telefilms and Sunil will lead the efforts with the rest of the team to seize these opportunities and create value for all our stakeholders.”

Lulla has over three decades of experience across media, entertainment and broadcast industry. In his last stint, he was the chairman and managing director of ad agency Grey Group India. He has worked with Saregama, MTV, Sony and other networks and launched the TV network for Bennett Coleman & Co, The Times Television Network.

May 21, 2018
With A Passion for Power and A Thirst for Vengeance: Naagin 3 Returns on COLORS

MUMBAI: Redefining entertainment for a finite fiction series with supernatural mysticism at its core, Naagin captivated the audience in its first two editions. Taking this legacy forward on COLORS is the third season of Naagin that tells a saga of power, passion and revenge. This highly mythical offering will witness a new ensemble star cast with entertainment’s most popular faces like Karishma Tanna, Anita Hassanandani, Surbhi Jyoti, Pearl V Puri, Rajat Tokas, Ankit Mohan, Rakshanda Khan and Chetan Hansraj amongst others. Naagin 3, presented by Dabur Red Paste is produced by Balaji Telefilms and premieres on 2nd June 2018, every Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 PM on COLORS.

Commenting on the show, COLORS, Programming Head, Manisha Sharma said, “At COLORS we are very excited about the new revenge drama of Naagin. As the tagline goes – ‘Is baar Intewaam ke honge saare hade paar, jab kahi roop badalkar karengi waar’, viewers will witness a bigger and new twist in the storyline.”

Elaborating further, Producer Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms said, “Naagin is a very special show for me and every season is unique with an intriguing plot to unveil. Keeping up with the expectations of our audiences, we hope to introduce a far more captivating concept combined with a stupendous star-cast. This is Ruhi’s tale as she plots her vengeance against her lover’s murderers. For this season, we have also enhanced the graphics and visual effects that will beguile the viewers like never before.”

Naagin 3 traces back to mythological origins and the belief that if someone kills a naag, its beloved (naagin) will surely return for vengeance. Ruhi (Karishma Tanna) is an Icchadhari Naagin who has been waiting for more than 100 years to be one with her lover Vikrant (Rajat Tokas). With an impending marriage and promises of lifelong togetherness, she is waiting to start her new life. However, the couple is suddenly attacked by a group of young men and Vikrant, who steps in protect Ruhi’s modesty is murdered. Thus begins a story of revenge for love wrapped in mystery.

Speaking about her character Ruhi, actor Karishma Tanna said, “Naagin has been an iconic show and being able to portray Ruhi is an honour for me. Every character has been so thoughtfully visualized and brought to life which is the true essence of a strong show. I am looking forward to this new journey and I hope to live up to the expectations of our viewers.”

Speaking about her character Vishakha, actor Anita Hassanandani said, “Having played various characters across tv and films, my foray into the supernatural thriller genre begins with Naagin 3. I’m excited to see the outcome of a show that has the best team – Balaji Telefilms and COLORS. The entire team has left no stone unturned in ensuring that it will be definite treat for our viewers to watch. I hope that, collectively, we are able to break the current benchmarks and set new ones.”

May 16, 2018