ITV

Tag: Hindi GEC

  • ‘Fiction will help us scale up’: Endemol India managing director Deepak Dhar

    ‘Fiction will help us scale up’: Endemol India managing director Deepak Dhar

     For Endemol India, it has been a roller coaster ride. The international content creator has established itself as a leader in the reality TV genre and has expanded into other strands of content. Now the gameplan is to speed up on the fiction front.

     

    Endemol, which produced 1400 hours of content in 2010, is planning to scale up in several verticals including regional language, sports and food and lifestyle programming. The company recently formed a JV with Rhiti Sports, the company which manages Indian skipper MS Dhoni, for sports formats.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Ashwin Pinto, Endemol India managing director Deepak Dhar talks about the company’s growth plans.

     

    Excerpts:

     

    What progress did Endemol make in India last year?

     

    The progress has been 360 degrees. Initially, we were known for reality. Now it is not the only thing; we are known for other strands of non fiction also.

     

    We have an array of fiction shows. We have moved into regional as well with Bengali and Southern language content. We have also gained from being in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space.

     

    How does India compare to other Asian markets?

    It is growing. The entire world is looking at us. Our parent is looking at what India can do. We did over 1400 hours of production last year. We have done well if you look at the state of our productions or business development. We have had double digit growth.

    Could you shed light on how you are scaling up the fiction business?

    We are seeing ideas that can be exploited in the Hindi GEC space. They can also go into the regional space, south, Bengali, Marathi. We are looking at slots that need newer storytellung. We are meeting with our broadcast partners to see what the synergies are.

     

    We do a lot of non fiction and format work. In terms of scaling up, growth will come from fiction.

    We will be making two to three announcements in the next few weeks.

    What kind of shows are you looking at?

     

    We are not focussing only comedy or only drama or only thriller. We are known for 360 degree entertainment solutions. Anything that fits the household will be our focus.

    Are you looking at forming JVs with local production houses?

     

    We are constantly analysing it. Now we are largely focussing on organic growth. We will look at inorganic growth, but at this point of time there is nothing serious.
    ‘Now we are largely focussing on organic growth. We will look at inorganic growth, but at this point of time there is nothing serious‘

    In terms of margins, how are you faring?

     

    Margins are always tough in this country, espcially in the broadcast and production sector. In our formats and even our fiction business, we have kept a healthy balance in our margins due to product efficiencies. In a year, we do around nine non fiction shows.

    But in the fiction space aren’t margins squeezed?

     

    They are squeezed but again for us the emphasis is great storytelling. We want to be happy with the stories being told and we will manage the margins. Comedy has its own space. In drama, emotions are integral to the Indian psyche. That will never go out of fashion.

    How do you manage costs?

     

    It is a challenge. Broadcasters are always looking to push costs down without the quality falling. Broadcasters, though, understand that to have a quality product the margins must be healthy. The production house must be given some breathing space.

     

    Non fiction shows have a larger budget. You get a bang for 13-26 weeks and that is it. With fiction it is like running a marathon. You need to have the stamina to push the idea and engage the audience.

    Balaji to some extent has lost dominance which has created a gap. How are ou tapping this?

     

    We have already tapped into this. We are doing three fiction shows at this point of time. We will be adding two more within a month or so. We have stepped into this opportunity. We also look at the competition and what is on the horizon.

     

    Fiction is where the horizon is. The margins can improve in this genre. People will look at us as an Indian producer and not just as a format producer. We will focus largely on fiction.

    Indian production houses are known for doing one kind of show. We are not like that. We do things from ‘songs and dancing’ to reality and action-based shows.

    How were you able to broadbase youreself into fiction?

     

    This has to do with the team. We have Gadgi and Kartik as the creative and business heads. They lend credibility and experience to Endemol’s fiction slate. We believe that if you have the right talent on board, then the right discussions start flowing out.

     

    Geet has worked. Mili Ye at one point really worked. But the story ran its cycle. These stories have been channel drivers for Star One and Star Plus; they will help us consolidate our next line of fiction.

    In the non fiction area, you entered the food genre with two shows. What scope do you see in the lifestyle space?

     

    Lifestyle is a niche space. However, we do not want to leave any space untapped. The opportunity might seem small. But an opportunity needs to be seen.

     

    Documentary and speciality channels are growing in popularity in the West. You will see the same trend happening here. A new spate of speciality channels from science and technology to crime and thriller to food are bound to come in. This is a new space we will be busy with this year.

    Is the approach here different from how you look at other areas like formats?

     

    Yes! In lifestyle you will have to create original ideas; it is not about replicating an idea from the US. We don’t want to simply pick up a format. it has to fit into an opportunity.
    The local version of Wipeout launches tomorrow. Has the format been changed in any way?

     

    Not really. You will see the same thing. It will be extremely engaging, funny and competitive. It is the new next breed of reality shows that we will roll out on Indian television. We want to push trends and get trends into the country.

    What trends are we seeing abroad in the format space?

     

    A lot of game shows are doing well at this point. 1vs 100, Million Pound drop Aare two big game shows. We are bringing them to India.

     

    Deal Or No Deal has done well. We produced 300 episodes of this on the Sun Network. We did five seasons back to back for them.

     

    You will see us pushing a lot of gameshows going forward. Howwever, reality will always be the flavour of the season. People like to watch others in pressure cooker scenarios. This is the spectrum of ideas you will see.

     

    We are also looking to bring in State of Panic to India. Circus Of The Celebrities is another one. It is an engaging, high end primetime experience. The common thread is people being pushed into pressure cooker situations; in others pure true human emotions are glorified on primetime television. As long as the emotions are true, it will help some of these format shows stand.

     

    We are also doing things in the ad funded space. Rin Mera Star Superstar, Fair And Lovely Choo Lo Aasman have done well for us. This is what I mean by having a 360 degree approach. We are pushing ideas in this space. We need top keep a balance between the needs of a broadcaster and an advertiser. You do not want an advertiser funded show to look like one. You have to do something that has been well thought through and engages.

    What is the gameplan to tackle the South market?

     

    We will take our big ticket gameshows there. We are also taking reality shows there.

     

    Currently the South is a growing part of our business. This year we will add a few more fundamental blocks to make it stand on its own.

     

    We are concentrating on the Tamil and Telugu markets. We producing a lot in the Malayalam space as well.
    What balance are you looking at between fiction and non fiction content?
     
     
    We want it to be 50:50. We are on track to achieve this. We have been the market leader in the non fiction space. The challenge is to see how we can fast track our business and sales. We are adding new pieces like sports into our business. This will bring in new challenges as every business has its own dynamic. We have a good tab on the competition.

    How did the tie up with Rhiti Sports come about?

     

    We have been exploring this in terms of doing things in the sports space. We want formats like The Match, Next Great Champ. We are looking at basketball, football, boxing, cricket. Rhiti Sports with their credibility will help us monetise the formats across sports broadcasting and GECs as well.

     

    The sports genre is not tapped in terms of formats. Sports formats are consumed a lot by the youth, kids and women. We have a rich library of content in the sports format space.
    You used to do a Call TV initiative with ETV. How did that fare?

     

    It was a good experience. In the interactive TV space, we do a lot internationally. There was a need to create a low cost game show. We produced Break The Bank. The market size, though, is small. The telecom industry versus the content industry faces its own set of challenges. So we did not push it too hard.
     
    Are you looking at new media?
     
    Yes! We do a lot of content for the mobile internationally. With 3G coming in, we are keen to tap this space. We have formats tailored for the mobile like small comedy interstitials. The youth love to sample something really fast. They are restless. They don’t only want content on the television. A lot of discussions are going on globally regarding how to cater to the mobile audience.
     
    Where do you see Endemol five years from now?
     
    When we came in four years ago, the idea was to Indianise the Endemol brand. Now we want to localise and regionalise the Endemol brand. We want to adapt our content to a lot of regional markets.
  • Govt case for administered content code gains ground

    Govt case for administered content code gains ground

    Big Brother will soon not just be watching but acting, and news broadcasters will have nowhere to hide because they will not have much of a case to defend. That is a hard truth that otherwise responsible heads of news networks accede to in private but refuse to acknowledge in public.

    The first practical signs of that came on 4 February. The spark: coverage of the political skirmishes over ‘outsiders crowding out locals’ in Mumbai city.

    Invoking for the first time the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, the Mumbai Police reportedly ordered transmission of two news channels – Sahara Mumbai and India TV – be stopped “for repeatedly telecasting clippings of tension between workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Samajwadi Party (SP)”. Cable operators were directed to stop transmission of the two channels for 24 hours from the time they received a copy of the order.

    Joint commissioner of police (law and order) KL Prasad was quoted in an Indian Express report as saying, “We have issued an order under Section 19 of the Act, which specifically states that ‘half truths’ cannot be spread.”

    The ‘half truth’, Prasad said, was in the manner in which the channels tried to depict through pictures, videos and words that ‘Mumbai is tense’. “A situation controlled in 20 minutes was made to look as if it was still happening,” Prasad pointed out.

    Sahara Mumbai head Rajeev Bajaj’s reaction was on expected lines: “If an order has been passed, we will fight it out in court.”

    The 4th February action by the authorities becomes even more relevant if we keep in mind the fact that the I&B ministry is already majorly upset with the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) for having failed to meet their own stated deadline of 31 January for submitting a Content Code.

    “They have sent us nothing, despite the fact that they themselves had set the deadline and we think they are not interested,” senior I&B officials complained.

    The government is worried about the excessive repetitions of shots of violence – whether against women, or communal in nature and says, “This is really dangerous and the editors must now take a call on this.”

    Incidentally, the ministry is also gearing up to meet a Delhi High Court deadline on sitting down with the Indian Newspaper Society, the Indian Media Group and the Indian Broadcasting Foundation to thrash out depiction of violence and obscenity in the media.

    Hearing a writ petition requesting the court to pass an order to tell the ministry to take action on such depictions, the court had given an interim order on 14 December, for the organisations and the ministry to thrash out issues and report to the court within 10 weeks.

    The government feels that the NBA is wasting time and that the ministry would have to soon come out with its Code.

    So just what is it that forces otherwise responsible news channel heads to do what is so patently against all norms of even the most basic of journalistic practices?

    A one line answer could of course be, ‘The low road is the easy road to ratings riches’. An already cluttered market getting ever more crowded by the day and with no regulation to govern conduct, it’s easy to see why most channels are taking this route.

    There is another factor at work here that is worth a mention. Which is that the tabloid news channel proposition is a viable entry strategy for those without the deep pockets that are required for launching an entertainment channel. So in essence these channels are not too far removed from entertainment channels, with a whole load of extremely low cost fictional content to offer as well in addition to the regular fare that is principally infotainment rather than news.

    There is an added intrinsic logic that we believe is driving this obsession with the bizarre and the salacious as far as the ‘tabloidised’ Hindi news channels are concerned. It might well be that these channels are filling a real and existing need gap for the Hindi male viewer looking for entertainment.

    After all, where does the Hindi heartland male viewer get his daily dose of TV entertainment if we accept that Hindi GECs are targeted mainly at women? Where else but Hindi news channels – which might explain why the preponderance of sex, crime, and the plain bizarre is working for Hindi news channels.

    Coming back to where all this started, the present situation is clearly becoming more and more untenable. Something has to give. The sad part of this is that it will likely be the government giving a bull in a China shop solution that will be to the detriment of all news broadcasters; and more importantly, the public at large.

  • ‘Why would BCCI want its biggest new property on a new channel?’

    ‘Why would BCCI want its biggest new property on a new channel?’

    For Sony Entertainment Television (Set) India CEO Kunal Dasgupta, the big wish for 2008 is to throw up that one hit narrative show that would get some momentum going for his network’s flagship channel Set.

    Other than the vexed issue of Set and its equally struggling Hindi GEC sibling Sab, the network is doing fine thank you, argues the long serving head honcho of the Indian broadcast operations of Sony Pictures

    In conversation with Indiantelevisiojn.com recently, Dasgupta looks back on the difficult year that was 2007 and offers some pointers to the strategic direction Set India (now renamed Multi Screen Media Private Limited) is looking to take in 2008 and beyond.

    Excerpts:

    Let’s start with the new name. Is this because your parent Sony Pictures Entertainment is distancing the Sony brand name from the Indian broadcast entity?
    Certainly not. The name is reflective of the company’s evolution from a pure television broadcaster to a multimedia one. We want to be on all screens that are video enabled. Going forward, we will be actively investing in mobile, movies, internet, and out of home screens. Mobile in particular is going to be a focus area for us.

    When you say you want to be on all screens, could you elaborate on that?
    I am going to be recycling the over 30,000 hours of television content and 750+ movie titles that I have with me. We plan to repurpose a lot of it not just across the different screens, but across networks too.

    The realm of exclusivity is no longer the norm. To stay ahead of the game you have to be focused on how best to leverage the content that you have.

    Like the Rs 40 crore (RS 400 million) deal you did with Peter Mukerjea’s INX for 60 movie titles?
    Yes. That deal entitles INX to three airings of each film I have syndicated to them.

    Looking back to 2007, how would you rate the performance of the channels in the Sony network?
    Well, Max was fantastic; Pix became viable. On Sony and Sab we have suffered reverses on account of our fiction programming not working.

    And looking ahead into 2008?
    The business paradigm is changing and we are at the forefront of that. You could say we are the catalysts for change. Syndication, mobile; these are going to be areas that will explode. The one who reads the writing on the wall and adapts will survive.

    On Sony and Sab we have suffered reverses on account of our fiction programming not working

    How has the year been in terms of revenues? The perception in the market is that Sony had a terrible year.
    If you add up ad sales, distribution and our international business, it would be Rs 1,200 crores (Rs 12 billion) overall, so you can’t say it was a terrible year.

    One reason for the perception that Sony had a lousy year, aside from its programming not working, was the ICC World Cup debacle in March. We understand you lost some RS 800 million odd due to India’s early exit. Comment?
    The ICC rights should not be looked at from the results from one tournament, but on how it delivered over four years. And it delivered on every count for us.

  • UTV plans business news channel

    MUMBAI: UTV is planning to launch a business news channel, industry sources say. The company has already announced its broadcast initiatives which will kick off with its youth centric Hindi GEC Bindass.

    UTV is in talks with a couple of international broadcasters and financial investors for the business news channel venture, say sources.

    Many foreign broadcasters are eyeing India as an important destination in their expansion plan. Disney’s 24-hour news channel ABC News Now has expressed plans to enter India.

    UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala was not available for comment.

    UTV has already announced plans to launch a slew of eight to 10 channels, including in the niche and variety special genre. Bindass is a 50:50 joint venture with Malaysia-based Astro.

  • Star Plus seeks its break; Zee improves: Hindi GEC Q3 Study

    Star Plus seeks its break; Zee improves: Hindi GEC Q3 Study

     

    The Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) space is back in the spotlight. Strategies, counter strategies, experiments and innovations enchant the market, though audiences remain cautious while deciding their staple programming diet.
    The ongoing churn owes a lot to the manner in which Subhash Chandra’s Zee TV made its comeback to the reckoning. Because, this turnaround has forced the channel’s rivals (both leader Star Plus and trailing number three Sony Entertainment) to re-think their strategies and hence, we have a real humdinger of a ratings battle going on these days. This exciting range of happenings has inspired Indiantelevision.com to examine the GEC arena a bit more closely, as it completes its 2006 calendar year’s third quarter.

    Relative channel share- All Day, CS4+ HSM

    A first look at the data gives an obvious picture. Star Plus leads the tally, followed by Zee TV, Sony, Star One, Sahara One and Sab TV (Average market share data, All Day, CS4+ HSM, 1 July to 30 September, Tam).

    Star Plus, which maintained an above 50 per cent average when we did an April 2006 (All Day Part) analysis, has recorded an average market share of 46.1 per cent for the three month period (Average market share data, All Day, CS4+ 1 July to 30 September, Tam).

    Though the channel made its best efforts to improve its position through various new launches during this period, the market share score missed the 50 per cent mark in this period. In September, it even dropped below the 45 per cent mark for the first time since the KBC phenomenon rewrote Indian television history. From 45.9 per cent of July, the channel improved its position considerably to 47.8 per cent in the month of August. However, in September, the share recorded a slight drop at 44.9 per cent.

    However, Star One has recorded an improvement during this period, as compared to its April 2006 share. The channel, which struggled during the first half of the year due to affairs such as cable blackout in certain parts of the country, has now recorded an average channel share of 6.4 per cent, while the April score stood at 5.38 per cent. The channel is now banking on properties such as Nach Baliye 2, Paraaya Dhan and Kadvee Khatti Meethi to better its position by the end of 2007.

    “We have launched about three to four shows during this period including Nach Baliye 2, Saathi Re & Paraaya Dhan (Star One) and Antariksh, Karam Apnaa Apnaa and Prithviraj Chauhan (Star Plus) and the effort is to take on any kind of competition in any time band. Star Plus is not going to sit pretty on its relatively strong position. Now, the effort will be to constantly improve the performance. There will be no let off from our side on this front”, says Star India EVP content Deepak Segal.

    During this three month period, the number two channel Zee TV has actually improved its position – from an average market share of 19 per cent in April 2006 to an average of 22.9 per cent for the July to September period, according to Tam. The score reads like this: July 23.4 per cent), August (22.1 per cent) and September (23.3 per cent). 

    “The turnaround started with Saath Phere and Kassamh Se and the kind of innovations and experiments we employed in our storylines have really contributed to this good performance. This way, we managed to get the audience flow. We have steadied our soaps. The launch of Betiyann has completed our soap range for the year and now the focus is on various other genres. Hence, we will have now programmes such as the mythology Raavan and reality show Cinestars coming up. So, the strategy will revolve around non-soap genres for the next phase,” says Zee TV programming head Ashwini Yardi.

    Sony’s position hasn’t undergone any drastic changes as the channel recorded an average market share of 12.5 per cent for the three month period as compared to its April 2006 score of 12.36 per cent.

    Though flagship channel Sony may be still struggling, but sister channel Sab has been making a slow and steady improvement, on the other hand. The channel which scored an average channel share of 3.04 per cent for April in the All Day Part has improved the score significantly to 4.9 per cent for the June to September period.

    Sahara One, which received an April ‘windfall’ in terms of cricket telecast rights and scored an average market share of 10 per cent during that period, has now gone down in the chart. The channel has scored an average market share of 5.3 per cent for the July to September period in All Day Part.

    Rating Score Card – Prime Time

    Kyunki Saas Bhi… continues to be Star Plus’ channel driver programme. The long running soap of Hindi television recorded its best rating of 14.17 TVR on 31 July, 14.31 TVR on 29 August and 13 TVR on 4 September. The channel has a fixed line up of shows occupying all the top four positions including Kyunki… and the shows are Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kasauti Zindagi Kay and Kahiin To Hoga. While in July, the fourth and fifth positions were occupied by Baa Bahoo Aur Baby and Kkavyanjali respectively, in August the positons went to special shows Nach Baliye 2 Muh Dekhai and Shaadi Ke Rang Bhabhi Ke. In September, Prithviraj Chauhan (best TVR 7.38) and Karam Apnaa Apnaa (best: 7.12 TVR) made it to the reckoning.

    Zee TV has three different soaps recording the channel’s best ratings in the prime time in these three months. In July 2006, Saath Phere recorded the highest 7.32 TVR, while in August it was the Balaji Telefilms soap Kasamh Se (6.16 TVR). The top slot for the month of September escaped both the shows and went to the finals of Saregamapa Lil Champs (6.81 TVR).

    Zee TV’s good show in the rating chart has a lot to do with the impressive opening week rating its new launches record these days. For example, Banoo Main Teri Dulhann recorded its best launch-month (august) rating of 3.5. TVR. And in September, Dulhann further consolidated its position with a best of the month rating of 4.37 TVR. Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann’s best of the month (September launch) rating stands at 4.99 TVR.

    For Sony, CID continues to be the channel driver with an average rating of 3.5 TVR for the three month period, according to Tam (HSM CS4+). In September, newly launched reality dance show Jhalakk Dikhla Ja has made its appearance in the top 10 chart for Sony. The show has filled the second slot in Sony’s line up with its best rating of 2.95 TVR.

    Betiyann Vs Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki + Naach Baliye 2

    The month of September also witnessed an interesting battle between Zee TV and Star Plus in the coveted 10 pm slot. The story was about how Zee TV unpacked its biggest soap launch of the year — Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann and positioned it against Star Plus’ unchallenged 10 pm property Kahaani…

    Giving the development to a total new twist was Star One’s strategy to launch Naach Baliye 2 on the same day that Zee scheduled Betiyann’s launch – on 25 September. Though Naach Baliye was slotted in the 8 pm post and it looked the launch had nothing to do with Zee’s 10 pm introduction of Betiyann, Star had different plans in mind. Star One telecast a 2.30 hours special episode of Naach Baliye 2 on 25 September in order to let the celeb dance show’s launch clash with the launch episode of Betiyann. Then on the other side, Star Plus had a spiced up episode of Kahaani…to counter the Zee TV soap.

    Now, let’s see how all these three programmes finally delivered as per Tam ratings:

    The Star ploy of countering Betiyann with Naach Baliye 2 special episode worked well for the channel. Betiyann’s launch ratings stood at 2.58 TVR, while Nach Baliye 2 opening episode recorded a rating of 4.86 TVR (CS4+ HSM). However, it looks like the ploy had backfired in Kahaani…’s case as the soap could gather only 6.14 TVR for the particular day. (Kahaani… normally records a rating of about 8 TVR on an average).

    However, Betiyann recovered from the initial blow quickly and came up with an improved performance during the rest of the week: 3.24 (26 Sept), 4.18 (27 Sept) and 4.99 TVR (28 Sept). And the Betiyann figures also reveal Zee’s success in giving a jolt to Kahaani… in the initial week itself. The Star Plus soap had recorded an average rating of 8.75 TVR in week 38 (17 Sept to 23 Sept). And in the week that Betiyann got launched, Kahaani..’s average rating has slipped to 7.25 TVR, as per Tam.

    Post Script:

    So what is waiting the GEC market in coming months? One genre that is expected to make its presence felt during this period is Reality. Two big ticket reality shows, Sony’s Bigg Brother and Zee TV’s Cinestars, will be unveiled in November. Star One has just kicked off its Naach Baliye 2 and the show has competition from Sony’s celeb dance show Jhalak Dikhla Ja. So the space will have not less than four reality shows engaged in an eyeball war with each other in this quarter.

    Strategy-wise, as Yardi has revealed, Zee TV’s focus will be now on non-soap programmes such as Raavan and Cinestars. Star Plus is looking at the kids genre in a big way and has even accommodated a kids-oriented superhuman show Antariksh in its weekday 8 pm prime time band. The channel has lined up another kids show Lucky for the same slot on Saturdays. As Segal puts it, “We are looking to develop kids also as a key viewer segment of ours. Star has always been popular for its quality kids shows.” Sahara One’s October-November plans will mainly revolve around the upcoming soap Solhah Singaar’.

    As the market leader Star Plus is seeking a good break to go back to its old good days of undisputed leadership and Zee TV uncorking fresh concepts to win back its lost glory, the Hindi GEC space is going through one of its best times. Then we have international players such as BBC and Viacom (reportedly in talks with Sahara One for a stake in the channel) and then our own NDTV gearing up their general entertainment channel plans for the Hindi market.

    So the big question remains: Will all these high profile suitors be able to come up with path breaking concepts and innovative positioning strategies to help the market really expand further?

  • Saat Phere: The Dark Girl Theory

    The Thought

    “We want a serial on the dark skin theme. Give us a dark girl‘s story,” said the one-liner brief that reached producer Sunjoy Waddhwa from Zee TV.

    It was February 2005 and Subhash Chandra‘s general entertainment channel was standing at the crossroads. A new year had begun, and at the helm was the newly appointed CEO and marketing wiz Pradeep Guha with lots of expectations pinned on him.

    A slipping market share and a few under-performing prime time properties, except the long running Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, had put Zee TV under tremendous pressure. What aggravated the situation was the nearest rival Sony‘s success with properties such as Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and Indian Idol.

    And as luck would have it, the brief came Waddhwa‘s way at a time when he was in search of that big break to catapult his three-year old production house Sphere Origins into the big league. Though he had designed a series of successful properties under the banner of Karnik Communications, which he floated with his cousin in 1997, Waddhwa wanted a big show from his own company. Star Plus‘ Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand, which he took up from actress-turned-producer Aruna Irani mid-way, was a very good experience and the need of the moment was another solid property to carry the success forward.

    For both the channel and the production house, the dark girl concept was a tough as well as a sensitive assignment since such a theme had never been attempted on Indian television. Hence, there was no yardstick available to check how the project would work in a space driven by tearjerker plots woven around glam-doll heroines.

    “I had an intuition that this would work. It was purely a gut feeling. The theme was bothering us (at Zee TV) for some time. Personally, I know many women who are suffering from skin colour complexes. Then take a look at the consumer market. How come all these fairness creams are doing so well? That means we have a sizeable section of our audience suffering from this skin complex. So, we decided to blend this social issue with a Cinderella story,” Zee TV programming head Ashwini Yardi says, explaining the channel‘s interest in the project.

    Taking up the Zee project meant a homecoming of sorts for Waddhwa. “My very first production Neeyat, under Karnik Communications‘ banner, was for Zee TV. Then we had Arth on the channel and then the mega Arabian night fantasy and costume drama Thief of Baghdad. The call from Zee TV meant my independent venture Sphere Origins‘ debut on the channel,” says the producer.

    “Whether number three or two in the market, Zee always had its share of loyal producers. Sunjoy had done some good shows for Zee earlier. He is very good at his work and we wanted him back on the channel. So when this challenging project came up, we decided to opt for him,” says Yardi.

    The Plot

    As soon as the creative brief reached Sphere Origins, Waddhwa swung into action. The producer called an emergency meeting of his writers in his Andheri office and a bunch of ideas were thrown in. After burning the midnight oil for many days that followed, the first draft was born. Titled Saat Phere, the soap dealt on the the social stigmas attached to the central character Saloni‘s dark complexion. The opening storyline portrayed Saloni‘s family‘s quest for a suitable match for her.

    “We were supposed to present the channel a first draft of the plot at the earliest. It was a huge challenge for my writers as they were dealing with an off-beat subject. The character of Saloni was difficult to conceive. Finally, we decided to project her as a collage of personalities – she is vulnerable, lovable, brave and compassionate. The first draft was approved. The channel keeps a close watch on the proceedings and their key inputs have shaped the final product,” says Waddhwa.

    The skeleton of the project was ready and now the challenge was to bring in the flesh – the cast. What made the task extremely difficult was the choice of a dark girl in the title role. The serial required a charismatic actress with unconventional looks. But they found an answer soon.

    “We screen-tested about 80 to 90 girls and we finally spotted our heroine Rajshree Thakur within a month. She had done a bit of acting, and hence, we were not worried about her acting skills. However, as and when Saat Phere grew, she developed her skills marvelously. Within two months, we completed our entire casting process,” says Waddhwa.

    The Slot

    It took eight months of hard work and intense planning before the channel finally zeroed in on October 2005 to launch Saat Phere. But, by then, there were signals of change in the Hindi GEC space, in favour of Zee. Sinndoor, launched in the 7:30 pm slot in mid-2005 clicked, powering Zee TV to the number one position in that particular slot.

    The Saat Phere team celebrating the completion of 200 episodes

    Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005, which later played a significant role in the Zee TV‘s climb along with Saat Phere, was about to launch. Hence, it was a perfect setting for the ‘dark girl‘ to kick off her innings.

    The channel and the production house were keeping their fingers crossed.

    “Sindoor had picked up really well in the 7:30 pm slot and then we wanted to bring something new in the 9:30 pm slot. As Kareena Kareena, the existing soap in the 9:30 pm slot was about to wind up, we had kept a couple of options open for the slot and the final decision went in favour of Saat Phere. I was keeping the 9 pm slot reserved for Ekta for Kasamh Se,” reveals Yardi.

    The decision to replace a successful property such as Kareena Kareena with an experimental project Saat Phere required a lot of guts. “We knew that Saat Phere was going to be an important show for us as well as for Zee TV. The very moment the plot was developed, we all, including the channel executives, realised the significance of the project and we all went full on with it,” says Waddhwa.

    The month of September saw the first series of Saat Phere promos hitting television. And there was an immediate response with NGOs and women activists opposing the projected theme. “It was a sensitive subject. Hence, as and when the promos started appearing, NGOs and various women activists came out with objections on the skin discrimination. We asked them to wait till the launch. And we were right,” Yardi says.

    The Shot

    But there was one problem. The news spread that Zee TV‘s Saat Phere had got a not-so-good-looking heroine as the protagonist. Naturally, comparisons were drawn between Saat Phere and Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin. But it died down quickly when the soap was unveiled.

    Listen to Yardi. “The media jumped into this conclusion because the Jassi lead character was an average looking person. In fact, our story was never about a good looking or bad looking female. Actually, I thought we had a heroine who is very good looking.”

    Rajshree (in red) with co-stars of Saat Phere

    The different positioning of the soap and the mystery attached to a new face (Rajshree Thakur) provided Zee TV a lot of scope to do well with the marketing efforts. The Zee TV marketing team acknowledged Saat Phere with one of the best ever marketing campaigns the channel initiated in the recent times.

    “It required a clutter breaking campaign to promote such a clutter breaking theme. The story had to stick. We started off with teasers and gradually unveiled the central character. We still continue with our best efforts for the soap. In fact, we have now decided to promote every twist and turn that comes with the story. Our effort is not to let the soap go out of people‘s mind. We even promoted Saat Phere in our recent Zee Astitva Awards,” says Zee TV marketing head Tarun Mehra.

    The Vote

    Saat Phere got off to an average start in the Hindi general entertainment space with TRPs ranging from 1.8 to 2. However, that was still an impressive beginning for Zee TV since the soap was just launched and its other prime time soaps, except Sinndoor, were faring below the 1 TVR mark. Then in the first month itself, the soap picked up really well to break into an average of 2 to 3 TVRs. However, after the initial glory, the ratings started slipping.

    “We felt Zee viewers were finding it difficult to stick to this different kind of show. The stickiness factor was missing. We gave extra thrust to the content and also initiated various innovative audience contact techniques. We asked our viewers to voice their opinions on how the story would move forward. During this time, we also started adding spikes as well as beefing up the drama element. And we were back on track with lots of improvement,” says Yardi.

    I thought we had a heroine who is very good looking: Yardi (in blue jeans) with Rajshree (in red) & Waddhwa (in black).

    “The gradual increase in TRPs meant steady viewership and this inspired us to better our product for better results. We always made our best efforts to surprise the viewer and catch him unawares. Actually we were telling a simple story, which people could very easily relate their life with. We never stressed on the drama parts, but never let a good opportunity go. Be it Salomi‘s wedding or the door mystery, the spikes were all woven very well with the story. The spikes actually helped the story to progress. We never added anything out of context,” Waddhwa reveals.

    “Audience feedback also played a key role in Saat Phere‘s success. The viewers were instrumental in certain key changes in the story line. Based on their feedback, we have changed the tracks for certain characters. As I mentioned, we incorporated lots of their ideas in the early stages of the serial,” Yardi adds.

    The Hot

    Ten months have gone by since Saat Phere hit Indian television. The soap, all of 200 episodes old, continues doing wonders for Subhash Chandra‘s flagship channel. Saat Phere presently finds itself floating in the range of 6 TVRs in the CS4+ Hindi Speaking market.

    “We actually cut it big time!”

    The pathbreaking success of Saat Phere also set new standards for the properties that Zee TV launched later. Kasamh Se, which followed, is today running neck and neck with Saat Phere for top show bragging rights in the Zee TV line up, while Tony and Deeya Singh‘s Jab Love Hua has also been accepted by audiences. Same is the case with shows such as Johny Aala Re and Sabaash India. With Saat Phere and Kasamh Se taking good care of the 9 pm – 10 pm band, Zee TV is now gearing up to do something big in the 8 pm to 9 pm band.

    Coming back to the soap in question, what next? Is there a life span for Saat Phere? “No,” is the instant reply from Yardi. “We don‘t have a climax for Saat Phere right now. The story is moving really well with a natural flow and we want the serial to go on for many years,” she says.

    “My writing team, including Purnendu, Rajesh, Usha, Raghuvir and Rahul have been putting their best efforts to retain the freshness of the project. We are expanding our story, not stretching it,” adds Waddhwa.

    As they say, the show must go on. Obviously… since Saloni‘s story is presently driving the proceedings at Zee TV.