Tag: India

Govt. moves to stop screening on internet websites as notice is issued to two lawyers

NEW DELHI: Even as the documentary “India’s Daughter” by Oscar-winning British filmmaker Leslee Udwin on the Nirbhaya gang-rape case has been telecast by BBC4 on a channel not available in India despite the ban by the Delhi High Court, two lawyers who defended the rapists have been issued notices for their allegedly anti-women remarks.

The notices were issued by the Bar Council of India to M L Sharma and A P Singh under a provision of the advocates act and their licences to practice may be cancelled if BCI is not satisfied with their response.

Sharma has already refuted the charge that he made any such remarks in the documentary.

Within hours, the film became available on YouTube despite a message that showed “URL Blocked”. It also became available on some other websites.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said two days earlier that the government was exploring ways to block the film on YouTube. He also said action would be taken for the telecast of the film last night and added that he was pained by the development

The documentary was to have been aired in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, and India (NDTV 24X7) on International Women’s Day 8 March.

But a statement from the BBC two days earlier said given the “intense level of interest” it would telecast the film later. Butthe channel later said in a communication to the Home Ministry that it had no plans to telecast the documentary in India, “in compliance with the Indian Government’s directive”.

Singh had also said that it would attempt to block the telecast in other countries and the External Affairs and Information and Broadcasting Ministries had been asked to ensure the film was not broadcast on any platform anywhere in the world.

Singh had made a statement in Parliament amid massive uproar over how permission was granted to the filmmaker to interview Mukesh Singh, one of the six men who brutally raped and tortured a 23-year-old paramedical student on a moving bus on 16 December 2012. She had died 13 days later in a Singapore hospital.

In the interview, Mukesh Singh said the rape and killing was deliberate to teach women a lesson, and displayed no remorse as he blamed the woman.

The BBC said in its statement, “This harrowing documentary, made with the full support and co-operation of the victim’s parents, provides a revealing insight into a horrific crime that sent shock waves around the world and led to protests across India demanding changes in attitudes towards women.”

“The film handles the issue responsibly and we are confident the programme fully complies with our editorial guidelines,” it said.

Delhi Police chief BS Bassi said: “We took a regular order from a competent court and informed BBC and other channels against broadcasting and uploading of the video of the interview on internet and so that nobody violates the law.” The Delhi Police have filed a case and have started investigation, Mr Bassi said. He said permission to take interview is always the discretion of the concerned authority, so we are not looking for criminality in that.

The Delhi Police has written to the Telecom and Communications Ministry and sought blocking of the film on YouTube. The Police may also question the crew who shot the film. While its co-producer Dibang is in India, Udwin is understood to have left late last night for the United Kingdom. (Ms Udwin was producer of the award-winning feature film ‘East is East’ which had starred Om Puri among others around twenty years earlier,)

Lalita Kumaramangalam felt that showing the film was ‘morally wrong’ as the broadcaster did not think about the anguish that women who have faced such things will go through.

However, film lyricist and Rajya Sabha member Javed Akhtar said the film should be shown to reveal to the world what rapists are like. He said he could have understood the ban if Mukesh’s lawyer had asked for it. He said the goal of such documentaries is to bring out disgust against rapists’ point of view. “It makes people aware such a mindset is not uncommon.”

Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament from Mumbai Poonam Mahajan has said in an article that the film only shows the mindset of men.

Meanwhile, people took to the streets in Varanasi earlier this week and burnt an effigy of the BBC in protest against the documentary.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the channel that broadcast the Nirbhaya documentary will not be forgiven.

The victim’s father, who had cooperated with the filmmaker, has now said that BBC should not have been shown in view of the ban.

Meanwhile, Udwin has said society created the rapists by teaching them “what to think”. She said she was not inspired by the rape to make the film, but the wave of protests this generated all over the country within hours of the report. In an interview with India Insight (a blog on Reuter website), she said the argument that airing the convict’s interview would amount to giving him a platform to promote his views was “stupid” and “uneducated.”

In a separate interview to CNN, Udwin described the people she spoke with – the attorneys, the lawyers, and the culprits – as “ordinary, apparently normal and certainly unremarkable men.”

CNN says that Udwin’s documentary illustrates how even people with power in India harbour shockingly similar attitudes. One of the lawyers who represented the attackers says he would burn his own daughter alive if she behaved dishonourably. Another defence lawyer gestures with his hands to describe women as “flowers” who must be protected by men and “diamonds” who face inevitable assault if they end up in the wrong places.

March 7, 2015
India’s Daughter: Country takes a step towards judicial dictatorship

MUMBAI: Nirbhaya, a name that garners sympathy whenever it is pronounced, but is sympathy enough for the daughter of the nation, who was brutally raped and murdered? What has changed after her sad demise? The answer is NOTHING.

After the fatal incident that took place on 16 December, 2012, politicians used the name Nirbhaya to seek sympathetic affection. In other words, the name Nirbhaya became a part of dirty vote bank politics. What started as a revolt to abolish rape ended up becoming an empowerment scheme in the Indian government. And today the name is making headlines again. But for what? Have the rapists, who were responsible for her fatal death, been hung? No. There’s no cause to be so optimistic because such is not the case.

A British film enthusiast Leslee Udwin has made a documentary titled “India’s Daughter” focusing on the brutal incident that took place in Delhi, three years back. The documentary, which was aired by the BBC in the UK, features conversations with Mukesh Singh and fellow convicts who raped and tortured a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in December 2012. Excerpts from the documentary irked lawmakers. The government of the world’s largest democracy has banned the telecast of the documentary in the country. The problem with the documentary is the interview given by the convicted Mukesh Singh. It is alleged that Singh used abusive content against women in India, which may hurt national sentiments. Was rape of Nirbhaya not enough to hurt national sentiments? How does a rapist’s reaction cause ban to a piece that was documented after two years of professional research?

The other controversial point that emerged from the documentary is the interview that was scheduled in Tihar Jail. Let’s do a reality check, Tihar Jail in Delhi is the largest jail in South Asia and it is quite obvious that no one can interview a prisoner without the jailor’s permission. So if we put everything in perspective, two years ago a British film enthusiast, who has experience of acting in movies like Merchant Of Venice and producing 1999 British cult comedy East is East and its sequel, teamed up with a group of Indian, which includes a journalist, to make a documentary. After two years of research, analysis and interviews the documentary was scheduled to be premiered on International Women’s Day i.e. 8 March.

NDTV, in a press release announced that its English news channel will telecast the interview-based documentary in India on International Women’s Day at 9 pm. However, the Delhi High Court spelled a verdict to hold the screening in India till further notice and hence the channel will not be airing the documentary as per schedule.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, NDTV editorial director Sonia Singh says, “As there is a court order, we won’t be airing the documentary as of now.”

“We are shocked at the ban and censorship. There will be no further comments,” adds a spokesperson from the channel.

Now let’s scan through a few opinions that came from prominent personalities after the excerpts of interview were out on public platforms.

Director and producer of the documentary Leslee Udwin told Indiatelevision.com that the film’s message conveyed that the time had come to respect women and not just treat them well. She was hoping for a sea-change.

“An interview, which will defame India internationally is totally unacceptable,” said India’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu, on the Nirbhaya documentary.

The honourable Minister, is no doubt aware of what happened to Draupadi in Mahabharata. Will he impose a ban on screening of the Mahabharata too, as it defames the integrity of a WOMAN?

Home Minister Rajnath Singh went a step further. His tweet read, “The producers of documentary on Nirbhaya were required to take approval from the Jail authorities before telecast but they did not do so.”

It is utterly surprising how a foreigner enters the largest jail in South Asia and conducts an interview, which is certainly not shot by a hidden camera without taking the necessary permissions. The incident signifies that there are no consensus in the lawmaking fraternity as someone might have allowed the developments which others had a problem with. Sharing his emotions the Home Minister tweeted, “I was personally hurt by this, spoke to authorities, made sure all steps were taken to stop the broadcast.”

One wonders why, with all the power, doesn’t he increase the pace of judicial proceedings to ensure justice to Nirbhaya?

Ex-cop woman-turned politician and BJP’s Delhi head Kiren Bedi’s opinion differs from other party leaders and was seconded by veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai. He opined, “@thekiranbedi strongly defends the telecast of the Nirbhaya documentary. I support her view!”

Rajya Sabha member and famous scriptwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar said, “It’s good that this documentary has been made. If anyone finds it objectionable, they should change their mindset.”

Author Chetan Bhagat’s tweet read, “Lack of consent and banning free speech comes in the same category – violation of individual rights.” After watching the documentary online, Bhagat once again tweeted, “Documentary #IndiasDaughter is extraordinary. Moving, thought provoking. Makers have Nirbhaya’s parents consent. Available on YouTube for now.”

India should not forget that filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak hail from the same country where every second thing is getting banned. The first Asian to win a Nobel Prize for literature was also an Indian and with all this censorship, we are not only demeaning the stalwarts but defaming our Motherland internationally. We compare ourselves with western countries and while they rejoice Argoand Zero Dark Thirty, we ban the screening of India’s Daughter.

The rape itself is demeaning and there cannot be anything more defamatory than the brutal act. If India is so concerned about pride and integrity, the judiciary should put efforts in prohibiting such fatal and irrational acts instead of banning a fact-based documentary. Mukesh Singh’s interview makes my blood boil as it should every Indian’s. The fact that all men do not subscribe to the same thought can only be proved by action and not by words, by respecting woman and not demeaning them. The day all men in India take an oath of not raping, rape will be abolished and that will be the biggest manly act in independent India.

March 5, 2015
Delhi HC stays telecast of film on Nirbhaya; MIB asks channels not to show excerpts

NEW DELHI: In a day of speedy action, the Delhi High Court today upheld the stay on telecast of a documentary based on interviews including one with a convict in the 16 December, 2012 Delhi gang-rape case.

The court also banned telecast of the documentary on the internet too. “Cops can act if the film is aired,” the Delhi high court said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, in statements in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government will be moving the court, and also informed members that a police complaint was filed against the film, India’s Daughter produced and directed by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin and co-produced by Indian TV journalist Dibang. He said stay orders had been taken from a local court last night itself after he had learnt about the film. (The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for some time in the morning following an uproar by the opposition on the issue.)

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry also posted an advisory on its website asking private television channels not to air excerpts from the film as this was violative of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and the Downlinking Guidelines and was also sub judice as an appeal by the main convicted Mukesh Singh was pending. Mukesh Singh along with three others was convicted and sentenced to death last year.

In Parliament, the Home Minister admitted that the no-objection certificate to shoot the documentary featuring interview of convicted inmates in Tihar jail of cases related to atrocities against women was given by the ministry of home affairs on 24 July, 2013, adding that “in future, no one will be given permission to interview rapists.”

“The government has taken necessary legal action and obtained restraining order from the court on disseminating the contents of the film,” he said.

“Our government condemns the incident of 16 December, 2012, in the strongest possible terms and will not allow any attempt by any individual group or organisation to leverage such unfortunate incidents for commercial benefits,” he said.

“The respect and dignity of women constitute a core value of our culture and tradition… our government remains fully committed to ensuring safety and dignity of women.”

The minister added that he had sought information regarding the conditions under which permission was given for the interview. “If needed, responsibility will be fixed (for granting permission),” Singh said while making the statement in the Lok Sabha.

He said permission was given by jail authorities to shoot the documentary, with condition of taking prior approval of jail authorities before publishing the research paper or for releasing documentary film which “is being made for totally social purposes without any commercial interest, as conveyed.”

Other conditions included that only those inmates will be interviewed who give written consent, and that the complete unedited footage of the shoot in Tihar jail premises will be shown to jail authorities to ensure there was no breach of prison security.

“This documentary features one of the accused of the Nirbhaya case. It came to the notice of jail authorities that conditions have been violated. Hence a legal notice was issued to them on April 7, 2014,” the Home Minister said. The minister said the documentary makers were asked to return the unedited footage and also not to show the film as it violates the permission condition.

“The documentary film was shown to jail authorities where it was noticed that the documentary film depicts the comments of the convict which are highly derogatory to dignity of women,” he said.

A physiotherapy student was raped and assaulted with an iron rod after she was tricked into boarding an unregistered private bus to go home after watching a movie with a male friend on December 16, 2013. The girl later died in a hospital in Singapore.

Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts in the gang-rape case, justified the action in the documentary, saying women who go out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of molesters.

Reacting to the Delhi High Court’s order, producer-dorector Leslee Udwin told indiantelevision.com that she was confident that the film would ultimately be telecast in India after a senior government official sees the film. She also said that due permissions had been obtained and the film has even been shown to the jail authorities. She said that this film however will be shown in other countries. She wondered how anyone could go to court and file a PIL without seeing the film in its entirety and merely based on media reports.

March 4, 2015
India & China lead nominations for Asian Film Awards in Macau

NEW DELHI: Three Indian films share seven nominations among 42 films nominated in 14 categories for the Asian Film Awards this year.

Haider has four nominations. In addition to Best Film, Haider is recognised for its director Vishal Bhardwaj, supporting actress Tabu, and production design.

Margarita, With a Straw is recognised for Kalki Koechlin’s performance and its score.

Court is nominated for director Chaitanya Tamhane’s screenplay.

The awards are returning to Macau on 25 March this year. In sharp contrast to December’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), there are no nominations shared with the remainder of Asia or the Middle East. The festival defines the Asian Region as “East of the Suez”. It still maintains several voting members from Iran, a country that has previously won big at the awards.

With five nominations, Ann Hui’s biographical drama The Golden Era (China – Hong Kong) has the highest number of nominations for any single film, but it has not been recognised for Best Film.

Overall, films from China – including Hong Kong co-productions – are the most recognised with 26 nominations out of 74 in all categories. Three local Hong Kong films – That Demon Within, Golden Chickensss and The Midnight After -score an additional three nominations.

Along with Haider, China’s Black Coal, Thin Ice and Blind Massage are the next most recognised films, with four nominations apiece. They will compete for Best Film with Japan’s The Light Shines Only There and from South Korea, Hill of Freedom and Ode to My Father.

Three China co-productions received four nominations apiece: Diao Yi’nan Black Coal, Thin Ice, Lou Ye’s Blind Massage and Jiang Wen’s Gone with the Bullets. Tsui Hark’s The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D received three nominations; Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home has two nominations, for actresses Gong Li and Zhang Huiwen.

From South Korea, 10 films have received 16 nominations. Two films received three nominations apiece: Hong Sang-soo’s Hill of Freedom (including Best Actor for Japan’s Kase Ryo) and Kim Seong-hun’s A Hard Day. The two films screened in Venice and Cannes last year.

From Japan, 12 films have received 15 nominations. Only two films received more than one nomination: Oh Mipo’s The Light Shines Only There and Miike Takashi’s Over Your Dead Body. In addition to Best Film, Oh’s film is nominated for Takada Ryo’s screenplay and Ikewaki Chizuru’s supporting actress performance.

The cinema of Southeast Asia is almost completely overlooked in the nominations. Just two films are recognised: Indonesia’s The Raid 2 directed by Gareth Evans, and the Philippines’ From What is Before directed by Lav Diaz. Diaz has a Best Director nominee for his 338-minute drama.

March 4, 2015
Film on Nirbhaya gang rape to premiere on International Women’s Day

NEW DELHI: The India-United King co-production India’s Daughter, which is based on the gruesome Nirbhaya incident of December 2012, will be telecast in a world premiere simultaneously in India, the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Canada.

NDTV 24×7 will telecast of the interview-based documentary in India on International Women’s Day – 8 March at 9.00 pm.

India’s Daughter tells the story of the horrific Delhi gang rape and of the unprecedented protests and riots, which this horrific event ignited throughout India, demanding changes in attitudes towards women.

Director-producer Leslee Udwin said in a press meet today, “When news of this gang-rape hit our TV screens in December 2012, I was as shocked and upset as we all are when faced with such brazen abandon of the norms of ‘civilised’ society. But what actually inspired me to commit to the harrowing and difficult journey of making this film was the optimism occasioned by the reports that followed the rape. Courageous and impassioned ordinary men and women of India braved the December freeze to protest in unprecedented numbers, withstanding an onslaught of teargas shells, lathi charges and water canons, to make their cry of ‘enough is enough’ heard. In this regard, India led the world by example – and I love India for this. In my lifetime, I can’t recall any other country standing up with such commitment and determination for women’s rights.”

With exclusive and unprecedented access, the film examines the values and mind-sets of the rapists. Udwin told indiantelevision.com that the message of the film was that the time had come to respect women and not just treat them well. She was hoping for a sea-change.

The film took her two years to make. She conducted interviews that ran into 87 hours of filming but then reduced the film to just 26 interviews.

Speaking at the press meet, Udwin said she found the family of the girl to be extraordinary human beings. She had found audiences crying after private screenings in India and many men had come to her to say they would henceforth work to change the mind-set of their fellow men.

Interestingly, the film also carries interviews of men who feel women are to blame for the rape cases.

One of the accused, Mukesh Singh, offers a revealing insight into his attitudes towards women and into why men rape. He said women are more responsible for rape than men, women should not travel late at night, nor should they go to discos and bars or wear the ‘wrong clothes’. He also claims that his execution will make life more dangerous for future rape victims. Referring to rape and responsibility, Singh said: “You can’t clap with one hand – it takes two hands. A decent girl won’t roam around at 9 o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. Boy and girl are not equal. Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. About 20 per cent of girls are good.”

He suggests that the rape and beatings were to teach the girl and her friend a lesson that they should not have been out late at night. And he criticised the girl for having fought back against her attackers saying, “When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they’d have dropped her off after ‘doing her’, and only hit the boy.”

Referring to her encounter with the rapists (during 31 hours of interviews in Tihar Jail over seven days), Udwin said, “The horrifying details of the rape had led me to expect monsters. The shock for me was discovering that the truth couldn’t be further from this. These were ordinary, apparently normal and certainly unremarkable men who shared a rigid and ‘learnt’ set of attitudes towards women. What I learned from these encounters, is the degree to which society itself is responsible for these men and for their actions. These rapists are not the disease, they are the symptoms. Gender inequality is the disease, and gender inequality is the solution. The only one.”

Two lawyers who defended the men convicted of the rape and murder also reveal insightful attitudes in their interviews.

In a previous televised interview, lawyer AP Singh said, “If my daughter or sister engaged in pre-marital activities and disgraced herself and allowed herself to lose face and character by doing such things, I would most certainly take this sort of sister or daughter to my farmhouse, and in front of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her alight.” And he confirms to Udwin in the documentary that his stance remains the same. “This is my stand. I still today stand on that reply.”

Another defence lawyer who acted in the case, ML Sharma, says, “In our society, we never allow our girls to come out from the house after 6:30 or 7:30 or 8:30 in the evening with any unknown person. You are talking about man and woman as friends. Sorry, that doesn’t have any place in our society. We have the best culture. In our culture, there is no place for a woman.”

The girl’s mother sums up a widely held attitude, “Whenever there’s a crime, the girl is blamed, ‘She should not go out. She shouldn’t roam around so late or wear such clothes. It’s the boys who should be accused and asked why they do this. They shouldn’t do this.”

Writer and historian Dr Maria Misra of Oxford University says, “Her death has made a huge difference. I think that, first of all, it has really brought home the issue of the problems of the way young and independent women are perceived in Indian society. It’s opened up a debate in India that I think hasn’t been held publicly and widely about exactly what the relationship between men and women should be.”

The girl’s father adds, “My daughter has become a symbol. In death, she has lit such a torch that not only this country, but the whole world, got lit up. But at the same time, she posed a question. What is the meaning of ‘a woman’? How is she looked upon by society today? And I wish that whatever darkness there is in this world should be dispelled by this light.”

March 3, 2015
Lowe LDB Sri Lanka appoints Hari Krishnan as CEO

MUMBAI: Lowe + Partners Worldwide has appointed a new CEO for Sri Lanka. A former protégé of the group, Hari Krishnan has been appointed as the Lowe LDB Sri Lanka CEO. He will report to Lowe Lintas + Partners, India CEO Joseph George.

Commenting on Krishnan’s appointment, George said that having learned the nitty-gritty of the business since his formative days at Lowe coupled with his vast exposure across other agencies in senior roles, Krishnan is perfectly placed to lead the agency in Sri Lanka. “It’s good to have Hari back into our fold after all these years. Over the last five years, Sri Lanka has seen high GDP growths and the country is at an exciting inflection point now,” he said.

Krishnan added, “I started my career with Lintas in India in ’96-97 and learnt my fundamentals from the great University of knowledge that is Lowe Lintas. So I’m extremely happy and thrilled to be back. It’s a homecoming of sorts in that sense. It’s an honour and a challenge to lead such an operation and I’m really looking forward to partnering the young, talented team there in driving the philosophy of ‘Populist Creativity’ and taking Lowe LDB to greater heights.”

Krishnan joins the agency from Grey where he was the SVP and business head for South. His new mandate would be to drive Lowe LDB Sri Lanka into being a leading creative powerhouse in the country. The only ‘Superbrand’ in the advertising category in Sri Lanka, Lowe LDB manages a diverse portfolio of brands across various categories from Detergents to Insurance to Telecom.

The agency was also the most awarded agency at the Effies in 2013 and together with Unilever is the most awarded partnership in the history of Effies in Sri Lanka.

Krishnan has almost two decades of work experience; nearly all of it in advertising besides a stint with Star TV as VP, marketing. He has experience across multiple categories/consumer segments, in leading large multi-functional teams and in leading a P&L operation to success.

In his last job at Grey India as SVP and business head, he spearheaded the transformation of the agency operations in South including leading the agency to a spree of new biz acquisitions including DELL India, ITC Foods, Stovekraft, Fortis Healthcare amongst others.

March 2, 2015
Sachin Tendulkar upbeat about World Cup 2015

MUMBAI: ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 ambassador Sachin Tendulkar has predicted that the event will be even more competitive as it progresses after the first 10 days produced exciting and entertaining cricket.

Talking to the ICC on the sidelines of India versus South Africa match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, the maestro advised the sides and the players to find and maintain the right balance so that they remain fresh and ready for the big matches and yet maintain any momentum they have established early in the tournament.

“It’s been exciting. You’ve already seen a couple of surprises. The teams have played competitive cricket,” Tendulkar, who is the record-holder for most runs and hundreds in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), said.

“The standard has been good, and that is what people want to witness. I feel as the tournament progresses it’s going to produce some fantastic cricket and we’re looking forward to it. I think to have the same successful combination going all the way is going to be the key and to find that balance between staying fresh and not overburdening yourself with additional practice sessions. You just need to find that right balance. If somebody’s not playing well, then obviously that guy needs to go out and hit as many balls as possible in the nets or bowl as many balls as possible. But if everything is going well, then it’s important to have that energy and peak at the right time,” he said.

Tendulkar, who was the player of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, said ODIs were now producing more runs and centuries due to changes in playing conditions as well as the emergence of the Twenty20 format.

“We’ve been witnessing high-scoring games because of two reasons. One is because the rule has changed. There is one less fielder outside the circle. So, that makes a huge difference. The game opens up completely and that becomes difficult for bowlers to consistently find those areas to work because there is one less fielder, which forces you to bowl different lengths and different lines. The second point is also the introduction of T20 format, which has allowed the batters to play more risky shots, play innovative shots, and the guys regularly practice these shots in the nets,” he added.

“How many times in the 80s or 90s did you see someone playing a reverse sweep off a fast bowler, which happens in today’s cricket? If batsmen have to chase at eight runs an over, it’s not something beyond their reach, because in T20 you play 20 overs with asking run-rate sometimes of nine or even more than that. So it’s just the mental set-up and the belief that even if it goes to nine runs and over, we can still hit that target,” said the India icon who retired from cricket in November 2013.

Speaking about his journey as a 14-year-old ball boy to ICC Cricket World Cup ambassador and the experience of not being involved in an ICC Cricket World Cup as a player for the first time in 23 years, Tendulkar said, “First of all, I’d like to thank ICC for nominating my name as Ambassador of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and 2015. I remember I was a 14-year-old boy and I was sitting outside the dressing room as a ball boy in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1987. So, from there to become the Ambassador of the ICC Cricket World Cup is a special journey and I’m excited. This is a new experience to me where I’m watching an ICC Cricket World Cup match from the stands. The atmosphere is fantastic. Absolutely, it is something that I have experienced but not sitting in the stands. I was always on the other side of the fence. To be sitting in the stands and to feel this atmosphere is incredible. Being a World Cup Ambassador I’m supposed to be neutral, but my heart says something and my brain says something. So, I’ve got to stick to my heart and support India,” he said.

February 23, 2015
FremantleMedia launches India’s first ‘Digital Talent Hunt’

MUMBAI: FremantleMedia has partnered with mobile video streaming service Zenga TV and YouTube MCN of India, OneDigital Entertainment to launch its first digital talent show ‘India’s Digital Superstars.’

This will a first of its kind digital talent hunt, where the audience will judge the next ‘Big Digital Star.’ The show will be presented by Amazon.in, powered by Gionee in association with radio partner RedFM.

The auditions for the show, which began from 19 January, will culminate with a finale in May. The winner will be given a contract worth Rs 20 lakh from FremantleMedia and One Digital. The auditions are open to all Indians across the world.

Auditions will span across 13 weeks. The 14th week is the grand finale to be held in Mumbai. The Indiasdigitalsuperstar.com platform will encourage participants to upload multiple videos of the talent that they wish to showcase, and will be judged by the audience through the number of views and likes across Youtube, ZengaTV and Facebook.

Fresh videos can be uploaded until a week before the ‘Finale Night’. The host will come online thrice a week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for 10 continuous weeks starting from the fifth week of audition.

FremantleMedia India managing director Anupama Mandloi said, “After the super success of Indian Idol, India’s got Talent, we at Fremantle are delighted to launch a platform that will be accessible to everyone with internet access. Given that India is a priority market for FremantleMedia and a popular destination for many of our hit international brands, we want to continue driving our strategy of aggregating talent across media with India’s Digital Superstars. We have been instrumental in sourcing, discovering and unleashing talent across television and this is the obvious next step for us to take the talent hunt to the internet which is a world unto itself.”

Amazon.in director integrated marketing Manish Kalra added, “The digital medium democratises opportunities and choices and enables easy access to them for everyone like no other medium. We are very excited to be part of India’s Digital Superstar and support this effort to celebrate the immense talent that is waiting to be discovered.”

“The youth today is hungry for exciting and engaging content and ‘India’s Digital Superstar’ is an opportunity where every moment will count and adrenal will be on the high. This gives everyone a chance to showcase talent from anywhere in the world and be the next start in this world which has no boundaries,” informed ZengaTV & OneDigital MD & CTO Shabir Momin.

“Digital as a a platform is connected to the youth of this country. IDS as a digital platform is the first in the country, which creates the opportunity for the youth to showcase the talent and get recognized. We at Gionee are proud to be associated with IDS as this allows the youth to follow their passions and this has got a great synergy with our brand as we also want our consumers to follow the passions and we help them as an enabler for it,” added Gionee Smartphones India head Arvind R Vohra.

“With the unique format of the show specially created for the digital platform, India’s Digital Superstar will create opportunities for Indians globally to showcase their talent without having to stand in queues or reach specific locations at specific time. Moreover the show is not about highlighting only a couple of contestants but we want to showcase as many talented Indian creators, and that is why the call for entries never stops during the show. As long as the show is on, people can participate and stand a chance to win,” concluded One Digital Entertainment COO and co-founder Gurpreet Singh.

January 20, 2015
Zeel’s new Hindi GEC &TV to launch in March

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) is all set to add a new channel to its bouquet. Christened ‘&TV’, the new Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from Zeel’s stable is set to launch in the second week of March.

The channel will launch shows starting from prime-time. With a robust line-up of fiction and non-fiction shows in the pipeline, the channel aims to target the changing consumption trends of youth and premium segment viewers. The channel will be competing with the incumbent players in the highly competitive Hindi GEC space.

&TV has roped in multiple top line production houses like Sphere Origins (Balika Vadhu), Swastik Productions (Mahabharat), Shashi-Sumeet Productions (Diya Aur Baati Hum), Endemol India and Freemantle India amongst others. It has also got on-board a few start-up production houses, one of them being Saregama Productions.

Sphere Origins’ show Ganga will be followed by other shows like Swastik Productions’ Razia Sultan, Saregama Productions’ Begu Sarai, Edit II Productions’ fiction comedy titled Bhabhiji Ghar Pe Hai? amongst others.

According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, shooting for all the shows has already begun.

The channel has also lined up an aggressive content strategy for non-fiction formats and has begin acquisitions in the space. It has acquired the format of an internationally acclaimed singing reality show called The Voice. This will be aired soon after the curtains come down for the quiz show. The popular reality series, which has travelled across 169 countries, will be produced by Endemol India for the Indian viewers.

The Voice, is an American reality television singing competition broadcast on NBC. Based on the original The Voice of Holland, the concept of the series is to find new singing talent (solo or duets) contested by aspiring singers, aged 15 or over, drawn from public auditions.

Additionally, the launch of the new channel will be supported by a marketing blitzkrieg. Sources close to the development inform that a budget of approximately Rs 120 crore has been set aside for marketing and promoting the channel. “The channel is going to go very strong and aggressive on the marketing front. It wants to build the ‘&’ franchise and make its mark along with other GECs in the space,” informs the source.

January 13, 2015
Zee TV sings the right tune with ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs 5’

MUMBAI: Singing, like any other art form, is a talent which comes to the fore very early in life. These seeds of talent are then nurtured and some of them even get a chance to be part of highly-competitive reality shows.

Right from the country’s finest, budding talent to some of the who’s-who of the music fraternity are wooed as judges. It’s a platform that has grown from strength to strength with each successive season and has struck the right chord right from its very inception.

Yes, we are talking about none other than Zee TV’s ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’, the first-of-its-kind singing talent search show on Indian television. It has been instrumental in introducing the country to some of its demigods of music over the last two decades. Not only that, it has given a glimmer of hope to countless, aspiring singers, to tirelessly showcase their talent season after season.

The channel stood tall on the ratings chart when it bought back the fifth season of ‘Li’l Champs’ on 27 December, 2014. And the audiences simply lapped it all up! It therefore comes as no surprise at all, that the premiere week of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs 5’ garnered a stupendous opening of 4,776 TVTs in the very last week of TAM TV ratings. And so, 2014 closed on a very high note!

It shot to the top of the table amongst all singing reality shows of 2013-2014. According to TAM TV ratings, other singing shows like ‘Indian Idol Junior’ (2013) on Sony Entertainment Television (SET) opened at 3,777 TVTs and ‘India’s Raw Star’ (2014) on Star Plus opened at 4,521 TVTs.

Zee TV Business Head Pradeep Hejmadi believes that this ride to success not only hinges on a strong weekday fiction line-up; but it has equally focused on building strong weekend pillars in the ‘Super Weekend’ non-fiction band.

He goes on to say, “The promising opening to our latest non-fiction property ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs’ only adds to our weekend offering. It has 12 beautiful young voices of India and the larger vision of the show is to lend ‘Har Lamha Nayi Ummeed’ to countless other similarly talented children, to be inspired and hone their latent talents. Let’s hope the journey of each of the ‘L’il Champs’ motivates India’s youth!”

Moreover, the marketing also paid off well for the channel. An aggressive on-air and off air strategy was done which included promos on TV channels. A roadblock was executed across news, kids and music channels on the launch day.

To top it all, a high visibility print campaign across key main lines pan-India and high frequency radio plan across key HSM markets was done.

2014 was an unforgettable year of jubilation for the channel. It made a clean sweep in the fiction genre last year with four of its weekday primetime shows leading the pack in the top 10 fiction launches of the year.

Likewise, the channel’s fiction line-up has grown from strength to strength with each successive launch. Jamai Raja’s opening episode that clocked in 5,930 TVTs, combined with an opening week average of 5,488 TVTs, made it the highest opening soap in the last two years. The show also emerged as the quickest gainer and attained slot leadership within three weeks of its launch.

Kumkum Bhagya saw a stupendous 171 per cent growth during its ‘shaadi’ highpoint (first four weeks average: 2,963 TVTs and the ‘Shaadi’ event registered 8,043 TVTs), thereby gaining slot leadership in week 34. The soul-stirring, historic series Jodha Akbar continues to be a consistent slot leader and winner for over a year now.

“The sustained success of our fiction programming speaks volumes of our relationship with audiences…It has not only evolved but strengthened over the years. Viewers seek refuge in our main protagonists, who give them a ray of hope, as every story unfolds; thereby, bringing to our audiences, a reflection of our core proposition of ‘Nayi Ummeed’,” adds Hejmadi.

The spirit of innocent camaraderie, fun and frolic is in the air! In a hugely competitive format, these cute, gutsy ‘Li’l Champs’ now embark on a historical, musical journey. They will simply floor you with their command over ‘sur’ and ‘taal’ way beyond their years, week after week, leaving you in raptures with mature renditions of songs, that you would least expect little ones to even attempt, let alone have heard of.

January 6, 2015