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Tag: Omung Kumar

  • ‘Rajadhiraaj: Love. Life. Leela.’ premieres at JLN on 29 Nov

    ‘Rajadhiraaj: Love. Life. Leela.’ premieres at JLN on 29 Nov

    Mumbai: ‘Rajadhiraaj: Love. Life. Leela.’ – a mega musical on the life of lord Krishna that enchanted Mumbaikars, has taken over the skyline of Delhi with striking displays, stirring excitement for its arrival.

    Premiering at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Auditorium, New Delhi from 29 November 2024, the spectacular production offers a unique blend of storytelling, music, and visual artistry. The show, conceptualised and created by Dhanraj Nathwani, promises an immersive journey of the two divine personas of Shri Krishna – Shrinathji and Dwarkadheesh.

    Written by Padma Shri Awardee Prasoon Joshi and directed by musical theatre expert Shruti Sharma, this production brings to life Shri Krishna’s tales from Vrindavan to Dwarka. Featuring 180 artists, the show includes a powerful soundtrack of 20 original songs by Sachin-Jigar, blending Western symphonic music from Budapest with Indian classical, Haveli Sangeet, Rajasthani and Gujarati folk, and Hindustani semi-classical styles.

    Omung Kumar’s detailed production design, alongside choreography by Bertwin D’Souza and Shampa Gopikrishna performed by over 60 dancers, enriches the immersive experience. Creatively produced by Parthiv Gohil and Viral Rachh, with story research by National Award-winning writer Raam Mori, the production features 1,800 custom costumes by celebrated designer Neeta Lulla, capturing the essence of divine playfulness and depth of the characters.

    Brace yourself to dive into the journey of Shri Krishna and his timeless tales.

  • Indifference of movie-goers

    Indifference of movie-goers

    *Bhoomi was chosen to be the re-launch vehicle of Sanjay Dutt on his return from serving a jail sentence. The subject could not have been a romance considering his age and the receding hairline. And, Munnabhai scripts are not something you picked off the shelf!

    Omung Kumar earned fame with his direction of Mary Kom and, one must say, that very little of it he merited for his contribution to the film, most of it was media gifted which is to say, he has been overrated.

    Omung’s next was Sarbjit, which he also produced, which was a rank bad film. It seemed have been made with the intent of encashing Aishwarya Rai’s face forgetting most of the time about Sarbjit.

    But, for the sake of Sunjay Dutt, the idea of Bhoomi, a father daughter story worked.

    Considering all things, the director, Omung Kumar, made partly right decision, to cast Dutt according to his age, as the father of a girl of marriageable age. But, the rest of the decision was disastrous. That was to fall back on old-fashioned 1980s films churned out from South where the ‘izzat’ of wife, sister, bhabhi was compromised by the villains. The true hero was then expected to save his family honour.

    It made simple thrill seeking audience happy. Movie going has come a long way since.

    Bhoomi has turned out to be bad film with the opening response showing indifference of movie goer. The opening day was poor at about Rs 20 million with the Saturday and Sunday remaining stagnant as the film closed its opening weekend with Rs 66 million.

    *Worse choice for a maker was to opt for Haseena Parker. This shows a total lack of imagination let alone creativity. When creativity is nil, one looks for such short cuts just to stay afloat in the industry. After all, a film is made for the all India audience! And, how would they identify with a South Mumbai small lane woman who cashed in on the name of her brother, Dawood Ibrahim? Not many earlier and not now after the film.

    Shraddha Kapoor mouthing Urdu dialogue with a stuffed mouth comes across as a comedy! The film opened with poor collections of Rs 11 million, failing to improve much over the weekend and collecting Rs 41 million.

    Newton, an odd film about an honest officer wanting to conduct free and fair elections in a Naxal affected area, as expected, has an indifferent opening, but the release of the film coincided with the film’s selection as India’s choice for entry at the Oscars. And, that boosts the footfall for the film over the weekend with big leaps. The film, which opened at Rs 9 billion on Friday, had a huge jump in collections on Saturday of Rs 25 million and Rs 32 million on Sunday giving it a decent weekend of Rs 66 million.

    *Lucknow Central, a poor idea poorly executed, fails miserably. With a poor opening weekend of Rs 72.5 million, the film could manage to add just three crore for the next four days to end its first week with a total of Rs 103 million.

    *Simran, counting on yet another one-woman show from Kangana Ranaut, like Queen, had just about everything going wrong for it. From the script, to the characterisation of Kangana, to direction, just about everything.

    The film let the Kangana fans down as it ended its first week with a tally of Rs 145 million. It is another thing that had the film succeeded, it would have given some standing and credibility to the director Hansal Mahta, too.

    *Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi has collected Rs 13 million for its one week. (The film’s weekend collection was Rs 7 million, and not 700 million.)

    *Poster Boys collects Rs 15 million for week two taking its two week total to Rs 122.5 million.

    *Daddy added Rs 11 million in its week two to take its two week total to Rs 75 million.

  • Bhoomi….80s revisited

    Bhoomi….80s revisited

    Bhoomi, directed by Omung Kumar, is a throwback to the 1980s era when the villain and his cohorts would rape a hero’s sister and he would take revenge against them. Except that, in Bhoomi, it is the daughter of the character of Sanjay Dutt, played by Aditi Rao Hydari, who is raped the night before her wedding and after surviving another rape and an attempt to kill her, she first breaks down completely as does her father but eventually systematically kills all the bad men.

    The biggest plus point of Bhoomi is that this film marks the return of Sanjay Dutt and that too playing his age. Time has added a few wrinkles and gravitas to his personality but this is vintage Dutt, the larger-than-life hero. On the minus side is that the script offers nothing new in terms of action and reaction.

    Dutt and Hydari lead a peaceful existence in Agra where Dutt has a shop that specializes in mojris and Hydari is a wedding planner cum mehndi expert. She is in love with a local doctor — played by Sidhanth Gupta, and their wedding is due to take place in a few days when the film opens.

    Another boy is also in love with her and when she spurns his advances, he and two thugs (Sharad Kelkar is one) decide to rape her. She tells her to be husband about the rape and the wedding is cancelled.

    They get no justice when they file charges against the perpetrators, and are all set to try to build their lives again when their hopes come dashing down with the constant humiliation they have to face. After a point, they have no choice — but retaliate.

    Small town India is the new locale for films but, while most are quirky, Bhoomi explores its narrow-mindedness. Dutt and Hydari share a warm camaraderie and this elevates the film. But, it is needlessly violent and sometimes crude and this will make it more of a single screen film that a pan Indian one.

    Dutt underplays the grieving father while Hydari tends to ham in dramatic sequences. Kelkar is a fitting successor to earlier villains. Kumar directs ably.

    Though the film is just 135 minutes long, the incessant padding of scenes before it gets down to business, i.e. revenge, makes it seem longer and that drags down the film.

    Bhoomi may be Dutt’s comeback film but the opening response reflects no such enthusiasm on the part of moviegoer.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, KIshan Kumar, Omung Kumar.

    Direction: Omung Kumar.

    Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Aditi Rao Hydari.

  • Sarbjit…Insufferable

    Sarbjit…Insufferable

    Wanting an easy way out, the run for biopics continues. The fact that biopics rarely work in India; an odd one which works to an extent, needs to be fictionalized in parts or more. If such films on Gandhi (which had just scrapped through in English original version but failed in its Hindi version) as well as films on Bose, Patel, Nehru, Savarkar, Ambedkar have all passed unnoticed, to think that Sarbjit was the least of a real life story to be adapted for a film! 
    Sarbjit Singh, played by Randeep Hooda, is a farm hand in the village of Bhikhi wind in Punjab near the India Pakistan border. His upbringing has mostly been under the aegis of his older sister, Dalbir Kaur, played by Aishwarya Rai. As he comes of age, he falls for the village belle, Richa Chaddha, and soon becomes the father of two daughters. 

    Fond of wrestling, Hooda is engrossed in the sport one day when Rai watches him from a passing street bus. For whatever reason, she is angry with him. The film or the script does not bother to tell you why for, in a small village, youth do indulge in such harmless sport for pastime. However, Rai decides to punish Hooda, married and father of two, for his indulgence as if he was a school kid. He is banished from house even as he keeps bantering from outside the main door. The scene has been prolonged unnecessarily and makes little sense.

    This is when a friend of Hooda enters the scene and flashes a quarter of alcohol (180ml) at Hooda and both vanish in to nearby fields to share the drinks. And, in no time, both are beyond themselves totally inebriated. Imagine, 90 ml of alcohol each doing that to two Punjabis! Leaving his two-wheeler for his friend to tend to, Hooda decides to amble home. Instead, he ambles into Pakistani territory where the rangers are ready to pounce on him and consign him to a jail. He is branded as an Indian terrorist, Ranjeet Singh, who bombed various locations in Pakistan killing many.

    The treatment meted out to Hooda in a Pakistani jail is inhuman to say the least. On the Indian side, Rai is desperately looking for her brother to no avail. She soon learns that he has landed in a Pakistani jail. There on starts her ordeal and, that of the viewer of this film, as she bangs on every possible door to come to help her get her brother released. She sits on fasts, leads numerous candle light marches (which have become popular in our films more than they happen in life) and these things get repetitive all through the film.

    Rai yells at people all around, may it be in Indian officialdom or in Pakistan jails as if her brother was the only Indian languishing in Pakistani jail and, as if, India did not have any Pakistanis in its prisons. Her approach as shown in the film, lacks logic or normalcy. 
    The film is titled after the so called victim, Sarbjit, but it is all about Rai. She is in each frame as a crusader on a mission to get her brother freed. Neither does she convince the authorities nor the audience with her tirades nor her overacting. 

    To think in its perspective, Sarbjit was not a subject to turn into a film; it is a local story with no identification with all India audiences. It is an inconclusive story where nothing positive comes out in the end. The other mistake was to cast the glamorous Ms Rai as the protagonist who neither looks nor convinces as Sarbjit’s sister, Dalbir Kaur would expected to be. She also lacks the native Punjabi twang as most of the time she mouths Hindi. In fact, Rai, expected to be the star and draw for this film, is its major drawback.

    In this film about Sarbjit, Hooda playing Sarbjit is sidelined as isRicha Chadha, playing his wife. The script is wonky and, at 131 minutes, intolerable. Direction is below par. Editing is poor. Cinematography is fair. Music had no place in this film except for one song in the beginning when Hooda and Chadha romance; the rest of the numbers are forced in. The film’s dialogue lacks spark. Richa, despite a much curtailed secondary role, stands her ground. Hoodagives into poor substance.

    Sarbjit is insufferable. Tax Free tag in a couple of states notwithstanding. 
    Producer: Vshu Bhagnani, Jackey Bhagnanai, Sandeep Singh, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Omung Kumar, KrIshan Kumar, Bhushan Kumar. 

    Director: Omung Kumar.

    Cast: Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadha, Darshan Chadha, Ankita Shrivastav, Shiwani  Saini. 

  • Sarbjit…Insufferable

    Sarbjit…Insufferable

    Wanting an easy way out, the run for biopics continues. The fact that biopics rarely work in India; an odd one which works to an extent, needs to be fictionalized in parts or more. If such films on Gandhi (which had just scrapped through in English original version but failed in its Hindi version) as well as films on Bose, Patel, Nehru, Savarkar, Ambedkar have all passed unnoticed, to think that Sarbjit was the least of a real life story to be adapted for a film! 
    Sarbjit Singh, played by Randeep Hooda, is a farm hand in the village of Bhikhi wind in Punjab near the India Pakistan border. His upbringing has mostly been under the aegis of his older sister, Dalbir Kaur, played by Aishwarya Rai. As he comes of age, he falls for the village belle, Richa Chaddha, and soon becomes the father of two daughters. 

    Fond of wrestling, Hooda is engrossed in the sport one day when Rai watches him from a passing street bus. For whatever reason, she is angry with him. The film or the script does not bother to tell you why for, in a small village, youth do indulge in such harmless sport for pastime. However, Rai decides to punish Hooda, married and father of two, for his indulgence as if he was a school kid. He is banished from house even as he keeps bantering from outside the main door. The scene has been prolonged unnecessarily and makes little sense.

    This is when a friend of Hooda enters the scene and flashes a quarter of alcohol (180ml) at Hooda and both vanish in to nearby fields to share the drinks. And, in no time, both are beyond themselves totally inebriated. Imagine, 90 ml of alcohol each doing that to two Punjabis! Leaving his two-wheeler for his friend to tend to, Hooda decides to amble home. Instead, he ambles into Pakistani territory where the rangers are ready to pounce on him and consign him to a jail. He is branded as an Indian terrorist, Ranjeet Singh, who bombed various locations in Pakistan killing many.

    The treatment meted out to Hooda in a Pakistani jail is inhuman to say the least. On the Indian side, Rai is desperately looking for her brother to no avail. She soon learns that he has landed in a Pakistani jail. There on starts her ordeal and, that of the viewer of this film, as she bangs on every possible door to come to help her get her brother released. She sits on fasts, leads numerous candle light marches (which have become popular in our films more than they happen in life) and these things get repetitive all through the film.

    Rai yells at people all around, may it be in Indian officialdom or in Pakistan jails as if her brother was the only Indian languishing in Pakistani jail and, as if, India did not have any Pakistanis in its prisons. Her approach as shown in the film, lacks logic or normalcy. 
    The film is titled after the so called victim, Sarbjit, but it is all about Rai. She is in each frame as a crusader on a mission to get her brother freed. Neither does she convince the authorities nor the audience with her tirades nor her overacting. 

    To think in its perspective, Sarbjit was not a subject to turn into a film; it is a local story with no identification with all India audiences. It is an inconclusive story where nothing positive comes out in the end. The other mistake was to cast the glamorous Ms Rai as the protagonist who neither looks nor convinces as Sarbjit’s sister, Dalbir Kaur would expected to be. She also lacks the native Punjabi twang as most of the time she mouths Hindi. In fact, Rai, expected to be the star and draw for this film, is its major drawback.

    In this film about Sarbjit, Hooda playing Sarbjit is sidelined as isRicha Chadha, playing his wife. The script is wonky and, at 131 minutes, intolerable. Direction is below par. Editing is poor. Cinematography is fair. Music had no place in this film except for one song in the beginning when Hooda and Chadha romance; the rest of the numbers are forced in. The film’s dialogue lacks spark. Richa, despite a much curtailed secondary role, stands her ground. Hoodagives into poor substance.

    Sarbjit is insufferable. Tax Free tag in a couple of states notwithstanding. 
    Producer: Vshu Bhagnani, Jackey Bhagnanai, Sandeep Singh, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Omung Kumar, KrIshan Kumar, Bhushan Kumar. 

    Director: Omung Kumar.

    Cast: Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadha, Darshan Chadha, Ankita Shrivastav, Shiwani  Saini. 

  • Colors to pull all stops to make Stardust Awards bigger & better

    Colors to pull all stops to make Stardust Awards bigger & better

    MUMBAI: Colors is gearing up to pull all stops to make the 13th edition of the Sansui Colors Stardust Awards bigger and better this year.

     

    The awards, which will be held on 21 December in Mumbai at the Reliance Jio Gardens in BKC, will see more investment being pumped in for a larger stage and bigger performing acts.

     

    A source close to the development informed Indiantelevision.com, “The production cost of last year’s Stardust Awards was approximately Rs 12 crore, which has gone up by 30 per cent this year to approximately Rs 15.6 crore.”

     

    Commenting on this year’s awards, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “Last year we partnered with the biggest names in the consumer electronics and publishing business namely Sansui and Stardust to launch The Sansui Colors Stardust Awards. This partnership of three leaders went on to make the Sansui Colors Awards the No. 1 Awards show on Indian television. This year, based on feedback from all stakeholders in the industry, we have re-looked at the categories to make it more credible and robust. Our aim is to make the event exceedingly significant, entertaining and colossal this year.”

     

    Talking about the association with Stardust, Sansui COO Amitabh Tiwari said, “At Sansui, it is our goal to make entertainment synonymous to the brand, and through our continued association with Stardust and Colors, we feel more connected to this vision. Last year, Stardust Awards was rated as the best award show and this year we are all geared up to raise the bar of entertainment to the next level. We aim to bestow upon our audience the best of entertainment and are all set to enthral them. We have had a wonderful kick start with Stardust and are confident that the relationship will strengthen with each passing year.”

     

    Magna Publishing chairman Nari Hira added, “If last year’s scale and grandeur was top-notch, we are all set to surpass all benchmarks and make this new edition an even bigger entertainment extravaganza. 2015 has been an outstanding year for Indian cinema and we are looking forward to paying homage to the stalwarts whose showmanship has added to the industry’s success not only in India but also internationally.”

     

    The evening will be hosted by Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh along with co-host Farah Khan.

     

    Given their expertise in putting together large scale shows, Cineyug has been roped in as the events partner for the affair. The sets have been designed by Omung Kumar.  

      

    “The award show is planned on a very grand scale this year. Last year we brought Stardust Award from Sony Max to Colors. This year we have a grand star cast with some amazing performances. We also have we have the Dilwale team performing on the award night. Apart from that we have a great line up of actors performing including Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez. This year, we are performing acts on the new grand ground Jio Garden,” said Cineyug Entertainment director Mohammad Morani.  

     

    Magna Publishing marketing head Shivendra Parihar added, “This year the focus will be making award night bigger and better than last year. Last year, we were the number one rated award show on Indian television.  This year the focus will be taking it a notch higher and having great viewership across the world for which we have made award content and performances engaging.”

  • Randeep Hooda to play Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s brother in ‘Sarbjit’

    Randeep Hooda to play Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s brother in ‘Sarbjit’

    MUMBAI: Omung Kumar’s biopic Sarbjit has been in the news lately for its various speculations on the star cast of the movie. After roping in Aishwariya Rai Bachchan for the role of Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur, the makers have finally locked down Randeep Hooda for the role of Sarabjit.

     Known for his performances in movies like Kick, Highway and Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster, Hooda will be essaying the role of the slain Indian prisoner  Sarabjit.

    The movie will narrate the struggle of Dalbir Kaur whose aim of life is to get her brother out of the jail, who has been imprisoned in Pakistan for a mistaken identity of an Indian spy.

    Hooda is all set to play the role Aishwariya Rai Bachachan’s younger brother. The duo will be seen sharing screen space for the very first time in Indian cinema.

     

    Omung Kumar said, “Yes Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Randeep Hooda are going to be apart in my next Biopic Sarbjit.”

     

    The movie will go on floors in October 2015 and will be released in Cannes in May 2016. 

  • Star packs a punch to celebrate 15 years of ‘Star Parivaar Awards’

    Star packs a punch to celebrate 15 years of ‘Star Parivaar Awards’

    MUMBAI: Star India is leaving no stones unturned to celebrate 15 years of its in-house award ceremony – Star Parivaar Awards.

     

    Fifteen years ago, the network started telling a story, which has until now spun many wonders. Star Plus’ successful awards property Star Parivaar Awards is like a sumptuous platter served for viewers where one gets to watch different forms of entertainment and see their favorite stars sizzle on stage.

     

    This year, the channel is packing a punch to its lineup with a new producer on board for the gala event. Unlike last year, where Cineyug had produced the awards for the channel, this year Frames Productions has donned the production hat.

     

    To celebrate 15 years of the awards, the set design this time round is going to be different from the usual sets seen at multiple award shows.

     

    Frames Productions founder Ranjeet Thakur tells Indiantelevision.com that the sets this time round for the Star Parivaar Awards will be interactive.

     

    Thakur says, “There won’t be a fixed set this year. We are going to change the look, feel and dynamics of the set depending on the demands of the act that will be performed. This year, projection will play a key role in enhancing the entire look and feel of the awards ceremony.”

     

    With almost 45 graphic artists from UK and India working on the awards, the network will be doling out oodles of cash to ensure that top quality graphics are used throughout the show. “It is not a structured or a fixed set like we are used to watching in award shows. Special attention is being paid to the graphics this time round and that costs money,” laughs Thakur.

     

    From shooting the graphics to portraying it on screen, the process took almost four months. “We wanted to ensure that our vision for the look of the show was being realised by each and every one who was working on the Star Parivaar Awards,” states Thakur.

     

    On the content front, Frames Productions has created multiple small gimmicks that will keep the entertainment quotient high. “For the first time ever, we are stringing the show via musical acts. What we are looking at is an interactive LED digital space,” explains Thakur.

     

    Unlike previous years, where set designer Omung Kumar worked on the awards, this year the design is being provided by Kunal Bandola.

     

    A new award category has also been added this year, with the introduction of the special ‘Five Scroll of Honors’ (big achievement of each show).

     

    Moreover, to celebrate the 15 glorious years, Star India has invited some iconic faces, who have been associated with India’s leading GEC over the past 15 years. Some of them include the likes of Smriti Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Shweta Tiwari and Ronit Roy amongst others.

     

    “To bring alive the magic of 15 years, we are getting popular faces on-board. However, confirmation is still awaited from them,” informs Thakur.

     

    The network also had a jury meeting today in Mumbai to decide 11 categories. Senior Bollywood journalist, writer and film critic Bhawana Somaaya,  Indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari, ABP News executive editor Vibha Kaul Bhat, and Cinevistaas writer, producer & creative head Siddharth Malhotra.

     

    Star India SVP network programming and events head Anil Jha (he has been behind the hugely successful awards show every year) took to twitter to thank the jury. “Love the opportunity to meet this August body (the Star Parivaar Awards jury) every year,” he tweeted.   

     

    The Star Parivaar Awards 2015 will be held on 17 May at The National Sports Club of India (NSCI) in Mumbai. The awards will be aired on Star Plus in June.

  • Colors bets big on historical ‘Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat’

    Colors bets big on historical ‘Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat’

    MUMBAI: History repeats itself… or so they say. From the time Indian television was born, historical and mythological shows have been an integral part of it. In the early 90s, Sunday mornings were dedicated to Mahabharata and Ramayana and today prime time slots are dedicated to the numerous gods and kings, as they battle it out for the ratings.

     

    Colors, the channel synonymous with edgy content and reality shows, is once again dabbling with historical show with Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat. Through the tale of a great emperor who charted the course of Indian history, the channel aims to write its own saga in the genre.

     

    “It is one of the biggest shows of 2015 from Colors stable,” said Colors CEO Raj Nayak at the dusty yet magnanimous sets of the show at ND Studios in Karjat. The idea of launching another historical show after Veer Shivaji was always on the cards, but the actual work on the new series started six months back.

     

    “We took Veer Shivaji off air because it gave us low ratings as compared to other shows on the same time band across channels. But in hindsight, we realised that we shouldn’t have. Hence, we have always been toying with the idea but it has taken us a lot of time to build on it. And we are glad that we have been able to put a great team together,” said Nayak.

     

    The one hour long historical, which goes on air from 2 February, is produced by Contiloe Entertainment and will see set designers Omung Kumar and Nitin Desai collaborating.

     

    “Our brief to the production house was simple – the show needs to be the best ever,” proclaims Nayak.

     

    Contiloe Entertainment, which has numerous genres to its credit, isn’t new to historic shows as well. After creating shows like Jhansi ki Rani, the production house is optimistic about the latest show on its platter. “Everybody knows about Ashoka the emperor and the story will resonate with urban as well as rural India. The show is about creation and will inspire viewers too,” said Contiloe Entertainment CEO Abhimanyu Singh.

     

    The show will follow the story of young Ashoka’s journey in a dramatised manner. “There are always gaps in history, which need to be filled and we’ve made sure that the dots are joined in a responsible way,” said Singh.

     

    A huge research team under the guidance of Srikant Sharma worked on the show. “A number of books have been written on it and we have read almost everything on the era to get story as real as possible,” added Singh.

     

    The young Ashoka is played by Dhoom 3 star Siddharth Nigam and will see Pallavi Subhash (Dharma), Sameer Dharmadhikari (Bindusara), Manoj Joshi (Chanakya), Tej Sapru (Seleucus Nicator), Suzanne Bernert (Helena), Sumit Kaul (Justin) and Ankita Sharma (Noor Khorasan) among others etching the roles.

     

    It wasn’t an easy task to get the cast right. According to Nayak, if the cast is right then a show will work. After numerous auditions, Nigam was shortlisted and had to undergo a three-month long training to play the part with ease.

     

    So far, 10 episodes have been canned. Shot with three Alexa cameras, an episode takes almost four to six days to shoot. “We shoot from 7 am till 10 pm, depending on the demand of the script. However, things have improved now as we have all got a hang of it,” said Prasad Gawandi, who has directed the show.

     

    Planned to be a finite show, which will be on air for six months, the channel will take a call on extending it based on audiences’ reaction. “At Colors we are very clear; if something doesn’t work, we kill it. But that doesn’t stop us from experimenting and taking a risk,” points out Nayak, when asked if the show will get an extension or if the one hour time slot would be shortened in the future.

     

    With Ghari Detergent as its title sponsor, Nayak is confident that many will follow suit once the show is up and running. “In case of fiction shows, one doesn’t have to bother about sponsors as they come on their own as ratings scorch unlike non-fiction where one has to get sponsors on board beforehand as they are expensive,” highlighted Nayak.

     

    The channel, which has a premium charge attached to it, expects Rs 1.5 to Rs 1.8 lakh for a 10 second ad slot.

     

    Media planners too believe that since the story has not been told on the small screen before, it will tend to work in favour of the show and the channel. “Other stories have been told and retold but the story of Ashoka on small screen with modern technology should work,” said a media planner.

     

    To market the show, Colors is routing through unconventional methods. For instance, Mumbai metro travellers are in for a surprise as they will get a coin used in the Mauryan era rather than the usual ticket token for a week. Apart from this, a special school contact programme will be executed in close to 200 schools in 50 towns in tier II markets where students will, in an interactive way, learn about Emperor Ashoka and his life.

     

    “A number of melas and yatras are on in the country and we are tapping in to these as well to give viewers a real life feel of the characters. For instance, people can engage through archery to get a feel of the era gone by,” said Nayak.

     

    One of the most expensive fiction shows apart from 24, the channel is betting high on the story of the young emperor and only time will tell how it fares.

  • Everybody is a winner at Sansui Colors Stardust Awards

    Everybody is a winner at Sansui Colors Stardust Awards

    MUMBAI: The year 2014 has proven to be a great year for the Indian Film industry. Last year, we saw several path-breaking performances by actors, musicians, producers and directors. As the first viewer’s choice awards of the year, the Sansui Colors Stardust awards ceremony celebrated the hard work and determination of the entire Indian film fraternity in 2014. The star-studded ceremony honoured several actors across genres like mainstream, action, drama, romance-comedy and even those filmmakers who have showcased newer facets of entertainment.

    The event saw several renowned names from the industry, entertaining the audiences with stunning performances and superlative talent.  Encompassing a Persian stage theme designed by Omung Kumar, the evening was hosted by Saif Ali Khan, Karan Johar, and Riteish Deshmukh who left the audience in splits with their rib-tickling humour. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Parineeti Chopra set the stage on fire with some sizzling performances.

    The red carpet was graced by the host of stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Randeep Hooda, Tabu, Imtiaz Ali, Sooraj Barjatya, Huma Qureshi, Jacqueline Fernandes, Dia Mirza, Arjun Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Omung Kumar, Kunal Kohli, Pradeep Sarkar, Ramesh Sippy, Neha Dhupia, Asha Parekh and many more.

    The Sansui Colors Stardust award show is slated to air in January 2015 only on Colors.

    Here is the list of winners who walked away with top-honours: