ITV

Tag: Optimystix Entertainment

  • Vinay Kalia takes centre stage at Fremantle, joins as head production

    Vinay Kalia takes centre stage at Fremantle, joins as head production

    MUMBAI: Vinay Baldev Kalia, a production heavyweight with nearly three decades of experience, is back in the Fremantle fold, taking on the role of head of production for India. After a brief stint as a freelance production executive, Kalia has returned to the very place where he previously held the same title, promising to bring his production skills to the forefront.

    Kalia’s career reads like a who’s who of Indian television, with stints at Balaji Telefilms, Miditech, Optimystix Entertainment, and, of course, Fremantle itself. He’s been the production maestro behind some of India’s biggest shows, including Indian Idol, Fame Gurukul, and numerous daily soaps that have kept viewers glued to their screens.

    His LinkedIn profile is a testament to his extensive skill set, boasting expertise in everything from project coordination and financial planning to team building and vendor management. With a track record that spans both fiction and non-fiction, Kalia is a seasoned pro in the cut-throat world of Indian television production.

  • Nikul Desai talks about his new show Taare Zameen Par

    Nikul Desai talks about his new show Taare Zameen Par

    MUMBAI: Nikul Desai is mainly known for directing non-fiction shows like Comedy Circus and Rising Star. Desai began his career under the supervision of his paternal uncle Vipul D Shah, the co-founder of Optimystix Entertainment. Starting off as an assistant director back in 2001, he has worked his way up to head of non-fiction content.

    But luck played its part too. Desai got to don the director's hat when the main director of a TV show fell ill – and that was his first break as a full-time television director. Fame quickly followed when he made a splash with the runaway success of Comedy Circus. The show aired for nine years with 18 seasons. Not only this, he brought various comedians like Kapil Sharma, Krushna Abhishek, Bharti Singh, Sudesh Lehri, and many more, into the limelight.

    Now, Desai is coming up with yet another singing reality show – Taare Zameen Par. Conceptualised as a platform for kids to showcase their signing talent, the show will be telecast on Star Plus from 2 November at 6.30 pm. The programme will not have judges, but mentors who will groom and train the kids. The makers have roped in Shankar Mahadevan, Tony Kakkar and Jonita Gandhi as mentors while popular comedian Sugandha Mishra and Aakriti Sharma (of Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala fame) will host the show.

    Desai revealed that this is the first time that any production house is attempting a non-fiction from a daily point of view. Said he: “Taare Zameen Par is a mammoth show that is keeping me and my team very busy. And then there are other projects in the pipeline, we are in conversation with Star Plus for a few other shows, which should hopefully get cleared by the end of October or November. We are also coming up with an original series, and a movie in partnership with Ashwin Varde.”

    Due to the Covid2019 pandemic, production houses have to come up with innovative ways to evolve and upgrade in the new normal. For instance, the studio has cut down on crew size – a measure that has generated its fair share of headaches.

    “A big non-fiction show has anywhere between 300 to 400 people, but now the studio is functioning with anywhere between 160 to 200 people while the work remains the same. Consequently, production has become considerably more difficult, and the team has to pre-plan a lot of stuff so there are no last minute requirements and scramble,” said Desai. This is because all the props which are coming from the market need to be sanitized and must be kept aside for 48 hours.

    In terms of the restrictions, only cameramen and technicians are allowed to go on the floor, otherwise access to the floor has been completely shut off. Further, there is zero physical contact with judges and hosts. Contact and communication has undergone a sea change.

    “Largely, the communication is completely killed from a security point of view, it's either from a pre-production point of view where we do phone calls or Zoom calls. We are shooting every day together, but we haven't really met each other. We are strictly adhering to safety and security protocols,” stated Desai.

    Child participants and their guardians, who came from all over India, went through a minimum of 14 days quarantine and it’s only recently that they have been brought out from their hotel rooms for band rehearsals, he added.

    Generally, the production control room (PCR) is a small, cluttered space. But this time to maintain social distancing. Optimystix has designed a bigger area for PCR. The studio has created a partition between technicians by putting acrylic sheets so that everybody can watch the monitors while shooting takes place. But only limited people are allowed in the room. For other crew members, the studio has made a viewing room where people who want to just watch the content can actually go to the viewing room and tune in.

    “We have given them the Zoom output off the whole master camera, so that they can watch what's happening on the floor at any point of time while sitting at their homes. And they can communicate with us over the call or Zoom chat. So, the way we function has completely changed. Earlier, a lot of people used to be there on standby to help the people present on the set but now 70 per cent of the crew is handling their own work,” Desai elaborated.

    The studio has also hired an external Covid2019 compliance company named the Covid Marshal. The set and other equipment are sanitised twice a day. No more than two episodes are shot in a day. Desai further mentioned that due to safety and security measures the productivity has comparatively been hampered.  

    Desai shared his view that audiences are now more keen than ever to watch light-hearted programmes, and in the long run non-fiction shows will fare better. 

  • Optimystix Entertainment finding creative ways to maintain social distancing on air

    Optimystix Entertainment finding creative ways to maintain social distancing on air

    MUMBAI: Television shoots that were suspended due to the Covid2019 pandemic have now resumed following the necessary guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government. Sony SAB fans can now rejoice as the shoots for all shows have now resumed and will be back with new episodes soon. On 29 June, Sony SAB's light-hearted family entertainer show Tera Kya Hoga Alia and Balveer Returns started shooting.

    Optimystix Entertainment creative head Nikul Desai tells indiantelevision.com that the production house is ecstatic to start shooting. The company is also prepping up for a singing show named Taare Zameen Par for Star Plus and Disney+ Hotstar.

    He says that owing to the pandemic filming pattern will be changed. Things will be looked at from the lens of multitasking with people, contestants and the crew. A lot of television work like scripting, dialogues and direction used to happen on the spot. But, that way of working has changed now. A lot of pre-production work with the team and actors are done well in advance. 

    “Due to various SOP measures and guidelines, we get less number of hours in a shift to complete the shoot. It means the output could be hampered, considering a smaller number of crew and other technicalities,” says Desai.

    He also mentions that there won't be major changes in the script of Taare Zameen Par. The company will now also showcase a few stories revolving around the lives of contestants who have been positively or negatively affected by the pandemic.

    The first set of the auditions of Taare Zameen Par happened before the lockdown, now the second set of auditions will happen online.

    “We are currently figuring out ways to maintain social distancing on the show. Like earlier, judges having a banter, fall over each other or hug contestants and bless them; those will not happen. We are finding out creative means and ways to bring the fun quotient in the show. The idea is to follow all the norms and yet not hamper the emotional side of the show," he shares.

    There will be minimal mention of pandemic and lockdown, but the production house is not too keen to mention Covid2019 in its shows as it believes audiences are watching television to refresh their minds. No one likes to be reminded about a pandemic.

    For Balveer Returns, VFX, edit team and other technical teams are working from home.

    Artists are given scripts in advance to save time and rehearsals are happening over Zoom calls. So, when the actors are on set, they have a fair idea about the shoot and the studio ends up saving some time.

    He also points out that actors are travelling with their own vehicles. Apart from that writers, people from post-production are mostly working from home. The production house is also providing sanitised vehicles for people who used to travel by public transport.

    There is no fixed date for the telecast as they need to be sure about the banks of the episode. August is a likely period.

    Optimystix Entertainment’s lockdown special show Kuch Smiles Ho Jayein… With Alia starring Anusha Mishra and Balraj Syal is off air now. According to Desai, it was a short series with just five episodes as it was the need of the hour. The studio is now focussing on its prime fiction show.

  • SAB TV beats lockdown blues with new show

    SAB TV beats lockdown blues with new show

    MUMBAI: When the going gets tough, the creative ones get more creative! That’s what Optimystix Entertainment and SAB TV have joined together and did. A humorous entertainment programme to beat the lockdown blues. The show, #KuchSmilesHoJayeinWithAlia, started airing on SAB TV from 18 May. The programmes were shot entirely from the TV artists’ homes remotely.

    “People are curious to know what their favourite characters are doing. The whole idea was to make people laugh,” said Optimystix Entertainment founding chairman and MD Vipul D Shah.

    “All the people who watch SAB TV are our audience. Basically all SAB TV characters are having fun with each other in this programme. The main idea is that our characters should be able to communicate with our audiences during lockdown,” he said.

    And was it difficult to shoot in the middle of Covid2019? “I won’t say it was difficult but it was an entirely new experience for us. The director used to direct them over the phone. He was guiding them with the proper frame and lighting. He gave directions remotely about the positioning of the actors in their own houses. It was a very remote video call direction. The coordination part was a little challenging as the artists used to record the show and send us. After that we looked at other aspects of the shoot and if correction was required we used to coordinate with them again. Our director used to guide them with script and punch lines.”

    Asked how many episodes they have planned, he said: “We now have 16 episodes in the bank; we will analyse how it goes and after that we can think if we want to shoot more episodes. Entire shooting was done indoor in people’s respective houses with zero human contact from the production side.”

    He informed that the channel is re-running the show Sajan Re Jhuth Mat Bolo and many other shows like that. “But from our end we are keeping the script ready. As soon as the government decides to lift the lockdown we want to be ready with ideas and scripts as there will be huge content consumption. People will start watching TV more than ever.”

    “We have created the bank for existing shows as well as new shows. Generally, we create humorous shows so we are planning to subtly introduce Covid2019 situations into our writing. One day everything will be back to normal but can you erase these memories from people’s mind? It is not possible. Maybe we will introduce things in a humorous way or a dramatic way,” he said.

    Optimystix Entertainment creative producer Nikul Desai said that right now they are only testing the show and analysing the responses. “If it works we will go for a longer run. As of now we will run four to eight episodes and then based on the response we will see if there is a need to make more episodes.”

    Regarding the duration of shoot, he added: “It took one day to just shoot the episode. Lot of coordination was involved. There were a lot of reshoots; sometimes quality went for a toss. Because actors are not equipped to shoot in the right direction, or lighting and there was certain footage that we had to reconsider. So for the one episode including shoot and edit it took four to five days. Ensuring every actor is on time was a task as everyone cannot be present at the same time. We created a lot of games and videos like Tik Tok; then there are anthems that we have produced ourselves.”

    The credit for ideation and creation goes both to Optimystix Entertainment and SAB TV.

    Regarding the challenges in making the programme, he said:  “From the telecast point of view you at least need bare minimum quality of audio and video. Then we sanitised the entire equipment and ordered actors to keep it at least for 72 hours before using it. We were monitoring shoots via video conferencing and advising them what to do and what not to do. I think largely technicality was the major issue.”

    Balraj and Alia are anchoring the show so there were a lot of midnight rehearsals through video conferencing. They used to do script reading, figured out the rules of the games, etc. “Also, there are short montages in the show. So we told the artists about the time duration of their dialogue. On top of that there was a time constraint to finish the episode in a certain time. We followed the basic safety measure and hygiene at every stage to safeguard our people,” he said.

    Promotions are largely going to take place on social media and on air promotions.

    “We will cover one topic in every episode supposedly. One topic is about how people are going through these food challenges, how people are doing exercises to stay fit. One episode will be about interpersonal chemistry between the characters. Our main focus is to bring joy into people's lives,” he concluded.

  • Optimystix Entertainment & Ashwin Varde join hands to launch ‘Wakaoo Films’

    Optimystix Entertainment & Ashwin Varde join hands to launch ‘Wakaoo Films’

    MUMBAI: Optimystix Entertainment, India’s flagship television production company, announced a strategic partnership with Ashwin Varde, one of India’s most prominent film producers, to launch a new film production company, ‘Wakaoo Films’. The joint venture will comprehensively engage in content development and production across feature films and digital media. The new entity will produce a minimum of 3 to 4 feature film projects this calendar year and a few web-series for OTT platforms.

    Optimystix Entertainment  founder & chairman Vipul D.Shah said, “We have been successfully scripting our success story in highly competitive TV arena with an array of leading fiction & non-fiction shows since almost two decades. Having produced 125+ prime-time TV shows including the long-running Comedy Circus & Crime Patrol we have created an ecosystem of Comedy & Crime that currently exists in the TV space. Our vision is to build a similar content driven ecosystem in the film & OTT business. I began my career as a film writer & it feels good to finally come back home. I am equally very excited to announce this joint venture with Ashwin Varde who is a credible force to reckon with in the film industry & this association will help us further in creating more significant value in our business and will channelize us to harness the growth across Feature films & OTT content business.”

    Ashwin Varde, who produced one of last year’s biggest blockbusters Kabir Singh, also has to his credit prominent movies like Mubarakan, Boss, The Shaukeens, Notebook and others, is excited about this new development. He said, “I am extremely happy to form this joint venture with Optimystix, one of India’s leading content creators. With Wakaoo Films, the idea is to redefine content and create your own dazzle in the film and digital world. The word ‘Wakaoo’ is an expression of joy; it’s a burst of innovation. That’s what we intend to do with the content we create. The best part is that both Vipul and Rajesh share the same vision – to create something exceptional. Let’s say Wakaoo to a great new beginning”.

    Further elaborating on Optimystix Entertainment's first ever creative collaboration with Indian producers to form a film production company, Optimystix Entertainment  director & group CEO Rajesh Bahl said, “Wakaoo Films is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Optimystix. At the heart of this partnership is our love for cinema and content creation. With so much to his credit, Ashwin Varde brings immense knowledge, industry relationships and unique insights about the business of cinema and storytelling. I am sure with this collaboration, Wakaoo Films will be able engage & entertain the audience with a range of films and web shows.”

    He added, "We have been working on our slate for next 2-3 years and a number of big and interesting feature film and digital projects are in the works that we will be announcing shortly under this partnership.”    

  • Colors to actively engage viewers through Israeli singing show ‘Rising Star’ in early 2017

    Colors to actively engage viewers through Israeli singing show ‘Rising Star’ in early 2017

    MUMBAI: Colors launched its first singing reality show Sur Kshetra in 2012, a musical battle between teams of two neighbouring countries Pakistan and India. The show was indeed one of its kind.

    Staying true to its brand value of being at the forefront of innovation and disruptive programming, Colors has joined hands with the world-renowned production and distribution giant Keshet International to bring the Israeli singing reality show Rising Star to India.

    The show is one of the world’s most celebrated singing-based reality shows with live viewer engagement at its core. Rising Star is slated for an early 2017 launch on Colors, and will be produced by Optimystix Entertainment.

    Originally created and produced by Tedy Productions and Keshet Broadcasting, has, since its inception in 2013, enthralled the global audience with the most vivid talent. With more than 250 episodes globally to its credit, the format has been aired across more than 16 countries including Israel, the U.S, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, China, Cambodia and Indonesia amongst others.

    Commenting on this landmark acquisition, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “For the first time, here is a reality show that will not only be Live but will also give the viewers sitting at home an opportunity to engage with the progress and build-up of the show. What is beautiful about the format is that it’s instant & Live. We are delighted to be collaborating with Keshet International to bring Rising Star to India. Our Channel boasts of having one of the biggest consumer engagement platforms in the country and one can assert that a format like Rising Star couldn’t have found a better stage than ours. The show’s USP is that it’s not only high on entertainment quotient but also has the ability to connect and communicate with the viewers directly.”

    With Digital India being the new order of the day, Rising Star is a first-of-its-kind futuristic interactive engagement-led format which puts the power of determining a contestant’s fate in the hands of the viewers. Through its app-based mass talent-led format, the show will welcome budding singers from across the country, bringing them together on a common platform.

    Keshet International head of Asia Gary Pudney said, “We are beyond excited about bringing Rising Star to the Indian audience. India is embracing technology more ferociously than ever before and, in partnership with our brilliant partners at Colors, we will be delivering prime time entertainment that satisfies viewers’ hunger to become more active and engaged viewers of high end content.”

    Apart from Rising Star, the recent adaptations of KIA formats include “Prisoners of War” India which will be aired on Star India’s Hindi general entertainment channel (GECs) Star Plus.

  • Colors to actively engage viewers through Israeli singing show ‘Rising Star’ in early 2017

    Colors to actively engage viewers through Israeli singing show ‘Rising Star’ in early 2017

    MUMBAI: Colors launched its first singing reality show Sur Kshetra in 2012, a musical battle between teams of two neighbouring countries Pakistan and India. The show was indeed one of its kind.

    Staying true to its brand value of being at the forefront of innovation and disruptive programming, Colors has joined hands with the world-renowned production and distribution giant Keshet International to bring the Israeli singing reality show Rising Star to India.

    The show is one of the world’s most celebrated singing-based reality shows with live viewer engagement at its core. Rising Star is slated for an early 2017 launch on Colors, and will be produced by Optimystix Entertainment.

    Originally created and produced by Tedy Productions and Keshet Broadcasting, has, since its inception in 2013, enthralled the global audience with the most vivid talent. With more than 250 episodes globally to its credit, the format has been aired across more than 16 countries including Israel, the U.S, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, China, Cambodia and Indonesia amongst others.

    Commenting on this landmark acquisition, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “For the first time, here is a reality show that will not only be Live but will also give the viewers sitting at home an opportunity to engage with the progress and build-up of the show. What is beautiful about the format is that it’s instant & Live. We are delighted to be collaborating with Keshet International to bring Rising Star to India. Our Channel boasts of having one of the biggest consumer engagement platforms in the country and one can assert that a format like Rising Star couldn’t have found a better stage than ours. The show’s USP is that it’s not only high on entertainment quotient but also has the ability to connect and communicate with the viewers directly.”

    With Digital India being the new order of the day, Rising Star is a first-of-its-kind futuristic interactive engagement-led format which puts the power of determining a contestant’s fate in the hands of the viewers. Through its app-based mass talent-led format, the show will welcome budding singers from across the country, bringing them together on a common platform.

    Keshet International head of Asia Gary Pudney said, “We are beyond excited about bringing Rising Star to the Indian audience. India is embracing technology more ferociously than ever before and, in partnership with our brilliant partners at Colors, we will be delivering prime time entertainment that satisfies viewers’ hunger to become more active and engaged viewers of high end content.”

    Apart from Rising Star, the recent adaptations of KIA formats include “Prisoners of War” India which will be aired on Star India’s Hindi general entertainment channel (GECs) Star Plus.

  • Content Vs Market debate dominates: CMS Asia 2016

    Content Vs Market debate dominates: CMS Asia 2016

    MUMBAI: Post-lunch panels are always a challenge, but panellists – The 120 Media Collective’s Roopak Saluja, Optimystix Entertainment’s Sanjeev Sharma, GroupM’s Tushar Vyas and Havas Worldwide’s Nirmalya Sen — at the Content Marketing Summit Asia 2016 were up for it as they discussed if media agency partners were ready for the client’s content marketing needs of the hour.

    Without much ado, the panel was quick to address how agencies should go about justifying the content marketing spends to clients who are still fairly rooted in the ATL mindset. “Its a challenge, yes, but the questions are only natural as the brand custodians too are placing their bets on something new. We, as agencies, need to be ready for those tough questions and help brands to look beyond the clicks and page views to really deep analytics like time spent, etc. The fact that a Hindustan Unilever, which is as traditional as they come, placed their bets on the content market is itself laudable,” Saluja said.

    Going a step further in the measurement debate, Saluja stressed the need to educate brands on what numbers really matter and the fact that there is no one measurement metrics that works for all brands. It depends on the brand’s objective in different parts of the purchase cycle. “When you are able to charge on a non-commoditised basis, there will be a huge positive shift in the content marketing business.” Not every brand needs to be on the content marketing format, Saluja added.

    Vyas confessed that the Indian market isn’t there yet when it comes to truly successful content marketing, be it scale or depth. ”Clients more often look for a short-term campaign-based engagement, but content is a longer commitment, and hence harder to crack. But, on the positive side, we have a thriving ecosystem of content in all formats and a hungry bunch of content producers that the digital disruption has produced. Agencies need to be on their toes to spot and make the best use of them,” he said.

    Sharing the perspective of a relatively young agency in the market, Havas Worldwide’s Nirmalya Sen pointed out that being relatively young in the market has helped it to watch and learn from the other media management empires, while being driven by digital at the core. “We dont have division, there is only one Havas, and digital is at its heart. We don’t have a separate PNL from which we make revenue, we work as one, which helps us handle content and resonate the brand’s attitude in it across all platforms and forms of communication.”

    What clearly emerged as the point of debate was — Did content come first in content marketing, or did marketing come first?

    For Suluja, it’s content all the way. “Brands need to under stand that there is a difference between branded content and content marketing. It is not about how many times a reference is made to the brand or how many times the logo pops up in the video or whatever piece of content. For a piece of content to work for a brand, it needs to be engaging to the viewer/ consumer, who is very intelligent and aware. The idea is to not make a long ad film but a truly engaging content.”

    Sen, on the other hand, felt that marketing had a larger role to play in content marketing, and caution needs to be maintained when content can be married to a brand, as a brand has its own attitude, which must come through in the content.

    Sharma was quick to point out that there existed a school of thought in the industry which considers content marketing as another fancy word for advertising. Vyas responded to it saying, “What we are doing to engage consumers is completely different from conventional ads. As we go along, content will have to do with having a conversation with the consumers. The kind of talent and mindset needed is different. There is nothing to sell them but the point is to engage.

    Talent is another challenge to successful content marketing that the panel identified, and each had his own perspective. “It is not possible to in-source everything in today’s environment – partnership is the way. As an agency, we need to be tea-testers as we are integrating multiple talents into our ecosystem,” said Tushar.

    On the other hand, Sen professed the importance of in-house talent. “If we are not sitting under one roof and addressing problems from a brand’s perspective as one unit, it is not going to work.”

    The takeaway from the panel was perhaps Sharma’s line: It is easier to teach content producers about brands than brands about content.”

  • Content Vs Market debate dominates: CMS Asia 2016

    Content Vs Market debate dominates: CMS Asia 2016

    MUMBAI: Post-lunch panels are always a challenge, but panellists – The 120 Media Collective’s Roopak Saluja, Optimystix Entertainment’s Sanjeev Sharma, GroupM’s Tushar Vyas and Havas Worldwide’s Nirmalya Sen — at the Content Marketing Summit Asia 2016 were up for it as they discussed if media agency partners were ready for the client’s content marketing needs of the hour.

    Without much ado, the panel was quick to address how agencies should go about justifying the content marketing spends to clients who are still fairly rooted in the ATL mindset. “Its a challenge, yes, but the questions are only natural as the brand custodians too are placing their bets on something new. We, as agencies, need to be ready for those tough questions and help brands to look beyond the clicks and page views to really deep analytics like time spent, etc. The fact that a Hindustan Unilever, which is as traditional as they come, placed their bets on the content market is itself laudable,” Saluja said.

    Going a step further in the measurement debate, Saluja stressed the need to educate brands on what numbers really matter and the fact that there is no one measurement metrics that works for all brands. It depends on the brand’s objective in different parts of the purchase cycle. “When you are able to charge on a non-commoditised basis, there will be a huge positive shift in the content marketing business.” Not every brand needs to be on the content marketing format, Saluja added.

    Vyas confessed that the Indian market isn’t there yet when it comes to truly successful content marketing, be it scale or depth. ”Clients more often look for a short-term campaign-based engagement, but content is a longer commitment, and hence harder to crack. But, on the positive side, we have a thriving ecosystem of content in all formats and a hungry bunch of content producers that the digital disruption has produced. Agencies need to be on their toes to spot and make the best use of them,” he said.

    Sharing the perspective of a relatively young agency in the market, Havas Worldwide’s Nirmalya Sen pointed out that being relatively young in the market has helped it to watch and learn from the other media management empires, while being driven by digital at the core. “We dont have division, there is only one Havas, and digital is at its heart. We don’t have a separate PNL from which we make revenue, we work as one, which helps us handle content and resonate the brand’s attitude in it across all platforms and forms of communication.”

    What clearly emerged as the point of debate was — Did content come first in content marketing, or did marketing come first?

    For Suluja, it’s content all the way. “Brands need to under stand that there is a difference between branded content and content marketing. It is not about how many times a reference is made to the brand or how many times the logo pops up in the video or whatever piece of content. For a piece of content to work for a brand, it needs to be engaging to the viewer/ consumer, who is very intelligent and aware. The idea is to not make a long ad film but a truly engaging content.”

    Sen, on the other hand, felt that marketing had a larger role to play in content marketing, and caution needs to be maintained when content can be married to a brand, as a brand has its own attitude, which must come through in the content.

    Sharma was quick to point out that there existed a school of thought in the industry which considers content marketing as another fancy word for advertising. Vyas responded to it saying, “What we are doing to engage consumers is completely different from conventional ads. As we go along, content will have to do with having a conversation with the consumers. The kind of talent and mindset needed is different. There is nothing to sell them but the point is to engage.

    Talent is another challenge to successful content marketing that the panel identified, and each had his own perspective. “It is not possible to in-source everything in today’s environment – partnership is the way. As an agency, we need to be tea-testers as we are integrating multiple talents into our ecosystem,” said Tushar.

    On the other hand, Sen professed the importance of in-house talent. “If we are not sitting under one roof and addressing problems from a brand’s perspective as one unit, it is not going to work.”

    The takeaway from the panel was perhaps Sharma’s line: It is easier to teach content producers about brands than brands about content.”

  • Sab to replace ‘Yam Hai Hum’ with Optimystix’s ‘Woh Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle’

    Sab to replace ‘Yam Hai Hum’ with Optimystix’s ‘Woh Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle’

    MUMBAI: Broadcasters are ringing in this new year with a host of new shows for viewers. After channels like Star Plus, Life OK, Zee TV et al are prepping to launch new shows this month, now Sab TV is all set to launch a romantic comedy titled Woh Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle produced by Vipul Shah’s Optimystix Entertainment. The show will launch on 18 January and be aired at 10:30 pm from Monday to Friday.

     

    It will replace Swastik Productions’ Yam Hai Hum, which is going off air from 15 January. Yam Hai Hum was launched on 15 December, 2014 and will complete the journey of 283 episodes on Sab TV.

     

    Woh Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle will have a hilarious love triangle set amidst a hospital and will present a fresh concept of a love clash between two men, Nathu Nakabandi (Ali Asgar) and Dr. Ranbir (Ather Habib) for the pretty Dr. Diya (Krishna Gokani).

     

    A source close to the development informs Indiantelevision.com, “The approximate per episode expenditure of the show is approximately Rs 6 – 7 lakh.”  

     

    Commenting on the launch of the show, Sab TV senior executive vice president & business head Anooj Kapoor said, “The idea was just to come up with a romantic comedy and the title and concept of the show itself is very clear. We have done several shows together with Optimystix and Woh Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle is another show in that direction. Sab TV and Optimystix have had a very fruitful relationship for several years and we are hoping to deliver another successful show together.”

     

    Talking about the infinite nature of the show, Kapoor informed, “It’s very difficult to comment when the show does well; the audience continues to enjoy the show. Currently we have shot four – five episodes for the show but our initial contract with the production house is for 130 episodes. So let’s see where it goes.”

     

    Sab TV will be going all out to aggressively promote Woh Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle across 360 degree marketing mediums including TV, print, radio, digital and outdoor.

     

    In addition to a series of seven rib-tickling promos, Sab TV has produced a music video sung by Kumar Sanu, which is being played out on leading music channels.

     

    On digital, the channel has developed a unique engagement game through a microsite, which features rivalry between Dr Ranbir and Nathu over Dr Diya. Fans can help Dr Ranbir win Dr Diya, by tweeting #Tweet4Rabir or Nathu by tweeting #Tweet4Nathu.

     

    Optimystix Entertainment India CCO & MD Vipul D Shah said, “We were thinking of coming up with a show based on a romantic youth comedy and we’ve not dabbled in this genre since a long time, so we decided to bring in the concept of a love triangle. I think Woh Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle is a classic format when two men love one woman.”

     

    Some of the shows by Optimystix, which have previously aired on Sab TV include Sajan Re Jhooth Mat Bolo, Pappad Pol, Baalveer and Sab Ke Anokhe Awards.

     

    “Comedy is an interesting genre. I think humour always grabs eyeballs. At a time when so many dramas and saas-bahu soaps are running, there is a large audience, which needs comedy shows. And that’s what they come to Sab TV for. Comedy has always been my preferred genre,” said Shah.