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Tag: Paritosh Painter

  • Paritosh Painter quits Reliance Broadcast Network

    Paritosh Painter quits Reliance Broadcast Network

    MUMBAI: Paritosh Painter, who was brought in as network creative director by Reliance Broadcast for radio channel 92.7 Big FM as well as television channel Big Magic, has quit. 

     

    Painter will now be concentrating on his theatrical productions, film & TV writing.

     

    Painter had created & written Akbar Birbal  for Big Magic, which is one of the channel’s biggest shows. He also helped create a number of shows for Big Magic & Big FM.

     

    “Beside concentrating on his theatre and writing projects, the channel’s gradual shift towards non-fiction from fiction is also a reason behind Painter’s resignation,” said a source close to the development.

     

    Having over 15 years of experience in the field of entertainment, Painter has directed over 23 plays in Hindi and English and has done 2500 shows across the globe. Besides this, he has scripted several Bollywood films like Dhamaal (2007), Paying Guest (2009) and All The Best: Fun Begins (2009). His repertoire also includes stand-up comedy, content development and producing shows on television.

  • Big Magic launches celebrity chat show with Gaurav Gera

    Big Magic launches celebrity chat show with Gaurav Gera

    MUMBAI: After the success of short format Chutki aur Shopkeepaa starring Gaurav Gera on Big Magic, the channel has now added another innovation to its programming with the launch of a celebrity chat show Chutki Baja Ke.

    Starting 25 September, the weekly thirty minute show be aired at 8:30 pm.

    The show will be filled with bizarre, unpredictable and hilarious conversations between popular celebrities and Gera. With this new show, the channel aims to increase the quirkiness quotient in its programming.

    Reliance Broadcast Network creative director Paritosh Painter said, “After the enormous success of our short format Chutki aur Shopkeepaa on television as well as on radio, we decided to increase the dose of #FullOnLOL moments for our viewers. We consistently aim to make unique content available to viewers, which can tickle their funny bones. With Chutki Baja Ke, we are extremely happy to extend our association with Gaurav Gera, one of the most talented and versatile actors of the industry.”

    Gera added, “While coming up with the concept of Chutki aur Shopkeepaa, I never expected such a huge response. I am really thankful to the viewers for making these characters so big. To take these characters to the next level, we are coming up with this never seen before talk show concept. I hope the audiences will like it, the same way they have liked my videos.”

  • Big Magic revamps historical comedy show ‘Akbar Birbal’

    Big Magic revamps historical comedy show ‘Akbar Birbal’

    MUMBAI: Big Magic has revamped its show Akbar Birbal, with contemporary content. The historical comedy will be seen in an all new avatar, bringing in freshness and innovation with quirky, relatable content and a new star cast. Triangle Films will continue as producers and the show will be shot on the set, which was redone recently.

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network network creative director Paritosh Painter said, “In our endeavor to provide fresh new content to our viewers, we have decided to revamp Akbar Birbal, one of our highest rated shows on Big Magic. The new story line will be relatable, fresh, surprising and unpredictable with a high degree of humor. Respected and hugely popular stars like Kiku Sharda, Delnaaz Irani, and Vishal Kotian amongst others have made this show iconic and the No. 1 show on the channel. By introducing a new, younger star cast, our focus will continue to build iconic characters which are stand out, quirky and funny.”

     

    The Akbar Birbal prequel will focus on issues, which are powerful, topical and relevant. It will feature a younger Akbar, who wants to make his own decisions, live life and rule on his own terms. Only one person encourages and allows him to do so – his biggest ally, his biggest critic, his friend, philosopher and above all, his guide, Birbal. A strong and powerful character, Birbal will act as an agent of change, a reformist as identified with today’s world, targeting solutions and transparency in governance issues, a strong protagonist who believes in democratic views and rights.

  • Big Magic undergoes revamp; observes 30% viewership growth

    Big Magic undergoes revamp; observes 30% viewership growth

    MUMBAI: Comedy is a serious business. It was in the year 2011 when Anil Ambani-led Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) announced its foray into regional television space with the launch of its Hindi entertainment channel – Big Magic (for Central India – MP /UP).

     

    In 2013, tailored to meet the preferences of Hindi speaking markets of India, it was launched across Hindi Speaking Markets (HSM’s) on the back of phase II of cable TV digitisation.

     

    In 2014, it launched as a national general entertainment channel for India, positioned as a humour destination which comprised light relationship dramas, rom-coms, sitcoms, movies and a historical comedy.

     

    This year, it has shed its current logo and gone for a complete makeover by launching a fresh new look and channel identity. The content as part of the renewed strategic vision will be unpredictable, cutting edge, quirky, contemporary, surprising, differentiated, hilarious and entertaining; targeting families, but predominantly the male audience.

     

    With original content including a high degree of humour, viewers will enjoy shows in the sitcom, non-fiction space, focused on building iconic characters which are stand out, quirky and funny. The content offered will be platform agnostic with a large play on the digital and mobile medium.

     

    Research, the key factor

     

    According to RBNL CEO Tarun Katial as the consumers’ taste changes dynamically and quickly, the channel wanted to sharpen its comedy positioning and appeal to the urban audiences’ mindset and bring about a relatable icon in its identity which is emoticon. “Today emoticon is used by everybody and it’s an extremely relatable form of communication amongst consumers,” he says.

     

    Including regulatory approvals, it has been a four month process for the revamp of the channel. Extensive research was done amongst the core TG to understand the kind of comedy and content consumers want. The research showed that the content being desired was extremely dynamic, vibrant, surprising and iirreverent comedy and the logo is build on that thought. The new look has been designed by Purple Pink agency.

     

    Talking about the new look identity, RBNL network creative director Paritosh Painter says, “At Big Magic, we strive to offer comedy content that is fresh, surprising, unpredictable and fully over the top. In line with our new campaign, we will continue our commitment to offer a comical line up of hilarious sitcoms, surprising and unpredictable short formats on topical issues, laugh out loud weekend special and festive specials.”

     

    With the new identity, the channel aims to build a strong line-up of content at both long and short formats. With currently two and half hours to three hours of original content running everyday with shows like Akbar Birbal, Tedi Medi Family, Total Nadaniyaan amongst others, the channel is all set to take the original hours of content to 4 hours a day. Big Magic will launch two new shows in the next couple of months, one of which will be an unscripted show in the late primetime band and an irreverent young comedy in the early evening.

     

    The channel will also air an animated series with Akbar Birbal and bring one of its Big FM 92.7 Radio show – Actor calling Actor on to television.

     

    “On the content front, our attempt is to build a certain amount of iconic characters around male irreverent comedy. We believe that Indians are ready to laugh at each other and themselves. This is predominantly young urban male skewed content that we want to launch,” explains Katial.

     

    In terms of marketing, the channel will strongly focus on digital and mobile. Katial believes that comedy content moves very quickly and goes viral on platforms like digital and mobile. “For us content is marketing and marketing is content,” he says.

     

    Katial further reveals that after Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India started rolling out data, the channel has witnessed a 30 per cent growth in viewership.

     

    For the record, the channel is available across all DTH platforms such as Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon d2h, DD Free Dish, Dish TV, Reliance Digital TV along with all cable operators including the likes of Hathway Cable & Datacom, Incable, Digicable, Den Networks, 7 Star, ABS, Siti Cable, Star Broadband and GTPL amongst others.

  • Big Magic acquires adaptation rights of ‘The Middle’ from Warner Bros

    Big Magic acquires adaptation rights of ‘The Middle’ from Warner Bros

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network’s Hindi comedy channel Big Magic has acquired the adaptation rights to Warner Bros’ popular American sitcom The Middle.

    Reliance Broadcast Network’s creative head Paritosh Painter and his production team will work closely with Warner Bros. to rewrite the script in Hindi for Indian audiences.

    What’s more, given the potential for the show, the channel is betting big on it. Plans are to market it via campaigns across TV, radio and digital mediums. The channel has earmarked marketing spends of Rs 3 – 5 crore for the same. 

     

    “Apart from our own radio and television platforms, we are looking forward to engage other media in promoting the launch of the show. Digitally, our in-house marketing team is engaging viewers with the campaigns. Excluding our own media holdings, we are looking at a figure of around Rs 3-4 crore in media spends, which can easily cross the Rs 5 crore mark if we take our media platforms into consideration,” said Reliance Broadcast Network EVP and business head Ashwin Padmanabhan, adding that there will be limited OOH campaign done for this show.

     

     

    This six-season-long show The Middle, which ran on the ABC network, draws its comic inspiration from the day to day lives of a highly dysfunctional middle class family. Big Magic believes that the theme will strike a chord with Indian viewers as well. 

     

    “The main characters of The Middle, the parents and their three kids are unique and very different from one another, which gives The Middle a huge potential to be recreated in an Indian setting. Moreover it fits well with the kids and family time slot we are aiming at for our evening band,” said Padmanabhan.

     

    Big Magic was in talks with Warner Bros, the television distributors of the original show, for some time and the deal was signed 45 days ago.

     

    With an aim to air the pilot episode by 1 June, the shooting for the show, which will have an Indian twist to the tale, started a week back with the new Indian star cast. 

     

    Actress Ami Trivedi has been cast as the mother while Iqbal Azad plays the father. Sushant Mohindra, Saloni Daini, and Dharmik Joisar have taken up the characters of the eldest son, middle daughter and the youngest boy respectively.

     

    Apart from the fact that the show will have a Hindi name, Padmanabhan refused to reveal further details about its title.

     

    While the crux of the sitcom’s story makes for engaging television content for Indian viewers, the social setting of the characters are vastly different. Keeping that in mind, when queried as to how much of the content Big Magic was looking to Indianise, Padmanabhan said, “We are keeping the main storyboard of all the seasons intact structurally, and the character personalities and their internal conflicts will also be true to the originals. But we are rewriting the parts where the story influenced by the character’s social and cultural surroundings.” 

     

    The channel is currently looking at two majorly distinctive time slots in terms of its target comedy consumers — the 7 – 9 pm slot where the viewers are mostly kids and teens, which gradually shifts to family audience by 11 pm. “Post 11 pm, our target viewers are mostly the male members in the family. Shows that will be scheduled post 11 pm will be more edgy,” Padmanabham said. 

    The campaign for the launch of this show will be closely followed by a bigger campaign for the entire channel where Big Magic is looking to engage in more OOH services. These campaigns are closely related to the new content strategy that the channel has adopted.

     

    Padmanabhan also hinted at two new show launches in a couple of weeks that will be aimed at the male audience, apart from another short form comedy show like Googly, which will have a topical and more dynamic format.

  • Pitch game: Sell your idea in 30 seconds says Paritosh Painter

    Pitch game: Sell your idea in 30 seconds says Paritosh Painter

    MUMBAI: The last session of PromaxBDA witnessed a candid and fun conversation between broadcast executives and agencies, who acknowledged the elephant in the room – pitching. For many agencies and their clients, pitching is a hot and sensitive topic.

     

    The session with Namit Sharma, Abhijit Avasthi, Maxus South Asia’s Kartik Sharma and Reliance Broadcast Network’s Paritosh Painter was moderated by Reliance Broad Network CEO Tarun Katial.

     

    Panelists had a unanimous answer to the three key points that one must prepare before engaging in a pitch. They are as follows: 1) Knowing what the client wants, 2) A unique idea and 3) Conviction to pitch the idea before presenting it to the client.

     

    Sharma was of the opinion that one should share ideas in the time given. He said, “You have five minutes to convince the client. If he is not convinced in that time then you should move on to plan B,” he said.

     

    Avasthi added, “You need to be ruthless to yourself while evaluating the idea so that you can get the best out of it.”

     

    Maxus’ Sharma further added, “You need to work for the client, so that he can benefit and that should also be a point that one should keep in mind.”

     

    Replying to Katial’s question as to whether ideas should be original or inspired, Painter said, “Ideas are generally original, but the client might not understand it at the first instance. At that point, one needs to give them referral points so that they understand it better. Hence they are original and inspired.”

     

    On questioning about the tangibility of the idea, Sharma said, “It can be a combination of both. But pitching needs execution.”

     

    An agency wins or loses a pitch on the basis of the execution. Maxus’ Sharma said, “A brilliant idea can help us win a pitch.” Stating an example, he said that there have been times when his team has gone unprepared for a pitch, but the client has liked the idea and they have won pitches. Indeed, he is of the opinion that winning or losing a pitch doesn’t depend on the tangibility of the idea.

     

    When asked as to what happens when a tangible idea is not strong, Avasthi said, “Personally, since I come from the advertising background, I feel one needs to evaluate the idea and then pitch it. I have seen instances when my team has come up to me and we have brainstormed the idea because I am quite aware that they will not be able to polish it. So I try to pull out something breakthrough from their idea.”

     

    Painter asserted that one should sell the idea in 30 seconds. He said, “I am generally convinced about my idea so that I can sell it. When I evaluate pitches, I first try to understand the intention of the pitch. Is it business or passion that is driving the person? If it is business then the person sitting in front of me has to do a lot of hard work to convince me, but if it is passion, 70 per cent of the convincing job is done. You just have to push the person the extra 30 per cent for you to say yes. And that person will do it, because a lot of passion drives him to do that.”

     

    The discussion then took the curve of whether an experienced person’s pitch value is more than that of a youth. Sharma opines that the idea must be focused on and not the experience of the person. On the other hand, Avasthi and Maxus’ Sharma opined that it depends on the client. If the client is new then youngsters do present pitches, while if it is an old and important client then an experienced person should give the pitch.

     

    Concluding the discussion with tips on what one should do after the pitch, Avasthi said, “The person should take ownership of the pitch and it is important that the other person is concurrent with that.”

     

    Painter asserted, “One must do a thorough research on the idea and on the client.”

     

    Concluding, Maxus’ Sharma said, “Ask a lot of questions and you will get rich insights. During the pitch have a feedback and close the pitch with a dialogue.”

  • Big Magic launches short format ‘Big Googly’

    Big Magic launches short format ‘Big Googly’

    MUMBAI: To up the entertainment quotient, Big Magic has launched an innovation within its programming and content that goes with its character to have funny and unpredictable elements within the channel. 

    Titled Big Googly, it is a topical short format with refreshing comical scripts for two minutes. The format went live starting 4 May.

    Keeping in mind the nature of the fillers each capsule will last for two minutes and will be played throughout the day. The best comical interstitial will be featured at the beginning of the shows to ensure that the laughter riot continues.

    Big Googly has ace comedians Ali Asgar and VIP as its lead protagonists to be supported by other Big Magic comedy characters such as Kiku Sharda, Mantra, Upasana Singh and more.
     

    With a focus on serving wholesome entertainment for the entire family, Asgar and VIP will cover situational and topical issues, disguised as famous personalities from Bollywood, politics, sports and so on. Some of the episodes will feature iconic characters from the channel’s shows like Narad Muni. 

    Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) network creative director Paritosh Painter said, “Big Magic believes in bringing refreshing content and with Big Googly we want to look beyond the traditional sitcom space along with creating a niche position for ourselves as the ultimate comedy destination. In the coming few months, we shall have various such innovative and unique formats which will have element of surprise, fun and thus instantly connect with our viewers as a result of their topicality.” 

    The show launch will be supported by a multi-media marketing campaign.

  • Reliance Broadcast Network ups executive leadership; Lavneesh Gupta quits

    Reliance Broadcast Network ups executive leadership; Lavneesh Gupta quits

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) has made a series of promotions in its top-level management. The newly appointed executive leadership team will work seamlessly across RBNL’s radio (92.7 Big FM) and television (Big Magic and Big Magic Ganga) businesses.

     

    The leadership team with Reliance Broadcast Network CEO Tarun Katial at the helm, will comprise Asheesh Chatterjee as the executive vice president and chief financial officer, who will be looking at new opportunities and expansion plans in addition to the finance and regulatory portfolios.

     

    On the other hand, Ashwin Padmanabhan as executive vice president and business head will oversee the television channels, in addition to his existing role as business head for 92.7 Big FM.

     

    RBNL chief strategy officer Sunil Kumaran will across handle revenue and product as well as marketing for both the radio and television businesses. The network’s creative director Paritosh Painter will also work across both the mediums.

     

    Meanwhile, after a stint of almost two years with the organization, RBNL chief operating officer Lavneesh Gupta has decided to move on.

     

    Katial said, “In order to build a future ready organisation, we want to build a team of lateral leaders. Their focus will be on developing skills of the team in the areas of innovation, creativity, risk taking and adopting an entrepreneurial approach. I am certain that the team will deliver and continue to successfully drive the growth story for the Group.”

  • Big Magic brings more madness & comedy presents ‘Total Nadaniyaan’

    Big Magic brings more madness & comedy presents ‘Total Nadaniyaan’

    MUMBAI:Big Magic revamps its popular come dy caper Uff! Yeh Nadaniyaan. Renamed as Total Nadaniyaan, this will begin on 27 April at 9:30 pm bringing in fresh characters, more madness and over the top comedy. Retaining the popular faces as Upasana Singh, Gaurav Sharma the show promises new characters with an engaging new storyline. 

     

    Total Nadaniyaan is set in the backdrop of Punjab will revolve around a righteous mother Tarawanti, her younger son Pappu who is a wannabe actor & teleshopping entrepreneur married to Canada return wife Jassi who is dumb yet solves the most complex problems with her simple and unfiltered take on things. The show will also introduce Jassi’s twin brother who shares the same name. 

     

    Viewers will be entertained with a heavy dose of humour as war between Pappu and Jassi the brother in law; as Jassi becomes immensely popular. The Pug Ghungroo can only talk to Pappu and speak his mind out and has a point of view on every situation which makes it funny thus adding uniqueness and freshness to the show. 

     

    Talking about the changes and more comedy, Reliance Broadcast Networkcreative director Paritosh Painter said, “At Big Magic, we strive to offer content that is only fresh and full of over the top comedy. Total Nadaniyaan, will bring in a sense of absolute LOL comedy followed by quirky characters represented by the madness of each character. Seeing the popularity of Uff! Yeh Nadaniyaan, we are confident of its acceptance in its current planned form.”

     

    Says Reliance Broadcast Networkchief strategy officer Sunil Kumaran said, “We believe comedy is emerging as a very relevant genre and we as RBNL shall be tapping into it more extensively across our TV and Radio media platforms.  BIG MAGIC as a  channel promise is to refresh, rejuvenate audience and this new show relaunch is  a step in that direction – poised towards the objective of creating an ultimate comedy destination.” 

     

    Additionally, BIG MAGIC aiming at building highoctane recall and popularity is promoting the show heavily on numerous radio stations apart from leveraging the popularity of their own BIG FM network. The channel, to garner maximum visibility is generating excitement through engaging content across social media platforms. 

     

    Ensuring ribtickling humor and sidesplitting comedy, the new season will endeavor to cater content for family entertainment, giving them the perfect doze of laughter and leisure. 

  • Paritosh Painter joins Reliance Broadcast as network creative director

    Paritosh Painter joins Reliance Broadcast as network creative director

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL) has appointed actor, writer, director, television and theatre personality Paritosh Painter as its network creative director.

     

    In his new role, Painter will be looking into all the overall creative conceptualization and creation of differentiated content at Reliance Broadcast TV and radio business – Big Magic & 92.7 BIGFM. He will report to RBNL CEO Tarun Katial.

     

    Katial said, “Paritosh and Big have been associated with each other for years since he has been a creative mastermind behind some of our iconic shows as Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal. I believe that Paritosh is one of the astute creative minds of today who has clear roadmap in evolving a character or a relationship with his unique story-telling.”

     

    “He is one of the best content developers of our industry today. Considering our long-term association and the fact that he has immense knowledge about several aspects of the media and the industry, we decided to consolidate his position in the network and rightfully use his expertise across our brands and properties,” Katial added.

     

    Painter said, “I am looking forward to this new opportunity that has come my way. I have had a great working experience with the company so far. I hope, with my inputs and expertise, I will able to take the brand to the next level.”

     

    Having over 15 years of experience in the field of entertainment, Painter has directed over 23 plays in Hindi and English and has done 2500 shows across the globe. Besides this, he has scripted several Bollywood films like Dhamaal (2007), Paying Guest (2009) and All The Best: Fun Begins (2009). His repertoire also includes stand-up comedy, content development and producing shows on television.