ITV

Tag: Shakuntalam Telefilms

  • Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    MUMBAI: Remember the terms perestroika? Glasnost? The first stands for reformation, the second for openness. Both were popular terms used in reference to the USSR as it crumbled to herald the freedom that hit it in the late eighties and nineties.

    Some of that is about to hit Indian television. Remember last week’s admission by Star India deputy chief creative officer Gaurav Banerjee that the network may have erred by starting the mad race of pursuing seven days of soap and drama every week from the five days formula earlier. Speaking at the Indian ScreenWriters’ Conference in Mumbai he candidly stated: “I confess that it was a mistake because we reduced the ideation time of writers and of actors as well. We thought that we could manage the workload and it won’t affect the product but unfortunately we were thinking of a TV industry as a pizza delivery service which was big mistake.”

    He also announced that Star India would cut back the seven-days-a week to five days once again.

    Now Star India and Gaurav are going a step further. He has told producers that he would be more than happy to extend creative freedom to them, something they have been pleading for, demanding and crying for. Each show, said Banerjee, would have a single show runner giving it the much needed vision. He has invited producers for a meeting in Star India’s office on 20 August to further spell out what he means by creative freedom.

    The producers’ fraternity is very excited about the new initiative by Star and are welcoming it. Says Frames Production founder Ranjeet Thakur: “It’s a very great move for the industry on the whiole because the minute the producer comes with a certain plot thought or idea I think it works better. The producer has some vision behind the show and if that creative freedom is given to them to execute in the same manner, it’s a wonderful thing to be happening in the industry. It’s a very positive note. It’s a great move by Gaurav and Star and slowly it will become the norm of the industry.”

    Colosceum Media CEO Lalit Sharma adds, “Firstly, it’s a very good take towards producing good content. Now the show runner will have the responsibility. It’s the happiest moment for the Indian producers but along with that there comes a responsibility. It looks like a win- win situation but one has to be extremely responsible for what they are producing.”

    Fortune Production founder Farhann Salaruddin opined, “It’s totally yes to the intention of giving creative freedom to producers and a lot of people must been waiting for this day to have the ball in their court. Whatever you make good or bad the credit will be yours. It’s a good move but how successful it will be only time will tell us.”

    Shakuntalam Telefilms founder Shyamasis Bhattacharya adds: “ It’s a welcome move. I think we all (producers community) have been wanting this to happen. Last year we met all the CEOs of different channels asked for the same and Star taking the lead is appreciated. Now there will be one vision that can be of the broadcaster’s show runner or the producers. That’s exactly what happens across the world and also in India but not to that extent. If you see Balaji’s shows’ success rate its high because their shows run after Ekta’s vision. I believe the shows’ success rate will go up after this move.”

    And that is exactly what Gaurav is hoping will happen.

  • Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    MUMBAI: Remember the terms perestroika? Glasnost? The first stands for reformation, the second for openness. Both were popular terms used in reference to the USSR as it crumbled to herald the freedom that hit it in the late eighties and nineties.

    Some of that is about to hit Indian television. Remember last week’s admission by Star India deputy chief creative officer Gaurav Banerjee that the network may have erred by starting the mad race of pursuing seven days of soap and drama every week from the five days formula earlier. Speaking at the Indian ScreenWriters’ Conference in Mumbai he candidly stated: “I confess that it was a mistake because we reduced the ideation time of writers and of actors as well. We thought that we could manage the workload and it won’t affect the product but unfortunately we were thinking of a TV industry as a pizza delivery service which was big mistake.”

    He also announced that Star India would cut back the seven-days-a week to five days once again.

    Now Star India and Gaurav are going a step further. He has told producers that he would be more than happy to extend creative freedom to them, something they have been pleading for, demanding and crying for. Each show, said Banerjee, would have a single show runner giving it the much needed vision. He has invited producers for a meeting in Star India’s office on 20 August to further spell out what he means by creative freedom.

    The producers’ fraternity is very excited about the new initiative by Star and are welcoming it. Says Frames Production founder Ranjeet Thakur: “It’s a very great move for the industry on the whiole because the minute the producer comes with a certain plot thought or idea I think it works better. The producer has some vision behind the show and if that creative freedom is given to them to execute in the same manner, it’s a wonderful thing to be happening in the industry. It’s a very positive note. It’s a great move by Gaurav and Star and slowly it will become the norm of the industry.”

    Colosceum Media CEO Lalit Sharma adds, “Firstly, it’s a very good take towards producing good content. Now the show runner will have the responsibility. It’s the happiest moment for the Indian producers but along with that there comes a responsibility. It looks like a win- win situation but one has to be extremely responsible for what they are producing.”

    Fortune Production founder Farhann Salaruddin opined, “It’s totally yes to the intention of giving creative freedom to producers and a lot of people must been waiting for this day to have the ball in their court. Whatever you make good or bad the credit will be yours. It’s a good move but how successful it will be only time will tell us.”

    Shakuntalam Telefilms founder Shyamasis Bhattacharya adds: “ It’s a welcome move. I think we all (producers community) have been wanting this to happen. Last year we met all the CEOs of different channels asked for the same and Star taking the lead is appreciated. Now there will be one vision that can be of the broadcaster’s show runner or the producers. That’s exactly what happens across the world and also in India but not to that extent. If you see Balaji’s shows’ success rate its high because their shows run after Ekta’s vision. I believe the shows’ success rate will go up after this move.”

    And that is exactly what Gaurav is hoping will happen.

  • Producers question DD’s decision to call of prime time slot auctions

    Producers question DD’s decision to call of prime time slot auctions

    MUMBAI: When Prasar Bharati had announced that it would auction its prime time slots between 7 pm to 11 pm on Doordarshan, the leading production houses in the country had received it with enthusiasm. Here was a chance for them to expand their audience base through DD’s terrestrial distribution network and reach the rural market that so many brands are vying to address. Some of the big name production houses did send in their bids including Balaji Telefilms, Keylight Productions, and Shakuntalam Telefilms. And it seemed that DD was going to get back in the ratings game after all.

    But then suddenly a couple of days later, the pubcaster once again announced that it was calling off the entire time slot privatization process after receiving applications for the bid scheduled on 17 and 18 July. DD’s move was met with much skepticism and disappointment.

    “The auction being called off was very unfortunate.  At the end of the day, these (channels under Prasar Bharati and its content) are all national assets that need to be taken care of in the best possible manner,” says one of the producers who had put in his bid. “If you initiate something like this, you would want the broadcaster to see it through its logical conclusion Though I am sure DD has had its reasons, and that the impact will be felt more on its part, I feel that it’s the nation’s loss.”

    The reason for nixing the auction that DD gave was because several applications did not meeting its eligibility criteria, and many defaulted on the application fee of Rs 5000 for the bid —  as reported by media. To this, many producers who had applied for the auction have raised their eyebrows.

    “I really can’t ascertain the reason. The fact that top producers wanted to bid to enter the auction and be a part of the DD story was reason enough to qualify them. There was no reason to disqualify them on technical grounds. What is the point of having made all the effort and getting disqualified over a Rs 5000 entry fee? I find this reason baseless,” expresses another disgruntled producer.

    It is to be noted that Prasar Bharati required eligible bidders to have logged a revenue of at least Rs 5 crore per annum in each of the past three financial years and to have  produced at least 300 hours of Hindi general entertainment programming in the past two calendar years.

    Undoubtedly, in a bid to ‘introduce fresh programming to get eyeballs back,’ DD had placed its bets high.

    But were the promised returns from the said deal as lucrative for the production houses?  “When I went through the request for proposals (RFP) document earlier, we found the proposal very unavailable at that point,” divulges a major contributor to India’s Hindi general entertainment channels who chose to opt out of the auctions after going through the particulars of the deal.

    “I had personally requested for certain changes in the RFP document, to which DD had answered saying that it can’t be done. DD must have had its own point of view on the matter and I am not denying them of it. Having said that I am not surprised it was  called off. The issue was more financial than creative, for that matter. We felt the producers should have been given more space on how to produce, what to produce and the terms of slot retention as well. Given the broadcaster’s parameters, it is best that DD maintained and ran its own prime time,” he further opines.   

    Seconding this opinion, another veteran producer  of the television world (who had been approached to bid but declined) explained why the idea was dubious from the start.

    “I knew that the entire process would be botched up right from the start,” he says. “The thinking in DD needs to change. When it is inviting private sector producers to produce content, then it needs to give them what private channels would do in exchange for air time barter deals. At one stage, DD could get by with its high demands from advertisers, and media agencies because it was the only player in the rural areas and had huge audiences. Now the scenario has changed and other broadcasters also have their share of the viewership.

    “DD’s processes are bureaucratic and antiquated and it is not responsive to market demands like the private channels are. For us, it didn’t make economic sense to invest in the time slots and produce content for the channel without any guarantee of returns on them. Moreover there is no clarity to DD’s marketing and promotional strategy for the shows. It doesn’t have a system in place for cross promotional marketing between its shows, something very important and inherent to the current broadcast business. Then there is the issue of dealing with DD’s inhouse producers who are too scared and go only by the rules and some of them also misuse the rules.”

    After this singular failure of the time slot auctions, observers wonder whether DD will be able to once again go down that street. And whether it will be able to gain the producers’ trust and confidence if it does make another try.

    The new DD director general Supriya Sahu has her task out and she has to decide on whether the broadcaster should take the commercial route or stick to its knitting of public service broadcasting and forget about generating revenues. If it is the latter, then she needs to simply ask for more government funds and improve the quality of public service programmes by retraining its pool of existing in-house talent.

    Industry is watching to see the path she chooses.

    DD officials spoke to indiantelevision.com off the record after the story was published. This is what they said: “Those who sent in names for bidding were disqualified on some ground or other as they failed to fulfil the rules and regulations for the auctions. The auctions have not been cancelled, but suspended for the present.The Prasar Bharati Board will meet on 26 July where it will take further decisions on the matter – this may include some changes in rules and regulations.”

    (Updated on 20 July 2016 3:26 pm)

  • Producers question DD’s decision to call of prime time slot auctions

    Producers question DD’s decision to call of prime time slot auctions

    MUMBAI: When Prasar Bharati had announced that it would auction its prime time slots between 7 pm to 11 pm on Doordarshan, the leading production houses in the country had received it with enthusiasm. Here was a chance for them to expand their audience base through DD’s terrestrial distribution network and reach the rural market that so many brands are vying to address. Some of the big name production houses did send in their bids including Balaji Telefilms, Keylight Productions, and Shakuntalam Telefilms. And it seemed that DD was going to get back in the ratings game after all.

    But then suddenly a couple of days later, the pubcaster once again announced that it was calling off the entire time slot privatization process after receiving applications for the bid scheduled on 17 and 18 July. DD’s move was met with much skepticism and disappointment.

    “The auction being called off was very unfortunate.  At the end of the day, these (channels under Prasar Bharati and its content) are all national assets that need to be taken care of in the best possible manner,” says one of the producers who had put in his bid. “If you initiate something like this, you would want the broadcaster to see it through its logical conclusion Though I am sure DD has had its reasons, and that the impact will be felt more on its part, I feel that it’s the nation’s loss.”

    The reason for nixing the auction that DD gave was because several applications did not meeting its eligibility criteria, and many defaulted on the application fee of Rs 5000 for the bid —  as reported by media. To this, many producers who had applied for the auction have raised their eyebrows.

    “I really can’t ascertain the reason. The fact that top producers wanted to bid to enter the auction and be a part of the DD story was reason enough to qualify them. There was no reason to disqualify them on technical grounds. What is the point of having made all the effort and getting disqualified over a Rs 5000 entry fee? I find this reason baseless,” expresses another disgruntled producer.

    It is to be noted that Prasar Bharati required eligible bidders to have logged a revenue of at least Rs 5 crore per annum in each of the past three financial years and to have  produced at least 300 hours of Hindi general entertainment programming in the past two calendar years.

    Undoubtedly, in a bid to ‘introduce fresh programming to get eyeballs back,’ DD had placed its bets high.

    But were the promised returns from the said deal as lucrative for the production houses?  “When I went through the request for proposals (RFP) document earlier, we found the proposal very unavailable at that point,” divulges a major contributor to India’s Hindi general entertainment channels who chose to opt out of the auctions after going through the particulars of the deal.

    “I had personally requested for certain changes in the RFP document, to which DD had answered saying that it can’t be done. DD must have had its own point of view on the matter and I am not denying them of it. Having said that I am not surprised it was  called off. The issue was more financial than creative, for that matter. We felt the producers should have been given more space on how to produce, what to produce and the terms of slot retention as well. Given the broadcaster’s parameters, it is best that DD maintained and ran its own prime time,” he further opines.   

    Seconding this opinion, another veteran producer  of the television world (who had been approached to bid but declined) explained why the idea was dubious from the start.

    “I knew that the entire process would be botched up right from the start,” he says. “The thinking in DD needs to change. When it is inviting private sector producers to produce content, then it needs to give them what private channels would do in exchange for air time barter deals. At one stage, DD could get by with its high demands from advertisers, and media agencies because it was the only player in the rural areas and had huge audiences. Now the scenario has changed and other broadcasters also have their share of the viewership.

    “DD’s processes are bureaucratic and antiquated and it is not responsive to market demands like the private channels are. For us, it didn’t make economic sense to invest in the time slots and produce content for the channel without any guarantee of returns on them. Moreover there is no clarity to DD’s marketing and promotional strategy for the shows. It doesn’t have a system in place for cross promotional marketing between its shows, something very important and inherent to the current broadcast business. Then there is the issue of dealing with DD’s inhouse producers who are too scared and go only by the rules and some of them also misuse the rules.”

    After this singular failure of the time slot auctions, observers wonder whether DD will be able to once again go down that street. And whether it will be able to gain the producers’ trust and confidence if it does make another try.

    The new DD director general Supriya Sahu has her task out and she has to decide on whether the broadcaster should take the commercial route or stick to its knitting of public service broadcasting and forget about generating revenues. If it is the latter, then she needs to simply ask for more government funds and improve the quality of public service programmes by retraining its pool of existing in-house talent.

    Industry is watching to see the path she chooses.

    DD officials spoke to indiantelevision.com off the record after the story was published. This is what they said: “Those who sent in names for bidding were disqualified on some ground or other as they failed to fulfil the rules and regulations for the auctions. The auctions have not been cancelled, but suspended for the present.The Prasar Bharati Board will meet on 26 July where it will take further decisions on the matter – this may include some changes in rules and regulations.”

    (Updated on 20 July 2016 3:26 pm)

  • ‘Shastri Sisters’ premieres on 21 July 2014 monday to saturday at 7.00pm

    ‘Shastri Sisters’ premieres on 21 July 2014 monday to saturday at 7.00pm

    MUMBAI: Sisters are your first friends. Sometimes, they even take on the role of mothers and sometimes that of petulant children. Bringing alive this beautiful bond is a brand new offering from COLORS – Shastri Sisters – a show that follows the lifefour sisters as they make their journey from Kanpur to Delhi. Starting life afresh with new dreams and aspirations, the four ‘friends-for-life’ sisters – Alka (Neha Pednekar), Anushka (Ishita Ganguly), Devyani (Sonal Vengurlekar) and Peeya (Pragati Chourasiya) support each other on the rollercoster of life. Produced by Shakuntalam Telefilms,Shastri Sisters will air every Monday to Saturday at 7.00 pm.

     

    Alka, Anushka, Devyani and Peeya find their lives changing drastically as they follow their father, Narayan Shastri(Rajesh Jais), who transfers to New Delhi for his government job. Facing the new world head on, smiling through not-so-easy moments of life, collectively, the Shastri Sistersbecome each other’s biggest strengths. Together they learn to navigate the unfamiliar streets and ways of the big city, often finding themselves in chuckle worthy and sometimespoignant situations.

     

    Speaking about the show, Prashant Bhatt, Weekday Programming Head – COLORS, said,“Through Shastri Sisters, we are looking at presenting a story people can relate to – a slice of life tale that brings alive the bitter sweet moments of life as witnessed by four young girls who are sisters and friends for life. Every viewer will find himself or herself in the story. And we are delighted to be partnering with Shakuntalam Telefilms once again to create a show that I’m sure will touch hearts and make each of you smile.”

     

    Speaking about show, Neelima Bajpai, Creative Head and Co-Founder, Shakuntalam Telefilmssaid, “Shastri Sisters is a concept tracing the journey of four sisters who find themselves uprooted from their family home in Kanpur to move to New Delhi. We have shot extensively across New Delhi – Lajpat Nagar, Chandni Chowk, Pahad Ganjto bring alive the storyline while building authenticity for the show.”

     

    Commenting on her role, Neha Pednekar aka Alka, said, “I don’t have a sister in real life; working on this show helped me understand sisterhood and the importance of the strong bond which keeps them together.” Ishita Ganguly, playing the role of Anushkasaid, “For Shastri Sisters, I have moved from Kolkata to Mumbai. This created a sense of relatability because the sisters find themselves in a similar situation when moving from Kanpur to Delhi changes their lives!” Devyani aka Sonal Vengurlekar said, “Even though I have dabbled in television before, working in Shastri Sisters is like a dream come true because it gives me an opportunity to explore various nuances of my personality.”PragatiChourasiya, playing the role of the youngest sister Peeyasaid, “After four hard and long years of working on television, I am excited about the fresh challenge that Shastri Sisters presents to me. My character, is not only the youngest but also the over-protected sister who is the apple of everyone’s eye!”

     

    With a fresh cast and relatable characters, Shastri Sisters includes strong actors portrayingpivotal characters such as the simpleton father, Narayan Shastri (Rajesh Jais)who works for the governmentand the do-gooder Delhi-based landlord Mr. Sareen (Girish Sehdev), popularly known as ‘Lalaji’ in the moholla who loves his daily dose of whiskey. Minty Sareen (Neelu Kohli)is the snobbish and stubborn wife of the landlord, the gossip queen of the neighbourhood and the proud mother of two sons Rajat (Vijayendra Kumeria)and Neel (Sumit Bhardwaj).

     

    To ensure that Shastri Sistersare topic of conversations across the country, COLORS has undertaken a 360-degree integrated marketing campaignacross cable, radio, OOH including in-train branding, print and television mediums. The channel has also designed a special digital campaign encapsulating an interactive quiz across social media platforms.

     

    They may not have it all together, but together they have it all… Come,join Shastri Sisters as they discover a new city and a new life starting21st July, 2014, every Monday to Friday at 7.00PM!