ITV

Tag: Sonal Khanduja

  • Times Network’s promo of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ unravelled

    Times Network’s promo of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ unravelled

    MUMBAI: The widely loved American sitcom How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) is back for its fans on Romedy Now and will be aired on 14 December 2015. The show has got the cutest makeover with this new season. As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com, the channel has brought HIMYM back with a fresh and unique promo showing toddlers narrating the story of the show.

     

    The video features little Lily Aldrin and Marshall Eriksen as an adorable couple and a miniature, suited-up Barney Stinson flirting with girls. It also shows tiny Ted Mosby sweetly falling head over heels for Robin Scherbatsky, and some of the kids taking turns with a kid-sized version of the show’s signature yellow umbrella. The video takes the funny characters to a whole new ‘miniature’ level.

    Romedy Now is targeting a pan India population, and majorly the youth and expects to reach out to more than a million viewers. The channel has already started promotions on social media two weeks back with teasers and is now building it up to the launch of the show. The next level of the promotion will be revealed as the flag off to the airing of the show approaches.

     

    The English entertainment channel has attempted to portray the love and laughter in the show through a metaphor by portraying the characters of HIMYM as toddlers. Talking about the idea behind the adorable promo Times Network vice president of programming EEC Sonal Khanduja commented, “The treatment of using kids makes the property more affable and cute and makes for great conversation especially when parents want to share their cute memories and moments with their babies. The thought was to have a setup as close as to the show- from the set design to the five kids dressed like the original characters from the show to their attitude and the scenes from the show”.

     

    The promo has been conceptualised and executed internally by the in-house team of the channel, Oapp Team. The off-air campaign has been done by the Famous Innovations creative agency.

     

    The promo has received appreciation from its fans and has generated a lot of buzz across all the social media platforms. “We are glad that our efforts have paid off so well that the makers of the show tweeted about it. And going forward, we will be coming up with many more such unique innovations”, adds Khanduja.

     

    “The promo was created for the people who are already aware of the show and follow it and to offer a new freshness to the property”, adds Khanduja.

     

    As the promo involves shooting with kids from a young age group, the channel had to invest two days to complete the shoot.

     

    Further, Romedy Now is also actively promoting HIMYM through on-ground activities across the key pubs in the urban cities through an engaging game that can be played with friends.

     

    Since it is an iconic show for viewers, it enjoys a positive response from advertisers. “The shows on Romedy Now are leading in the category and we are confident that HIMYM will be at the top of the pack in the span of a few weeks”, concludes Khanduja.

  • Romedy Now to air back to back seasons of ‘Gilmore Girls’

    Romedy Now to air back to back seasons of ‘Gilmore Girls’

    MUMBAI: Are you the apple of your mother’s eye? Are you her reflection in the truest sense? Do you think she’s above all in your life? If you share a unique bond with your mother, Romedy Now will showcase a story of a mother and her daughter that will hold you captive for not one but seven back to back seasons.

     

    The channel yet again promises love and laughter as it presents to you one of the most popular American comedy-drama shows, ‘Gilmore Girls’. The show centers around the relationship between a thirty something single mother Lorelai Gilmore (played by Lauren Graham) and her teenage daughter Rory Gilmore (played by Alexis Bledel) living in a fictional town Star Hollow, Connecticut. It is all about friendship, family and the ties that bind.

     

    Once the super-successful season of ‘Jane The Virgin’ culminates on September 3, Romedy Now will engage the television audiences with this new offering from the next day i.e. September 4. The show will continue to occupy the evening 7 pm slot from Monday to Friday.

     

    Talking about the show, Sonal Khanduja, Vice President – Programming, English Entertainment Cluster said, “Gilmore Girls is a free-spirited series and one of the most endearing, engaging shows of recent times. It is a humorous multigenerational series about friendship, family and the ties that bind. The premise of the show, a tight, friend like bond between a mother and daughter, is an important representation of a changing times. We are extremely excited to recreate the magic and capture the hearts of our viewers with all 7 seasons back to back on ROMEDY NOW starting 4th Sept 7 pm Monday-Friday.” –Gilmore Girls is known for its fast-paced dialogues with lot of pop-culture references.

     

    Revolving around Lorelai, the show is about the protective mother who doesn’t want her daughter Rory to follow her footsteps and make mistakes she herself made. That may be easier said than done, considering that the two share the same interests, the same intellect, the same coffee addiction!

     

    The show begins with sharing story of Lorelai, who was a teenager when she became pregnant and made the tough decision to raise the child alone. The defiant move caused a rift between her and her aristocratic parents Emily (Bishop) and Richard (Herrmann). However, the destiny had other plans. Lorelai, who later found herself in desperate need of money for her daughter Rory’s education, was forced to reconcile with her parents.

     

    Going forward, the comedy drama unfolds as audiences realize that the tendencies of the mother and daughter, especially in case of love, prove that Rory is her mother’s daughter. To know what happens next, tune in to Romedy Now on 4 September.

     

    Gilmore Girls was bestowed with the Viewers for Quality Television Award and was named ‘New Program of the Year’ by the Television Critics Association. Lauren Graham, the main star of the series, was nominated for ‘Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series’ and received two consecutive nominations for ‘Outstanding Performance’ by a Female Actor in a drama series from the Screen Actors Guild.

     

    Meanwhile, another star of the series Alexis Bledel has won a Young Artist Award and a Family Television Award for the show. 

  • Sharlton Menezes gets elevated as Zee Studio and Zee Café content head

    Sharlton Menezes gets elevated as Zee Studio and Zee Café content head

    MUMBAI:  Zee Studio, which recently saw a revamp, has now seen a big appointment at the top executive level of the channel.  Zee Studio and Zee Café’s Sharlton Menezes who is the AVP and head of marketing has now been entrusted with an additional portfolio.  Menezes has now been promoted as the content head for both the channel. In his new role, he will be responsible for content strategy, acquisition along with marketing for both the channels.

    He replaces Sonal Khanduja who was heading programming and acquisitions for the two channels for nearly 10 years. Khanduja has now joined Times Television Network as programming head for the English cluster (Movies Now and Romedy Now). Khanduja took charge today.

    Menezes had joined Zee Entertainment in 2008 as senior marketing manager.  He holds a Masters in Management Studies degree from University of Mumbai. While Zee Café is an English GEC, Zee studio is the English movie channel from the Zee stable.