ITV

Tag: Sushanto Roy

  • Sahara aims to go One up

    Sahara aims to go One up

    on 15 June, Sahara chairman Subrato Roy called Percept IMC joint managing director Shailendra Singh for a meeting at a hotel in Mumbai. The agenda: how to grow his media and entertainment businesses.

    For almost two hours, senior officials of Sahara and Percept heard Roy speak of his vision to expand the Sahara brand‘s reach as he prepared to become aggressive on four fronts – television, motion pictures, radio, and a film institute. He wanted Percept to formulate a business plan and pump in market-driven content.

    “The mandate was to speed up the business and have a big game plan in place,” says Sahara India Entertainment Management chief operating officer Peter Isaac.

    It is easy to find out why. Sahara earned a paltry Rs 400 million in 2003-04 from its television business, after spending Rs 1.15 billion on programming. The scenario has not changed much this fiscal either. The first six months of the year have garnered a piffling Rs 150 million. And mega shows like Karishma – A Miracle of Destiny and Malini Iyer have done nothing to change the channel‘s fortunes.

    But Roy did not feel the channel had performed poorly. The objectives of the star-led shows had been achieved with the channel gaining prime band carriage in cable networks. He now needed Percept to manage operations and give his entertainment-related businesses the extra push. And he announced an investment of Rs 15 billion to be made over three years to support this makeover.

    The Percept IMC corporate team met the next day to discuss how the relationship with Sahara could be structured. Singh came up with the concept of a joint venture company to manage the operations and in less than four days this won Roy‘s approval.

    From this was born Sahara India Entertainment Management, a 50:50 joint venture between Sahara and Percept, formed to ideate, plan and supervise the execution of different projects. It would have a 30-member team with Singh at the helm. Sahara‘s individual business silos – television, motion pictures, radio and special projects such as film city – would fund the joint venture company.

    Why the need for a super-structure team? “In the past, decisions at Sahara Media & Entertainment had to be taken to the headquarters in Lucknow for approval. But the Group is involved in multiple businesses and chief executive officer Sushanto Roy was given additional charge of housing and infrastructure. So there was need for a local board structure in Mumbai. The joint venture will speed up the process,” says Isaac.

    Sahara India Entertainment Management will present an annual plan, after the board meeting in October-end. A monthly review meeting will be held and quarterly targets will be set for evaluation.

    The first “big idea” the super-team came out with was the concept of an umbrella brand, SaharaOne, which would spread across the media and entertainment products of the Group. The idea was to expose the integrity of the brand so that it had a cumulative effect and exceed the sum of the different pieces of the business. “It will have a cascading effect and filter down to all our audiences,” says Sahara Media & Entertainment sales, marketing and distribution president Satish Menon.

    A meeting was organised with the old team of Sahara Media & Entertainment to unveil the new brand identity. SaharaOne suited the fundamental need within the organization to believe that the Group could occupy the top position. Also, there was a fundamental need to believe that it is not a two-tiered structure and the old and new members belong to one team. “We need to make everybody here feel that we are one,” Singh is reported to have said in the meeting.

    Part of that exercise is to move to a 30,000 sq ft space in Kamla Mills at Lower Parel in central Mumbai. Currently, the teams are spread across the western suburbs of Mumbai. “The synergies are just beginning. After all, there is a new management, new people are in, and the new chemistry has to work,” says chief operating officer of Sahara‘s TV business Karuna Samtani.

    A new team structure is being put in place. Shashanka Ghosh (earlier with Channel [V]) has joined as creative director in charge of imaging, packaging and promos while Kalyan Sundaram (MTV and B4U Music) has been put in charge of non fiction programming. Sandeep Bhargava (UTV) has joined as head of Motion Pictures. The radio and film city projects is under Isaac, but the hunt is on to get operating heads. The head of content for radio is Vera Masceranhas (Win) while Alastair Monteith-Hodge (involved in radio, TV and movies in Hong Kong) will assist in the Film city project.

    The task of the team is to put systems, structures and processes in place. Global consultant companies Ernst & Young and KPMG have also been roped in. While Ernst & Young will put the IT processes in place, KPMG is expected to submit the business plan for the Group by October-end.

    Another challenge is to upgrade the image of Sahara‘s media and entertainment business. “We attract a lot of mass, but are limited in image. We are changing the way the mass perceives us. And we want to have that unifying image hammer consistently across what we do,” says Isaac.

    Let us take a look at the strategies that are put in place for each of the four businesses – TV, Motion Pictures, Radio and Film City.

    Television Business – banking on youth

    One problem that Sahara‘s general entertainment channel (Sahara Manoranjan is now SaharaOne) has historically faced is that it took on the likes of Star Plus, Sony Entertainment Television and Zee TV without finding a distinct and separate positioning.

    The first big “differentiating” effort was to overload the channel with Bollywood star-led shows. Karishma – The Miracle of Destiny was the most expensive programme, but it didn‘t work. Nor did Sridevi‘s Malini Iyer and Raveena Tandon‘s Sahib Biwi Gulam. Sahara had identified 9-10 pm band to launch an attack as it felt that the other channels were not dominating the slot at that time. “The expectation of having a channel driver didn‘t work. Neither did we succeed in bringing in audiences nor did we rake in substantial revenues,” says a company source.

    Among the first decisions the new management team made was to dump the “star” shows. Says Samtani, “Television is all about concepts. Stars can‘t be owners of the content.”

    The new programmes that channel is launching do not have Bollywood stars. On the refreshed programming menu are product offerings like Kuch Love Kuch Masti (Clapstem Productions), Ken Ghosh‘s Aada (Percept Production Company), Power Trip (PPC) and Dona Milake Dus (a humour-driven countdown show from PPC). The new producer list includes Sooraj Barjatiya. Also commissioned to produce shows for the channel are Girish Mallik, Sachin Pligoankar, Ravi Rai, Suhail Tatari, and Miditech productions. Ravi Rai has joined hands with K Sera Sera productions to produce Kashish. The common thread of all these shows – no Hindi film stars, retired or active.

    While daily soaps will be launched on Mondays-Thursdays at prime time, Sahara also has a weekend strategy. Power Trip, a chat show with Shobhaa De where she interviews business barons, is slotted in the Sunday day part. Telefilms are another weekend offering the channel is throwing up to be screened on Saturdays at 7.30 pm. The channel is also all keen on the Friday movie slot.

    The plan is to launch a show a month. “We are not taking a radical shift. But what we have done immediately is to change the programming matrix from bi-weeklies to Monday-Thursday format. We are also creating shows across genres,” says Samtani.

    Sahara Sangeet Awards 2004 held at Royal Albert Hall in London

    The “transformation” process has already begun with the launch of SaharaOne‘s new logo on 10 October, which coincided with the telecast of the Sangeet Awards 2004 (held at the Royal Albert Hall in London). “Never has Sahara held an event on such a large scale. Sahara earned Rs 35 million from the event, says Menon.

    Sahara also used the four-day Amitabh Bachchan festival that began the following day (11 October) to tweak the programme timing of its existing prime time shows. The timing of Saathiya has been changed. Prratima, an afternoon show, has now moved to prime time.

    Though the channel has brought in flirting audiences, the problem has been to retain them. Hindi feature films have fared better and helped increase the cumulative reach of the channel more than the shows, according to TAM. But the overall reach of the channel has not seen much difference. For the two-month period between 18 July to 25 September in 2003, it stood at 26-27 million, according to TAM data in C&S 4 plus, Hindi speaking markets. During the same period this year, after the new management has come in place, there has been very little difference.

    One clear area that the new team has identified is as regards the channel‘s positioning, which is being skewed towards the young. “We are looking through the eyes of the youth. We will also have event-based programming. There are ready audiences for the channel, as our mega shows were sampled by viewers. We have to see that they get stuck to the channel,” says Samtani.

    How? “Our programming strategy is to keep it simple and stupid. We don‘t want to be seen as being too intelligent. While 85 per cent of our programming will be entirely entertainment-based, we will have 15 per cent of non-fiction content like Haqueeqat,” says Samtani.

    Sahara is also planning to launch a movie channel in January, 2005, which will help it bundle with its general entertainment channel. Acquisition for movies are being speeded up since September, says Isaac.

    Motion Picture Business – spreading their bets

    Sahara India Entertainment Management COO Peter Isaac

    Sahara has decided to produce movies within four genres – classic, comedy, children and commercial. “We have a team which will evaluate scripts,” says Isaac.

    The strategy is to mainly commission production houses while funding the projects as a de-risking model. But Sahara will have a dedicated executive producer so as to have an influence on the content. The company has already entered into exclusive tie-ups with leading film producers and directors like Ram Gopal Verma and Boney Kapoor. Sahara, in fact, has committed Rs 350 million for 10 movies to K Sera Sera and a stake of over 10 per cent in the company.

    “We are evaluating all the projects for which we have committed funding. For instance, we will look at how much budget should be allocated for each movie and how it can be market-driven,” says Isaac.

    The plan is to produce 70 movies over two years. The average cost per movie will be Rs 35 million, says Isaac. The movies produced under SaharaOne brand can be used as content for its television channel.

    Whether this is physically possible remains a question though since what this entails is rolling out an average of three movies a month over the next 24 months.

    Radio Business – an eye on satellite

    SaharaOne is betting big on satellite radio. The company will soon talk with WorldSpace Satellite Network to work out a deal on how to partner for subscription-driven and free-to-air satellite radio stations.

    Currently, SaharaOne Radio owns fours channels – general entertainment music channel, old Hindi film songs and two instrumental music channels – on WorldSpace. The company is planning to revamp the content for the radio channels. “We are going to have a general entertainment channel, a global Indian channel with footprint over the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, a classic Hindi music channel and on Western Railway an instrumental music channel,” says Isaac.

    So far, Sahara has spent Rs 30 million on its radio business. Though the Group has big plans, all this will depend on how the regulatory environment changes and the market grows. Till then, it will attract low investment and attention from the Group.

    Special Projects

    Sahara One Television COO Karuna Samtani

    The Sahara Group plans to develop a fully digital film production facility, together with an academy for film and television arts in India. The idea is to provide a single-window film production and finishing service to film producers and others involved in film making. The academy promises to provide courses in cinematography and lighting, production sound and picture, directing, FX motion graphics, motion capture and post production, and web animation.

    “The design for the film city is ready. We are waiting for land. We hope to have the largest film city up and running in the next 30 months,” says Isaac.

    So what is Roy‘s big plan? To build up an integrated media empire with the television channels feeding on the SaharaOne movies and promoting them. Radio would support the cross-promotion while developing its own properties. And Sahara can source creative talent from its film institute.

    Will the super-structure management concept work for Sahara this time? So far, few of the new launches on SaharaOne channel have shown success. Kambakth Piracy, for instance, didn‘t do well. And there is internal criticism that the changes are being done in haste. The logo, for instance, which was launched on 10 October, will be up for further change in November.

    Explains Samtani: “It is an interim logo. We have commissioned Billy, a specialist from Los Angeles, to design the new one. The changes, like that in the logo, are going to be gradual and put out in the market to be tested for audience response. In television, you can‘t say you are totally prepared. You will be wrong if you say that. That doesn‘t mean that we do not have a plan. Planning is different from preparation. And the logo won‘t be totally different. It will only be made to look better.” Adds Isaac: “Evaluate us after 10 October.”

    The first test will be when ratings for the Sangeet Awards event come in. Also, the new programme launches will be watched with keen interest. But, undoubtedly, the direction is being set. SaharaOne will increasingly drive at synergy and brand expansion as it strives for success in content and prepares for big investments in media and entertainment.

    Well, with Rs 15 billion in cash to bankroll what will principally be the television and movies business, what the new management team cannot complain of is lack of funding. But the question that still begs an answer is – can Sahara find the recipe that will crack on content?

    (With additional inputs from Trupti Ghag)

  • Sahara in talks to acquire TV Asia

    Sahara in talks to acquire TV Asia

    MUMBAI: The Sahara Group is in talks with Asia Star Broadcasting Inc. to acquire TV Asia, an entertainment and information channel for South Asian audiences in the United States.

    TV Asia founder HR Shah met Sahara officials, including founder-promoter Subrato Roy and son Sushanto Roy, in Lucknow a week ago in this regard. “We are in discussions. Shah was here. We are likely to do a due diligence on TV Asia,” Sushanto Roy, who heads Sahara’s media and entertainment business, told indiantelevision.com.

    Acquisition of a controlling stake or a total buyout are two of the options being considered. Sahara will conduct a valuation exercise only after a formal offer from Shah is received however.

    “Shah is expected to make a formal offer soon. We will then give the mandate for due diligence,” says Sahara India Entertainment Management chief operating officer Peter Isaac. Sahara India Entertainment is a 50:50 management joint venture with Percept Finserve to manage all Sahara’s media and entertainment businesses. Sahara recently brought all its media and entertainment businesses – television, motion pictures, radio and special identity – under a single entity called SaharaOne.

    Sahara is planning to launch its channel overseas, including in the US and UK markets. “We could use TV Asia to enter the US market. But we haven’t finalised our plans yet. We could also enter the overseas markets on our own,” says Roy.

    TV Asia, which started in April 1993, airs programming in Hindi, English, Gujarati and other regional languages. The content ranges from news to educational programmes, dramas, music and movies.

    News is in Hindi, English and Gujarati. The channel airs not only Hindi movies but also in regional languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi. Asia Star Broadcasting is backed by an international consortium of media professionals and businessmen.

  • “The entertainment channel should be occupying the No 2 slot by March next” : Sushanto Roy Sahara India’s media and entertainment division CEO

    “The entertainment channel should be occupying the No 2 slot by March next” : Sushanto Roy Sahara India’s media and entertainment division CEO

    When the 20-something Sushanto Roy was named CEO of Sahara India’s media and entertainment division, sceptics tittered that it was father and chairman Subrata Roy’s way of rewarding his eldest son. A natural succession plan. The critics within and outside the organization felt the atmosphere would get more worked up as the CEO, who also belongs to the promoter’s family, would be more aggressive and riding roughshod.

    But far from it, Roy Jr is not only a chip of the old block, but is also easy going and free of airs that may come with the post. He has often surprised his colleagues by just walking into a room or a luncheon sitting unannounced and sans any pretensions. Moreover, like his father, he also doesn’t get easily ruffled by needling, especially prying media that is looking for chinks in the armour. And they certainly have some ammo to work with in the low TRPs Sahara’s Karishma The Miracles of Destiny, touted as the biggest and costliest TV serial made till date, is throwing up.

    However, his easy going way is not be mistaken for lack of understanding of the business or anything else. Rather, even senior professionals have found Sushanto’s suggestions valid in the group’s media and entertainment division. But because he is young, he himself does not want to push and hurry things.

    In this interview with indiantelevision.com’s Anjan Mitra, Sushanto Roy discusses the disadvantages that the Sahara TV channels face and also how he plans to overcome them, apart from holding forth on the media business of the Sahara conglomerate that, he feels, is growing exponentially.

    Excerpts:

    What is your view of the company? 
    At present, we are doing a lot of things and work is going on at a feverish pace. The other region-specific channels are in the pipeline and hopefully at least two of them, for Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai, should be on air shortly.

    Finishing touches are also being given to radio broadcast plans for which we have booked space on Worldspace’s satellite. Then, of course, expansion is taking place in the print medium where some more region-specific broadsheets are to be launched.

    All in all, things look fine, but we cannot get complacent as it can lead to our downfall.

    What exactly is the status of the radio broadcast project about which we have been hearing for quite some time now? 
    We have booked three transponders for the satellite radio broadcast. We plan to have one music channel, one news or rural news channel and may use the third one for our group’s internal networking purpose.

    The project under Sahara Swar is likely to take off sometime early next year. We still haven’t decided whether to have a news and current affairs satellite radio channel on the lines of BBC radio or get into mass communication in rural areas. If we get into the rural market with agriculture news and information for farmers and people of rural India, we expect that the government too, would come forward with some financial help and support.

    Still, the group’s not finally concluded whether the news channel would be purely on the BBC lines or try to give back something to society too.

    Which segment of the media and entertainment business — print, news channels and the entertainment channel— is driving the business? 
    Of course, it’s entertainment. We derive about 80 per cent of the revenue from the entertainment channel. But if you ask me to give a break-up between entertainment-related business vis-?-vis news (whether print or electronic), then I’d say the ratio is 60:40 in favour of entertainment.

    Lots of starlets and Bollywood film heroines are associated with the group in some way or the other. Did the group get into the media and entertainment business because of the glamour attached to it? 
    Not really. Glamour is an offshoot of any media business. You see the glamour in people from the film industry, but you don’t see the work they are doing too. Had it not been the group’s credibility, would a top actress like Karishmaji (Kapoor now Kapur) accepted an offer to do a TV serial?

    An entertainment channel certainly brings in the revenue, but it is the news channels that gives you the power. It gives you a platform to make a statement. An ideal combination would be entertainment and news, but to maintain that combination is very difficult.

    Do you feel that the advertising market is big and strong enough to support this huge expansion in the electronic medium that is taking place in India with Sahara making a major contribution? 
    We at Sahara certainly feel so. The retail rural market has to be tapped effectively as it offers a huge market. Local newspapers and cable channels have been doing that in a way, but an organised effort is worth it.

    If you see the local cable channels have already started dipping into this retail market kitty and other national news channels too are clamouring for a share of this pie.

    We did our own market research and the study reinforces our view that the rural retail market has not yet been tapped properly. The study shows that the Uttar Pradesh market (where Sahara Samay is already airing and streaming channels for cities like Kanpur) is worth Rs 450 million per annum, the Madhya Pradesh market (where the test signals of the Sahara’s news channel is on at the moment) is worth about Rs 400 million, while the likes of Bihar and Rajasthan too are worth between Rs 200-Rs 300 million. The big markets, of course, are Delhi and Mumbai, which we estimate to be in the between Rs 1,800- Rs 2,500 million each.

    Even if we fail to tap the whole potential, a sizeable amount too would bring in good revenue over a period of time.

    Any particular initiatives being taken by Sahara to effectively harness the rural retail advertising market?
    We have several initiatives in this regard. One of them is to also offer small advertisers Sahara’s expertise to devise an ad for television channels. The creatives would be done by our Delhi or Mumbai office for that small town pansari’s shop who had never dreamt that he would see his shop’s ad on television. We may not do this for free and a nominal fee would be factored into the overall pricing. But this way, we’d not only help smaller advertisers get onto TV, but also establish a bond with them.

    This particular initiative is likely to be started in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai in about two months time.
    “We did our own market research and the study reinforces our view that the rural retail market has not yet been tapped properly”

    The Sahara news channels started off with a bang and were getting good ratings. But, of late, it has been seen that the news channels have been heading southwards. Why is the reverse gear in operation? 
    I agree when we started around March we did so in style and initially we also lived up to expectations. Maybe, of late, we have slipped a bit, but a mid-course correction is being effected to make our news channels that much more appealing to the audience.

    Having agreed that the news channels are slipping a bit, what do you think should be done to get that zing back? 
    I feel that we are no less than any other news channel where it comes to news bulletins. But we, probably, did not go beyond the news bulletins and explore the current affairs segment properly. Not only has there to be speed and nip, but we have to go beyond the usual rounds of analyses. We have to give that extra bit to the audience to make them come back or stick with our news channel even after the news bulletin is over.

    I also feel that a bit of entertainment needs to be brought into the experience of watching a news channel.

    Does that mean reporting more on Bollywood and entertainment? And, won’t that dilute the news channel’s credibility as a serious player ? 
    Not really. What we want is to make the news channels such that there may be viewers at any given time. Not only hard core news, but information about local events and their coverage too, should be part of the news channels’, especially region-specific ones, fare.

    The moot idea is to have a product that would connect with the people.

    So, Sahara is not only focusing on current affairs, but also trying to broadbase the appeal of the news channels. Would that mean increased outsourcing also? 
    Yes, we are developing on the current affairs side. That is one area which we had neglected a bit, probably.

    We are also talking to a few producers for some programmes. But nothing has been concretised as of yet. Karan Thapar is one person who has submitted a proposal and we are currently examining it.

    What is the budget that the group has set aside for outsourcing current affairs work? 
    It is not very huge or big, but we would end up spending between Rs 100 million to Rs 150 million per annum on such outsourced work.

    What is the big plan for Sahara Manoranjan, the entertainment channel? 
    A few months back we realised that there has to be a strategy in place for the entertainment channel to really take off and break free of all shackles. 

    As part of the game plan we decided to bring the people and stars from the big screen on to the small screen. That has started happening with Karishmaji’s serial. Then Raveena Tandon and Sridevi too are doing serials for us.

    Then (Amitabh) Bachchan saab has agreed to do a serial with us, though the final scripts, etc are being discussed still. For the first time Amitji would be seen on the small screen in a serial and not in a game show.
    Have the big stars started reflecting on the TRP charts too? 
    A bit, if I may say so. The effective rate per 10 seconds of advertising has gone up because we have managed to create a viewer pull. It has started reflecting more after the launch of Karishma.
    “I also feel that a bit of entertainment needs to be brought into the experience of watching a news channel“

    Hasn’t Karishma the serial and the actress failed to enthuse the viewers and the TRPs alike? Isn’t it a setback for Sahara’s game plan? 
    As per our feedback, there are ardent fans of Karishmaji who would watch her anywhere, including television. We also get the feedback that the serial is picking up. Agreed, it’s a bit slow in the start as it’s a long serial. With over 200 episodes, the serial would pick up pace along the way.

    I also agree that we had not expected 4-5 TRPs for Karishma.

    With such big stars being contracted for television programmes, what would be the programming budget of Sahara’s entertainment channel?
    It would be anything between Rs 2000 million to Rs 2,250 million.

    Do you feel that apart from the slow pace, other factors were working against Karishma?
    I certainly think so. Sahara has been always been perceived as a threat by competition like Star and Zee and, between them, they also control almost 70 per cent of the cable distribution.

    It’s difficult to penetrate such opposition when Sahara’s channels are not put on prime band always.

    Why doesn’t Sahara foray into ground distribution business too? 
    I have been personally thinking about it. But we have not taken any formal decision on this yet. Rather, I haven’t spoken to the chairman (who is Sushanto’s father) also on this. But I think we could get into distribution. 

    We are collating market figures and would see if getting into distribution of cable TV would make sense. But, there are certainly 20-25 per cent of cable operators who are still independent and can be rallied round. It’s difficult to keep cable operators together, but if the business demands it, we may just go ahead and do it.

    Sahara is also into film production. What news on that front? 
    We have some 15-20 films on the floor in various stages of production and are looking at innovative ways to market them.

    For example, we can premier a film on the big screen first and them immediately run the movie in mini-series on our entertainment channel or even at one go. Or, reverse the whole process and have the premier on television first and then take it to the traditional theatres.

    Any plans on DTH? 
    No plans as of yet. We want to concentrate on developing software and then using the library to tap various business propositions. For example, a Sahara group company into real estate would also build 200-odd multiplexes in the townships being planned (the news about which was first broken by indiantelevision.com several months back) where we can screen the movies that we make or have acquired. The synergy between various businesses is the key to success.
    “We are speaking to TV Asia in the US and one of the options before us is picking up equity stakes in the company“

    What about overseas forays with Sahara channels? 
    We are talking to some companies in the US and the UK market for programming and distribution tie-up.
    Is Sahara picking up stakes in TV Asia, once upon a time promoted by Amitabh Bachchan? 
    We are speaking to TV Asia in the US and one of the options before us is picking up equity stakes in the company.

    Where do you see the Sahara channels over the next one-year? 
    By the February-March, we expect the news channels to be among the top three in the news segment, while the entertainment channel should be occupying the No 2 slot by March next.

    (Photographs of Sushanto Roy by SANJAY SHARMA)

  • Sahara set to soft launch two more region-specific news channels 1 September

    MUMBAI: More competition is coming everybody’s way on the news channel front.
    With Sushanto Roy, heir to the Sahara empire, having just taken over as the chief whip of the group’s media business, among the first decisions he took was to okay and bring forward the launch date of the Sahara Samay news channel for Madhya Pradesh (MP). Set for a soft launch alongside Sahara Samay MP is Sahara Samay Mumbai as well.
    Sahara Samay Mumbai’s launch had been delayed partly because of a massive fire that gutted the company’s office complex in the western suburb of Goregaon in January. The complex also houses the Sahara Samay Mumbai news centre and imported equipment was destroyed in the blaze.
    Speaking to indiantelevision.com last night on the sidelines of a media briefing to announce the relaunch of Sahara’s Rs 600-million magum opus Karishma The Miracles Of Destiny, Roy confirmed that Sahara Samay Mumbai and Sahara Samay MP would be soft-launched on 1 September. The official launch is scheduled for 15 September with the interrim two-week period being utilised to fine-tune proceedings.
    Queried as to how he hoped to perk up the group’s main news channel Sahara Samay Rashtriya, which had failed to keep the momentum going after an impressive start, Roy said an aggressive marketing push was in the pipeline to increase awareness levels. All the various media platforms available to the group, including the entertainment channel Sahara TV, would be roped in as part of this effort, Roy said. It would be a virtual relaunch of the channel and would coincide with the launch of the Mumbai and MP channels, he added.
    Sahara Samay Mumbai, meanwhile, will cover news from three states – Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa – while Sahara Samay MP, as the name suggests, will cover the state of Madhya Pradesh.
    With the launch of the two channels, the number of region specific channels in the Sahara Samay family will go up to three (Sahara Samay UP has already launched) in addition to the main Sahara Samay Rashtriya channel.

    There are three more region-specific channels that are slated to launch in a phased manner over the coming months – Rajasthan, Bihar and National Capital Region (NCR).

  • Sushanto Roy takes over as Sahara Media head; Sumit Roy moves to Lucknow

    MUMBAI: The heir to Subrata Roy’s Sahara India empire is taking charge at the helm of the diversified group’s media and entertainment arm.
    Sushanto Roy in his role as Lt Thapar in Mission Fateh – the new boss takes over


    The Sahara managing worker’s son Sushanto Roy has taken over from Sahara India deputy director worker Sumit Roy with immediate effect, company sources say.
    Initial reports indicate that Sushanta Roy will be designated CEO, media and entertainment, Sahara India. However, this is still to be confirmed.
    Sumit Roy, meanwhile, is shifting base from New Delhi to the company headquarters in Lucknow. In what capacity is still to be ascertained though.
    Sumit Roy – making way for the family
    Sumit Roy, who joined Sahara 16 years ago, was heading the company’s mainstream channel Sahara Manoranjan as well as the newly launched news channels. The first two news channels, Sahara Samay Rashtriya and Sahara Samay Uttar, launched with a bang in April this year. Set to launch in September is Sahara Samay Mumbai.
    However, there is no word as of now on the six region specific channels that was slated as part of the next phase of the news channel expansion.


    Sushanto Roy, based in Lucknow, has thus far kept a low profile, and was heard of only when he essayed the role of Lt Vijayant Thapar in the much hyped Sahara series on Kargil heroes, Mission Fateh , earlier this year.
    Company sources, while confirming the development, said it was a decision on Subrata Roy’s part and was no reflection on Sumit Roy’s capabilities. According to them, the move is part of the natural succession plan that Subrata Roy has mapped out for the group.

  • “Production values nowadays mean yellow bathrooms and blue curtains” : Girish Mallik

    “Production values nowadays mean yellow bathrooms and blue curtains” : Girish Mallik

    Understandably, he is quite excited these days. With his mega-scale war epic Mission Fateh launching on Sahara Manoranjan a few weeks ago, the man is on a natural high and raring to go. The serial has earned a few rave reviews but for the conceptualiser cum director Girish Mallik, it is just the beginning of a long journey.

    Mallik the director may take a while to register, but the actor is a well known face. After almost a decade in front of the camera, he decided to call the shots, literally. He took up direction six years ago, and now has quite a few shows to his credit.

    He met up with indiantelevision.com’s Trupti Ghag at Clapstem Productions where he arranged for a sneak preview of the forthcoming episodes of his serial and spoke about his pet passion … direction.

    Excerpts:

    If I am not mistaken, you are commerce graduate, then how did the transition to the small screen happen?
    Marketing and sales graduate with a postgraduate degree in tourism and travel, to be precise. But I have always been inclined towards the performing arts. I am a trained ‘Chau’ dancer. As a matter-of-fact, before joining the media, I used to perform internationally. I still remember my performance in Japan with a crowd of 20,000 cheering me.

    The anticlimax was when, after coming to India I performed in an indoor hall, in front of a crowd barely consisting of 200-300 uninterested people. I retired from the scene. It was then that I started working with theatre as a hobby and later moved to television.

    If it was all smooth sailing as an actor, why did you decide to shift to directing?
    Honestly, after a few years in the industry, life was getting monotonous. The system that I was used to wasn’t there any more. Now you have pretty faces mouthing a few words and shedding a few tears. Rehearsal is such a passé term and as for homework… you might as well forget about it. The production values mean yellow bathrooms and blue curtains. I had to get up and do something.
    “There are certain actors that can surprise, I do not disturb them”

    When was it that you first decide to go behind the camera?
    By that I time, I had already done my share of work in front of the camera. I was a known face thanks to Banegi Apni Baat, Tara and Shanti. Although I really had no expertise, Zee allotted me episodes of Rishtey. I set up Clapstem Production and before you know it, I had directed the maximum number of the Rishtey episodes (grins).

    Being an actor, has it helped in any way now that you are on the other side of the camera?
    Undoubtedly! I understand an actor’s psyche. I know that every actor has his own way of emoting. I explain the basic premise of the character and hand over the screenplay to him, how he chooses to enact a certain scene is his lookout. I just make sure that the actor is comfortable.

    There are certain actors that can surprise, I do not disturb them.

    Tell me something about your latest project ‘Mission Fateh’. I am told that you conceptualised the show. How did that come about?
    The idea had been germinating in my head for ages. I decided to go ahead with it two years ago. Initially, I had planned to approach all the leading channels, but it seemed so much like Sahara’s project that I pursued them. It did not take me long to convince them.

    But that wasn’t the main hurdle. I had to compile the matter, which wasn’t an easy task.

    Why was that so, did you face any problems from the army?
    Not any specific problem as such, but the army harbours a distrust for the media. Their major grouse is that the screens reduce military officers to caricatures. The officers depicted so far on the screen seem almost robotic… speaking in a certain way, walking in a certain manner.

    It was difficult initially to get through the shell but our scriptwriter Brig. (Retd) M M Bhanot and the entire research team managed to break the shell. Now we have the army helping us out voluntarily.

    You earlier mentioned that the project was designed to be a Sahara project, why is it so?
    It is! No other channel would have been able to do justice to the show. The channel understood the show’s demands. Be it financial or creative support, Sahara has never denied us anything.

    There was a time when I took a 60-member crew to a remote location to shoot but for 10 days but we were stuck in the hotel because of the hostile climate. While I was getting upset about it, everybody at the channel was so understanding that they asked me not get to perturbed and just concentrate on what to do next.

    So now you are a Sahara loyalist, eh!
    (Laughs) Everybody seems to be saying so, but honestly speaking I am on very good terms with other channels as well. I had a special chair reserved for me at the Zee office,all the executive producers, producers and channel authorities know me very well. Similar is the case with other channels.
    “I am a very accommodating person but I cannot compromise on my vision”

    What are the things that you cannot compromise on as a director?
    Well, I am a very accommodating person but I cannot compromise on my vision. If I have decided that a show has to look a certain way, then there are no two ways about it. I absolutely cannot tolerate the word ‘impossible’. If there is a problem somewhere, I make sure it is solved.

    I am a very greedy director. Sahara managing worker’s son Sushanto Roy, who played Vijayant Thapar on the screen, after shooting for a month refused to be conned into act henceforth. He said that if I continued to be as demanding, there will be a time when somebody calls in the human rights commission (laughs).

    What are the other projects you have in pipeline?
    For starters, there is a music video that I am directing exclusively for Sahara, in which Subrata Roy’s wife will showcase her singing. Binod Pradhan of Devdas fame has done the camera work; the video is larger than life. Then there are two comedies Life mein thoda sa freedom mangta hai and Aao behen chugli karein. While these two are in the scripting stages, there is a serious drama Agneepath that explores the father and son relationship. There are a few movies in the pipeline as well that I am keen on doing. And yes, they are all for Sahara (grins).
    Seems like you have your hands full. Does that mean we won’t be seeing you on the screen anymore?
    An actor never dies. Maybe some time later.

    Of late, there have been cases where serials have been taken off air abruptly either because of the TRPs or political pressure. How do you ensure that your works don’t come under the axe?
    As for Mission Fateh, all the episodes are scrutinised by the army and the censor board. Sahara does not like to stir up unnecessary controversies and neither do I. In my show, I have put across both Jehadis’ as well as ULFA militants’ point of view but in no way have I tried to glorify their misdeeds. As for TRPs, I do not have a meter at my home, do you!

    Seriously, I try watching the so called popular serials. Tried to be interested and objective, but beyond a point I saw the line blurring and creativity going from being minimal to nonexistent. And it is not the case that there is no creativity. We have the most brilliant writers, directors in the present scenario.

    What has been your most memorable project so far?
    It is rather difficult. I can’t pinpoint any particular episode.

    Well Vijayant Thapar was great. Puneet Datta’s episode that was shot entirely through the father’s eye, I took loads of creative liberties with it though, it was excellent.

    If you take somebody under your wing, what is the quality that you look for in him/her?
    A wannabe director has to be forever on his toes. No ego hassles whatsoever.

  • Roy Jr debuts on Sahara with ‘Mission Fateh’

    MUMBAI: While Mission Fateh, Sahara’s mega serial is finally being launched on 28 March; Sushanto Roy, son of managing worker Subroto Roy, will make a cameo as Kargil martyr Lieutenant Vijayant Thapar in the series.
    Roy will make his acting debut in the sixth episode of this one hour-long series based on the true-life stories of Indian war heroes including that of the recent Kargil war, to be aired on Sahara TV every Friday at 9:30 p.m.
    Touted as the most expensive project on the channel, the series has been extensively shot in areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Nagaland including locations like, Rohtangpass, Koksar Valley, Lahoul & Speeti Valley.
    Speaking about Sushanto Roy’s debut, a spokesperson said: “Prior to scripting the series, we got all the information about the war, the war heroes including their personal lives. All the chosen actors had some semblance with the original war-heroes depicted. When Lt. Vijayant Thapar’s pictures arrived, we were surprised to see an uncanny resemblance with Sushanto Roy. After lot of persuasion, he finally relented and agreed to do the role.”
    The series, besides projecting the actual missions undertaken by brave officers of the Indian Army during wars and counter-insurgency operations from 1948 onwards, also tried to capture the lives of army officers and jawans. Custom-made equipment’s, weapons and snowgears for soldiers – duly approved by Indian Army Liasion Cell and other authorities pertaining to various regiments have been used, say sources.
    Produced by Sahara India Media Communication Ltd. (SIMCL) with Clapstem Production as the assigned producer, Mission Fateh was conceived and directed by Girish Malik. While Brigadier (Retd.) M M Bhanot has doubled up as script writer and creative advisor ot the project.
    The ambitious project had been in making for some time now. It took minimum of 30 days to shoot an episode owing to the harsh climatic conditions and the challenging scenes involving more than 60 actors. Besides roping in Big B Amitabh Bachchan to promote the show, the series has signed national school of Drama graduates besides well-known telly actors like Govind Namdeo, Kapil Sohni, Jyoti Mukerji, Manmeet Singh. While singers like Roop Kumar Rathod, Shaan, Sadhna Sargam and Md. Salamat have lent their voices to Mission Fateh.
    The first episode of the mega-serial Mission Fateh to be telecast on 28 March 2003 will show the story of Kargil hero Captain Vikram Batra followed by Captain Amol Kalia. and Kashmir counter-insurgency operation’s 2nd Lieutenant Puneet Nath Dutt.