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Tag: Sweta Agnihotri

  • Amazon miniTV announces new series ‘Amber Girls School’

    Amazon miniTV announces new series ‘Amber Girls School’

    Mumbai: Amazon miniTV is all set to take audiences on a journey of sisterhood, self-discovery, and the complexities of teenage life with its upcoming series, ‘Amber Girls School’. The streaming service has announced the coming-of-age teen drama series by unveiling its gripping trailer, which offers a glimpse into the world of Amber Girls School (AGS), an all-girls institution that focuses on grooming ‘Sanskari’ young women, where tradition clashes with the desire for freedom. The upcoming series is certain to captivate the audience with its hard-hitting narrative, compelling characters, and authentic portrayal of teenage struggles. Produced by Reliance Entertainment Studios and directed by Rajlaxmi Ratan Seth, it features Celesti Bairagey, Kajol Chugh, Adrija Sinha, Ishika Gagneja, Harsh Khurana, and Shruti Panwar in pivotal roles. This series is helmed by the acclaimed writer Garima Pura Patiyaalvi, known for her exceptional work in the 2022 Oscar-winning documentary ‘Elephant Whisperers’.

    The trailer follows the story of Ojaswini, a 15-year-old sincere and sanskari girl, who is amongst the most promising students of her grade. In pursuit of her dream to be the Vice Head Girl of her school, she maintains discipline and focus until teenage rebellion and desires come to the fore. The conflict between exploring all things ‘grown up’ and dealing with the financial crisis her family is going through puts Ojaswini in sheer confusion as she navigates through the challenges of teenage life. As the school’s strict rules clash with her desire for individuality and freedom, it will be interesting to witness how Ojaswini paves her way through the obstacles that arise in her journey.

    “We are delighted to add yet another engrossing story to our content library, which exemplifies the quality and diversity of content that we offer to our audience. Amber Girls School beautifully captures the essence of teenage, portraying the complexities of identity, rebellion, and friendship in a compelling narrative.” shared Amazon miniTV head of content Amogh Dusad.

    “We are pleased to bring ‘Amber Girls School’ to the viewers on 1 May,” said Reliance Entertainment producer Sweta Agnihotri. “It’s a story that reflects the universal struggles of adolescence, and with the talented cast and crew, we are confident that the series will leave a lasting impact.”

    Celesti Bairagey, who plays the character of Ojaswini, shared her thoughts, saying, “I am incredibly honored to be a part of Amber Girls School and bring the character of Ojaswini to life in this teen drama. This series is a powerful exploration of the teenage experience, and Ojaswini’s journey of independence and self-discovery is one that, I believe, will resonate with each viewer. Working alongside such a talented cast and crew has been an unforgettable experience, and I am excited for audiences to join us on this adventurous yet relatable ride.”

    Amber Girls School will premiere on 1 May 2024, exclusively on Amazon miniTV for free within Amazon’s shopping app, on Prime Video, Fire TV, Smart TVs, or download the app from Play Store.

  • Reliance Big Entertainment & FunOnGo ink deal for mobile entertainment content

    Reliance Big Entertainment & FunOnGo ink deal for mobile entertainment content

    MUMBAI: The ubiquitous nature of mobile phones has created a significant opportunity for monetization of video content on mobile Internet devices. Towards this objective Reliance Big Entertainment has entered into a strategic alliance with FunOnGo Entertainment, which provides customized platform and managed services. 

     

    FunOnGo is a content curator and licenses VAS content across movies, music, games and applications. The strategic alliance will focus on servicing Indian mobile handset brands. Across all its OEM clients such as Samsung, Micromax, Karbonn, Intex & Gionee, FunOnGo has the potential to reach 60 per cent of smartphone users in India.

     

    Handset vendors are moving from hardware specifications to focus on the user experience as a way to improve market penetration. FunOnGo helps OEMs set up on-device portals that allow users to easily browse, purchase and use content and services.

     

    Reliance Big Entertainment COO Sweta Agnihotri said, “We see the mobile phone brands as a fantastic gateway to the consumer. Our team will play an active operational role in this alliance wherein FunOnGo could leverage our understanding of content and industry relationships to amplify its value offering to the consumer.”

     

    FunOnGo CEO Vijay Singh added, “Until recently, the revenues generated through mobile came from on-deck services offered by telecom companies. Globally, the trend has shifted towards growth of off-deck services that are offered directly to consumers.”

     

    Maitreya Mass Media is a seed investor of FunOnGo & has business interests as wide-ranging as FMCG, hospitality, real estate and mass communication. 

     

    Maitreya Mass Media MD Varsha Satpalkar said, “The all-round growth on mobile be it devices, connections, traffic and content consumption, is astounding and we see that FunOnGo is rightly poised to gain from the momentum this ecosystem provides.”

  • Reliance Home Video & Games to market WinFun merchandise

    MUMBAI: Reliance Home Video and Games (RHVG) has partnered with WinFun- the leading supplier of outdoor and indoor play equipment for kids, in India.

    The two companies will collaborate to market and distribute various international properties of WinFun in India. The teams at RHVG and WinFun have already identified over 25 products that are suited for the Indian market with some of the titles already beginning to appear to in stores across the country.

    Reliance Home Video and Games COO Sweta Agnihotri said, “WinFun provides parents of new born babies with a wide range of high quality toys at very affordable prices. WinFun is a brand that is distributed worldwide because they produce safe and child-friendly products that match up to European and American standards. We are happy to be their business associates in India. For Indian parents buying WinFun means that ‘priceless moments of joy‘ will now cost less.”

    The distribution and marketing for the product will begin from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and will expand into the other important tier-1 markets over the next six months. RHVG will be targeting both modern retail and traditional stores while distributing the products.

    WinFun CEO SK Hui said, “We are pleased to forge a partnership with Reliance to help provide the innovative and reliable toys to India families. We believe that this collaboration will not only enable WinFun to provide India customers with more choices of electronic educational toys but also help us to build up the market presence through the extensive distribution network of Reliance in India.”

    Some of the popular products from WinFun in India are Kids Learning Pad, Mini Book, My Flip UpSound Phone, Musical Fun Activity Ball, Baby‘s Dreamland Soothing Projector and Baby Racer Playmate etc.

  • Reliance Ent integrates home video and Zapak Games

    Reliance Ent integrates home video and Zapak Games

    MUMBAI: In order to maximise its group synergies, Reliance Entertainment has integrated the toys and games business under Zapak Games with Reliance Home Video.

    Reliance Entertainment has produced films like Bodyguard, Singham and Double Dhamaal.

    The new entity, known as Reliance Home Video and Games, will ensure growth of both home video and games business with enhanced funding, improved infrastructure and larger product offerings, the company said.

    Speaking on the merger Reliance Home Video and Games COO Sweta Agnihotri said, “The broad market dynamics for Home Video and Games are similar in terms of consumer demographics, marketing and distribution of products. The consumer demands a more gratifying experience. They want their entertainment to be participative, immersive and experiential. The addition of games and toys to our existing home video business adds one more dimension to this enhanced consumer fulfillment. 

    “With favourable sector dynamics, the Indian toy market is seeing a paradigm shift; there is a growing preference for international brands and the Indian market is being propelled by a larger kid‘s population, rising disposable incomes and aspirational lifestyles. Gaming is another rapidly growing segment which we are excited to be in. We will of course continue to dominate the home video business by bringing the finest films in home entertainment from across the world. We believe that Reliance Home Video and Games will be a long term player with incredible brand equity, experienced teams and investment capabilities which will be beneficial to all concerned.”

    Reliance Home Video distributes both Indian and Hollywood products. It is an exclusive licensee to Warner Bros, Paramount Studios, Universal Studios and Dreamworks for all their new and catalogue films and has released blockbusters such as 3Idiots, Bodyguard, Dabangg, Harry Potter series, Transformers series, Fast and Furious franchise among others on home video.

    Zapak Games, meanwhile, has grown in the toy and games segment over the past four years and distributes merchandise, games and toys from leading international toys and gaming companies like Moose, Spinmasters, Codemasters, Jakks Pacific and Crayola.

    Reliance said that the new entity would benefit all stake holders with presence in toys, games and home video all under one roof and make their network the most versatile and influential network in the personal leisure and entertainment space in India.

  • Compelling content the key for mobile TV adoption

    Compelling content the key for mobile TV adoption

    MUMBAI: Mobile TV will succeed if the content on offer is compelling. Also one or two channels will not suffice. An operator should give around 20 channels. It should also be easy for the consumer to switch from one channel to another.

    This was the message delivered by Qualcomm president India and SAARC Kanwalinder Singh. As an example, he noted that if certain geography requires about 30,000-40,000 base station for wireless coverage, the same region can be served by about 400 MediaFLO towers to deliver mobile TV service.

    If the bandwidth is not enough then the picture is jerky and consumers will be put off. The key to successful mobile television is to do interactivity with the broadcast. MediaFLO is an end to end system that allows this. Mobile television is one to one interaction unlike television which is one to many.

    Qualcomm bought spectrum in the US and is now in a deal with Verizon to launch a mobile TV service next year in the US. He noted that MediaFLO has a Conditional Access System which allows only those phones who have paid for the content to access it. When desired, the operator can still have free to air content.

    The basic challenge is to have the maximum number of channels possible with relatively limited spectrum. Power consumption by the mobile phone should also be low.

    Mobile television also offers unique commerce opportunities. For instance secondary generation opportunities exist when a music video is playing. One can offer a ringtone, the music album of that artist to the user to buy on the spot. He added that Qualcomm is keen on doing a trial project with mobile operators in India.

    Another session looked at the business of retail and home entertainment. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment country manager N. Muthuram noted that there is a 60 per cent DVD penetration in TV homes in India. The DVD has features like subtitles, language options which has energised the market.

    “It is a catalogue driven business. Classic titles like Sholaty perform well contrary to perception in some quarters that one the new titles sell. In the US home videos earn thrice as much as theatrical releases. In fact Sony Pictures has a deal with Steven Seagal and Wesley snipes for direct to video films. It is also a positive sign that window of release for videos is falling.”

    He noted the importance of retail in the home video market in the US. Walmart contributes 50 per cent to the home video business. He noted that increasingly companies across the globe tie up for home video releases. An example is in Mexico. There Act II Popcorn did a deal for the home video release of Spiderman.

    The aim was to once again generate excitement for Spiderman when the sequel was being released theatrically. Act II found relevance with the product and 42,000 units were sold. In Italy a pizza company has an association with DVD releases. Basically a DVD comes with a pizza. They also do a DVD choice of the month initiative. The message is that the consumer can enjoy the pizza while watching a film. This gives the home entertainment firm an avenue that would have exited earlier. The retail firm meanwhile gets an extra hook for its product.

    In Germany a tie up was done for Terminator 3 between Sony, Sony Electronics and Hatari which had developed a game based on the game. The good thing was that it was a combined promotional effort. There was TVC pushing all the three firms. When consumers bought a product there would be leaflet inside telling them about the other two products. In India the key challenge is to educate brand marketers about the possibilities in this arena.

    Saregama VP and head – films Sweta Agnihotri gave more examples of how synergies work between DVDs and brands. Motrorola for instance made a phone on Spongebob. Samsung had done a tie up for the Matrix which was all about having information. Kelloggs regularly does stuff with Disney. Mitsubishi did a promotion for 2 Fast 2 Furious where they had kits distributed in their dealership outlets. All this allows a brand to be associated with famous stars for a relatively less cost. In India Saregama had done a Barbie called Hope has Wings for a brand. The song played on music channels. There was also a tie up with micro processor solution firm AMD for the DVD release of Madagascar.