Tag: Tollywood

Channels, Bollywood and TV actors gear up to celebrate Mother’s Day in unique ways

MUMBAI: From being an accomplice in watching late night shows to keeping the deepest secret, from saving us from a yelling from dad to guiding us when we are in the middle of nowhere, mothers have always been a child’s beloved. A friend, a teacher, a mentor, an idol, a protector, a manager, she is a fusion of many.

In a world where all of us are glued to our smartphones,on Facebook or Whatsapp or Twitter, we often forget to pause for just a moment and acknowledge all that our mothers do to ensure our every happiness. Known for their multitasking abilities and for always giving someone a chance, a person will always have her mother right by their side.

While all of us say we have only two hands and do limited things, mothers have multiple hands and an unending will to keep doing things for their child despite all hardships. And yet, we often forget to spend quality time with our mothers and express our heartfelt gratitude for their unconditional love.

Television channels have turned up their love and care quotient to entertain viewers further. This Mother’s Day which falls on 8 March, Indiantelevision.com has made your day simpler by picking up a few channels which you can enjoy with your mother whole day long.

Even if your mother occasionally scolds you for not cleaning your room, you will certainly be glad that she is nothing like the ‘momzillas’ living in the Upper East Side of New York. Comedy Central continues this movement of appreciation for all mothers by airing the entire season of Odd Mom Out from 12 pm to 5 pm. Laugh and bond with your mother, she loves you despite you’re all the stupid things you have done and surely will do in the future.

The channel has also joined hands with UrbanClap to make the day special for a few lucky viewers through a one day contest in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Executives will be visiting the house of these winners to give make this day easy going for their mommies by taking up odd jobs and chores of the house and giving the mommies manicures, pedicures and foot massages.

On the other hand, Nickelodeon has announced a special association with Love Sugar Dough by offering free Dora Cup Cakes on from 2 pm to 8 pm to celebrate this special occasion. The first 25 kids who visit the Love Sugar Dough branches at Chowpatty, Breach Candy, Bandra and Bombay Central, along with their mothers, are in for a sweet treat with free Dora cupcakes awaiting them.

Romedy Now will celebrate Mother’s Day with a special line-up to pay tribute to the hard-working and selfless women in our lives. The channel will air various movies like Mamma Mia, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Big Wedding, Maid in Manhattan and Life As We Knowunder their official property titled Mum’s The World. It has also created an integrated contest with the same title through which one lucky winner will get an all-expense paid trip to Phuket with the winner’s mom. The movies will air the entire day from 9 am to 9 pm on 8 May.

It has also tied up with the recently released comedy-drama Mother’s Day starring Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson. The film depicts interlinked stories about three women in different settings and on different emotional missions. Roberts plays the role of a glamorous TV host, while Hudson is a woman who wants a stronger and more cordial relationship with her mother, and Aniston is a divorcee who is looking for love

Animal Planet plans to bring its viewers a day full of amazing stories which will put spotlight on some of the outstanding animal mothers going the extra mile for their young. The mother’s day special will air on 8 May 2016 from 12 pm to 8 pm.On one hand the viewers can see Amarobia Spider mom sacrificing her life to be often eaten by her newborns while on the other hand Koalas will be seen feeding on poisonous eucalyptus leaves and building up tolerance in her babies by feeding them her own faeces. Orangutan moms will nurse their offspring until they reach the age or 6 or 7.

Some of the episodes for the day includes Heart of a Lioness portraying some places on earth where legends come alive. An inversion of nature baffles the scientific world when a young lioness in Samburu Reserve, Kenya, sets aside her predatory instincts to adopt a baby oryx antelope and mother it with infinite tenderness for 16 days. Foregoing her most basic needs she proved both a compassionate and wise protector.

AXN will celebrate this day by screening popular American series Extant, a futuristic thriller centred around a female astronaut Molly Woods, essayed by Academy Award Winning actress Halle Berry,mother to an alien and a humanic, fight against her detractors to protect her children.The series will air from 12 pm to 6 pm.

Moms and daughters can also witness a three hour star studded special show called Shukriya Maa from 5:30 pm where celebrities from Bollywood and Television will pay a loving tribute to their mothers and thank them in their own unique special ways. The show features Soha Ali Khan surprising mother Sharmila Tagore by travelling to Delhi and presenting her with a Kindle since she’s a voracious reader. The gorgeous mother-daughter duo will be seen sharing interesting anecdotes from their lives. Farah Khan, Karishma Kapoor, etc will be seen sharing their innermost feelings and lesser known facts with their moms and how their kids are quite like their granny.

Karanvir Bohra will get caught off guard when his mom reveals what a naughty boy he was right from his younger days while Karan Tacker’s mother shares that he has always been the good boy all his life and has remained humble and the most important thing she loves about Karan is that even today when he comes late from shoots he comes and meets them and then only he goes back to his room. Actor Mouny Roy will be seen dancing on few songs and get emotional as she requested her mother to not leave her like Baba did, leaving everyone on the sets with a lump in their throat. Ragini Khanna, Sayantani Ghosh, Shiny and Anita Hassanandani will be seen dedicating various acts expressing gratitude towards their mothers for their unflinching love and support through thick and thin.

Culture Machine has released a latest video on Blush encouraging viewers to confess their closely held secrets to their moms. When people stand in front of the camera and confess their deepest, darkest and silliest secrets to their mother, it provokes us to think that maybe it is time to look at one of the most important relationships of our life from another perspective. From telling her about being gay to when one had sex for the first time, from sharing a deep pain about sexual abuse to apologies for stealing money, these individuals in the video have said aloud their heart’s most intimate secrets to their mothers. This video is not only very moving but also thought-provoking.

Savour some of the most intimate and extraordinary mother-child moments of the world. So enjoy this Sunday with you mother and don’t forget to tell her how much you love her….

May 6, 2016
Channels, Bollywood and TV actors gear up to celebrate Mother’s Day in unique ways

MUMBAI: From being an accomplice in watching late night shows to keeping the deepest secret, from saving us from a yelling from dad to guiding us when we are in the middle of nowhere, mothers have always been a child’s beloved. A friend, a teacher, a mentor, an idol, a protector, a manager, she is a fusion of many.

In a world where all of us are glued to our smartphones,on Facebook or Whatsapp or Twitter, we often forget to pause for just a moment and acknowledge all that our mothers do to ensure our every happiness. Known for their multitasking abilities and for always giving someone a chance, a person will always have her mother right by their side.

While all of us say we have only two hands and do limited things, mothers have multiple hands and an unending will to keep doing things for their child despite all hardships. And yet, we often forget to spend quality time with our mothers and express our heartfelt gratitude for their unconditional love.

Television channels have turned up their love and care quotient to entertain viewers further. This Mother’s Day which falls on 8 March, Indiantelevision.com has made your day simpler by picking up a few channels which you can enjoy with your mother whole day long.

Even if your mother occasionally scolds you for not cleaning your room, you will certainly be glad that she is nothing like the ‘momzillas’ living in the Upper East Side of New York. Comedy Central continues this movement of appreciation for all mothers by airing the entire season of Odd Mom Out from 12 pm to 5 pm. Laugh and bond with your mother, she loves you despite you’re all the stupid things you have done and surely will do in the future.

The channel has also joined hands with UrbanClap to make the day special for a few lucky viewers through a one day contest in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Executives will be visiting the house of these winners to give make this day easy going for their mommies by taking up odd jobs and chores of the house and giving the mommies manicures, pedicures and foot massages.

On the other hand, Nickelodeon has announced a special association with Love Sugar Dough by offering free Dora Cup Cakes on from 2 pm to 8 pm to celebrate this special occasion. The first 25 kids who visit the Love Sugar Dough branches at Chowpatty, Breach Candy, Bandra and Bombay Central, along with their mothers, are in for a sweet treat with free Dora cupcakes awaiting them.

Romedy Now will celebrate Mother’s Day with a special line-up to pay tribute to the hard-working and selfless women in our lives. The channel will air various movies like Mamma Mia, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Big Wedding, Maid in Manhattan and Life As We Knowunder their official property titled Mum’s The World. It has also created an integrated contest with the same title through which one lucky winner will get an all-expense paid trip to Phuket with the winner’s mom. The movies will air the entire day from 9 am to 9 pm on 8 May.

It has also tied up with the recently released comedy-drama Mother’s Day starring Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson. The film depicts interlinked stories about three women in different settings and on different emotional missions. Roberts plays the role of a glamorous TV host, while Hudson is a woman who wants a stronger and more cordial relationship with her mother, and Aniston is a divorcee who is looking for love

Animal Planet plans to bring its viewers a day full of amazing stories which will put spotlight on some of the outstanding animal mothers going the extra mile for their young. The mother’s day special will air on 8 May 2016 from 12 pm to 8 pm.On one hand the viewers can see Amarobia Spider mom sacrificing her life to be often eaten by her newborns while on the other hand Koalas will be seen feeding on poisonous eucalyptus leaves and building up tolerance in her babies by feeding them her own faeces. Orangutan moms will nurse their offspring until they reach the age or 6 or 7.

Some of the episodes for the day includes Heart of a Lioness portraying some places on earth where legends come alive. An inversion of nature baffles the scientific world when a young lioness in Samburu Reserve, Kenya, sets aside her predatory instincts to adopt a baby oryx antelope and mother it with infinite tenderness for 16 days. Foregoing her most basic needs she proved both a compassionate and wise protector.

AXN will celebrate this day by screening popular American series Extant, a futuristic thriller centred around a female astronaut Molly Woods, essayed by Academy Award Winning actress Halle Berry,mother to an alien and a humanic, fight against her detractors to protect her children.The series will air from 12 pm to 6 pm.

Moms and daughters can also witness a three hour star studded special show called Shukriya Maa from 5:30 pm where celebrities from Bollywood and Television will pay a loving tribute to their mothers and thank them in their own unique special ways. The show features Soha Ali Khan surprising mother Sharmila Tagore by travelling to Delhi and presenting her with a Kindle since she’s a voracious reader. The gorgeous mother-daughter duo will be seen sharing interesting anecdotes from their lives. Farah Khan, Karishma Kapoor, etc will be seen sharing their innermost feelings and lesser known facts with their moms and how their kids are quite like their granny.

Karanvir Bohra will get caught off guard when his mom reveals what a naughty boy he was right from his younger days while Karan Tacker’s mother shares that he has always been the good boy all his life and has remained humble and the most important thing she loves about Karan is that even today when he comes late from shoots he comes and meets them and then only he goes back to his room. Actor Mouny Roy will be seen dancing on few songs and get emotional as she requested her mother to not leave her like Baba did, leaving everyone on the sets with a lump in their throat. Ragini Khanna, Sayantani Ghosh, Shiny and Anita Hassanandani will be seen dedicating various acts expressing gratitude towards their mothers for their unflinching love and support through thick and thin.

Culture Machine has released a latest video on Blush encouraging viewers to confess their closely held secrets to their moms. When people stand in front of the camera and confess their deepest, darkest and silliest secrets to their mother, it provokes us to think that maybe it is time to look at one of the most important relationships of our life from another perspective. From telling her about being gay to when one had sex for the first time, from sharing a deep pain about sexual abuse to apologies for stealing money, these individuals in the video have said aloud their heart’s most intimate secrets to their mothers. This video is not only very moving but also thought-provoking.

Savour some of the most intimate and extraordinary mother-child moments of the world. So enjoy this Sunday with you mother and don’t forget to tell her how much you love her….

May 6, 2016
Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

MUMBAI: One of the most loved film genres across geographies was action was the thought that prompted the launch of a new movie channel – Housefull Action. Launched on 21 February this year, the channel specifically caters to the action hungry audience that is constantly looking for more. The channel says that it will be showcasing the best of content from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood.

Housefull Action is marketed by White Pixel in association with Swami Films and is broadcast by Triumph Media Vision Pvt Ltd (Triumph MVPL).

Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, Swami Films founder and director Ajit Joshi said, “With the launch of Housefull Action, our aim is to cater and entertain the action movies lover. Primarily, our focus will be on South Indian movies but we will also be airing Bollywood and Hollywood action films.”

To ensure that even the interiors of the country could view its offerings, the channel first launched on DD Freedish. Currently, Housefull Action is available on Dish TV’s DTH platform, as also on Den, Hathway and major MSOs’. Further, the channel is in talks with other MSOs’ as well, hence in the coming couple of months the distribution of the channel will become more robust.

Marketing strategy

Being just two months old, the channel is yet to have advertisers on board. In the meanwhile the channel has sold time slots to several brands for teleshopping. On an average, sources within Housefull Action said that the channel earns revenues of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for half an hour from teleshopping. On a given day, the channel airs teleshopping for four to five hours.

Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy, Joshi said, “There are two ways for the business – teleshopping or commercial advertisements. We will go with the both the ways in future.”

With digitization happening across metros the channel will be generating revenue through ad sales, Joshi said, “White Pixel clearly feels that it has been getting good response from the market and that people are keen to add more channels in the plans to build frequency”.

Joshi revealed, “We are waiting for our BARC ratings to stabilize so that we can pitch to our advertisers. Keeping our competitors in mind, we will freeze the 10 sec ad rates. We have good financiers working with us, therefore we hope for the best.”

Triumph MVPL director Sudhir Singh said, “There is a huge market available for the action genre and we want to capitalize on it. We have done our primary research work and the results show us that this market still wants more action movie channels”. While sources within the channel revealed that it is looking to garner around 15 to 20 GRPs’ in the first year of launch Singh explained, “We are not in the numbers game here. We clearly want to sustain ourselves and be there.”

White Pixel director Abdul Aziz Khan said, “Within the Hindi movie genre, ours is a niche genre. For the action movie genre, the core audience is male (age group 15 +). Since there are not many players who cater to this niche genre, we will be targeting those brands that are looking to cater to the male TG as their primary audience.” Reiterating, Aziz said, “We have a very clear definition of catering to the hard core action lover who is primarily male and taking to that audience to the advertisers who want to target the male TG.”

To garner eyeballs, Housefull Action currently spends around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh towards marketing with plans to up that figure to about Rs one crore. There are also plans for on-ground activations and other marketing activities lined up for the coming months.

Joshi further revealed that apart from the movie channel, his group is planning to launch a website Housefultv.com very soon. “For the first time a movie channel will go live. Audiences can watch movies of their own choice. They can easily log in. Initially it will be free of cost.

Sources within the channel say that it has movies like Border, Sarfarosh, Shehenshah, Deewar, Tridev, Deva, Rakshak and Kalavaram in its library. According to industry sources, the acquisition prices of the movies that the channel has in its kitty so far have ranged between of Rs 5- 50 lakhs.

The management says that it will be pumping in money to strengthen its distribution as it wants visibility across all platforms. It also wants to build its visibility by targeting the trade fraternity and customers directly by giving them regular updates on the developments at its end. It has plans to acquire other interesting properties on a regular basis.

The group managing Housefull Action has firm plans to make its venture a profitable one. It is left for time to determine how successful its efforts will be.

May 2, 2016
Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

MUMBAI: One of the most loved film genres across geographies was action was the thought that prompted the launch of a new movie channel – Housefull Action. Launched on 21 February this year, the channel specifically caters to the action hungry audience that is constantly looking for more. The channel says that it will be showcasing the best of content from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood.

Housefull Action is marketed by White Pixel in association with Swami Films and is broadcast by Triumph Media Vision Pvt Ltd (Triumph MVPL).

Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, Swami Films founder and director Ajit Joshi said, “With the launch of Housefull Action, our aim is to cater and entertain the action movies lover. Primarily, our focus will be on South Indian movies but we will also be airing Bollywood and Hollywood action films.”

To ensure that even the interiors of the country could view its offerings, the channel first launched on DD Freedish. Currently, Housefull Action is available on Dish TV’s DTH platform, as also on Den, Hathway and major MSOs’. Further, the channel is in talks with other MSOs’ as well, hence in the coming couple of months the distribution of the channel will become more robust.

Marketing strategy

Being just two months old, the channel is yet to have advertisers on board. In the meanwhile the channel has sold time slots to several brands for teleshopping. On an average, sources within Housefull Action said that the channel earns revenues of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for half an hour from teleshopping. On a given day, the channel airs teleshopping for four to five hours.

Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy, Joshi said, “There are two ways for the business – teleshopping or commercial advertisements. We will go with the both the ways in future.”

With digitization happening across metros the channel will be generating revenue through ad sales, Joshi said, “White Pixel clearly feels that it has been getting good response from the market and that people are keen to add more channels in the plans to build frequency”.

Joshi revealed, “We are waiting for our BARC ratings to stabilize so that we can pitch to our advertisers. Keeping our competitors in mind, we will freeze the 10 sec ad rates. We have good financiers working with us, therefore we hope for the best.”

Triumph MVPL director Sudhir Singh said, “There is a huge market available for the action genre and we want to capitalize on it. We have done our primary research work and the results show us that this market still wants more action movie channels”. While sources within the channel revealed that it is looking to garner around 15 to 20 GRPs’ in the first year of launch Singh explained, “We are not in the numbers game here. We clearly want to sustain ourselves and be there.”

White Pixel director Abdul Aziz Khan said, “Within the Hindi movie genre, ours is a niche genre. For the action movie genre, the core audience is male (age group 15 +). Since there are not many players who cater to this niche genre, we will be targeting those brands that are looking to cater to the male TG as their primary audience.” Reiterating, Aziz said, “We have a very clear definition of catering to the hard core action lover who is primarily male and taking to that audience to the advertisers who want to target the male TG.”

To garner eyeballs, Housefull Action currently spends around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh towards marketing with plans to up that figure to about Rs one crore. There are also plans for on-ground activations and other marketing activities lined up for the coming months.

Joshi further revealed that apart from the movie channel, his group is planning to launch a website Housefultv.com very soon. “For the first time a movie channel will go live. Audiences can watch movies of their own choice. They can easily log in. Initially it will be free of cost.

Sources within the channel say that it has movies like Border, Sarfarosh, Shehenshah, Deewar, Tridev, Deva, Rakshak and Kalavaram in its library. According to industry sources, the acquisition prices of the movies that the channel has in its kitty so far have ranged between of Rs 5- 50 lakhs.

The management says that it will be pumping in money to strengthen its distribution as it wants visibility across all platforms. It also wants to build its visibility by targeting the trade fraternity and customers directly by giving them regular updates on the developments at its end. It has plans to acquire other interesting properties on a regular basis.

The group managing Housefull Action has firm plans to make its venture a profitable one. It is left for time to determine how successful its efforts will be.

May 2, 2016
Star India to back its Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies HD launch with aggressive marketing and adequate content

MUMBAI: It is very easy to say that the television industry in India is in a state of stagnation and soon will fall prey to the new predator- digital, as has happened in the west. But then, when you have a constantly innovating broadcaster like Star India, the perception can be false. Setting trends has been a regular habit for the media baron Rupert Murdoch backed broadcaster and it’s repeating itself again.

“We launched the first HD channel in India and the rest followed the trend. Now we are launching the HD feed of Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies, which is a first in the Bengali space,” says Kevin Vaz.

This Bengali new year (Poila Boishak), the front-runner in the Bengali entertainment space, Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies will have their HD offering to woo their consumers with an exquisite viewing experience. “We have a 51 per cent market share when it comes to viewership, we have 8 to 9 shows always featuring among the top shows, which clearly proves our superiority and our leadership in the space. It’s our responsibility to go and invest on an innovation like this,” asserts Vaz.

There are a lot of new shows that Jalsha has launched recently and a good number of them are there in the pipeline. “It’s not just launching a channel, it’s about backing it up with adequate content also. We have shows like Krian Mala which in HD will give viewers an all new experience to cherish. We are coming up with our 100 episodic show Mahanayak starring Tollywood super star Prasenjit Chatterjee. It will be our biggest production ever and when you have a show like this going HD, is a certain proposition,” explains Vaz.

“The HD feeds will be exact replicas of the SD channels” confirms Vaz, which also rules out the possibility of exclusive HD premiers. But the network will not follow the replicating strategy when it comes to monetisation. “As a group, Star India monetises HD separately, and we will continue to do this with the two new Bengali HD offerings also,” he adds.

A media planning expert on condition of anonymity says, “HD is emerging as an exclusive platform to cater to the niche or rather the top of the pyramid audience and the rates too are reaching a premium, at least in the English entertainment genre. This new offering from Star in the regional Bengali market too will have its premium price. And it’s not only the people from that region who will consume the content, Bengali people across the country will enjoy the offering, so from the brands point of view, its not only that particular region but the entire community that the channels will reach out to.”

The launch will be backed by aggressive 360 degree marketing, “We will promote it across all our HD offerings, this is a big launch that we are doing and we will back it in every possible way,” Vaz concludes.

April 11, 2016
Star India to back its Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies HD launch with aggressive marketing and adequate content

MUMBAI: It is very easy to say that the television industry in India is in a state of stagnation and soon will fall prey to the new predator- digital, as has happened in the west. But then, when you have a constantly innovating broadcaster like Star India, the perception can be false. Setting trends has been a regular habit for the media baron Rupert Murdoch backed broadcaster and it’s repeating itself again.

“We launched the first HD channel in India and the rest followed the trend. Now we are launching the HD feed of Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies, which is a first in the Bengali space,” says Kevin Vaz.

This Bengali new year (Poila Boishak), the front-runner in the Bengali entertainment space, Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies will have their HD offering to woo their consumers with an exquisite viewing experience. “We have a 51 per cent market share when it comes to viewership, we have 8 to 9 shows always featuring among the top shows, which clearly proves our superiority and our leadership in the space. It’s our responsibility to go and invest on an innovation like this,” asserts Vaz.

There are a lot of new shows that Jalsha has launched recently and a good number of them are there in the pipeline. “It’s not just launching a channel, it’s about backing it up with adequate content also. We have shows like Krian Mala which in HD will give viewers an all new experience to cherish. We are coming up with our 100 episodic show Mahanayak starring Tollywood super star Prasenjit Chatterjee. It will be our biggest production ever and when you have a show like this going HD, is a certain proposition,” explains Vaz.

“The HD feeds will be exact replicas of the SD channels” confirms Vaz, which also rules out the possibility of exclusive HD premiers. But the network will not follow the replicating strategy when it comes to monetisation. “As a group, Star India monetises HD separately, and we will continue to do this with the two new Bengali HD offerings also,” he adds.

A media planning expert on condition of anonymity says, “HD is emerging as an exclusive platform to cater to the niche or rather the top of the pyramid audience and the rates too are reaching a premium, at least in the English entertainment genre. This new offering from Star in the regional Bengali market too will have its premium price. And it’s not only the people from that region who will consume the content, Bengali people across the country will enjoy the offering, so from the brands point of view, its not only that particular region but the entire community that the channels will reach out to.”

The launch will be backed by aggressive 360 degree marketing, “We will promote it across all our HD offerings, this is a big launch that we are doing and we will back it in every possible way,” Vaz concludes.

April 11, 2016
Tata Sky targets south India during festive season

MUMBAI: Last year, DTH operator Tata Sky ventured into the Malayalam market by getting Mohanlal on board as its brand ambassador. Now, it has targeted all the remaining three states in one go in its bid to expand in the south of India.

The DTH operator has signed on Tollywood star Mahesh Babu to represent the brand in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Sudeep for Karnataka. It has refrained from signing one for Tamil Nadu but has refreshed its push with a new TVC campaign.

‘Better kante best’ is the tagline being used in Telugu to proclaim its 23 Telugu channels along with knowledge, English and Hindi news channels in the base pack. Babu will propagate this tag line through his TVCs.

The ad campaign featuring Sudeep is built on the premise that people have gotten used to adjusting to things in life but with Tata Sky’s offerings, there is no need to compromise while choosing its STB. Sudeep will enhance this ‘no compromise’ theme in his TVCs.

Kannada viewers will have 14 local channels along with knowledge and English news channels in the base pack.

For Tamil Nadu customers, an advertising campaign will be activated across TV, print, outdoor and online media by conveying the message to Tamil customers who make purchases after careful evaluation that Tata Sky will be their preferred choice due to its quality. With packs starting at Rs 180, new connections will get the Tamil language pack free along with the base pack.

The TVC campaign states ‘Ovvoru vishaiyathaiyum alasi aranju mudivu panravunga, set top box-inu varumbodhu kandippa Tata Sky-dhan choose pannuvanga!” (Those who decide everything after careful evaluation, choose a Tata Sky set top box).

Customers of the southern states can avail an offer of an additional regional pack free for one whole year.

The customer case service has been strengthened with additional call centre support, on-ground manpower and trained personnel to deal with increasing enquiries during the upcoming festive season.

September 29, 2014
Havells eyes 11% growth in FY14

KOLKATA: FMCG and electrical company, Havells India is looking at a growth of 10-11 per cent in the current fiscal 2013-14.

The company is investing a whopping Rs 50 crore for new home appliance facility at Neemrana – Rajasthan, said Havells associate director Y K Gupta in Kolkata on Thursday, on the sidelines of launching a range of products including, new air-fryer.

Tollywood actress Rituparna Sengupta launched a new range of home appliances.

The company said the total debt in the books of London based Havells Sylvania, subsidiary of Havells India, has come down to close to € 80 million and the loan had been rescheduled this year.

“The initial loan was € 220 million when we acquired it in 2007 and that has been reduced to € 80 million now. The repayment will be done through internal accruals of Havells Sylvania and there is no stress in that,” Havells officials said.

The company already has a large scale lighting fixture plant at Neemrana and is now expanding into new products. The plant is expected to be operational from February next year. Home appliances business which stood at Rs 200 crore is projected to jump to Rs 500 crore by 2015, the company said.

The company’s revenue accounted for Rs 7,248 crore while Rs 3,000 crore was the turnover came from overseas during the last fiscal.

“We are happy to launch two of our topline products during the festive period of Durga Puja. Food has always been an integral part of our celebrations and this Puja one can enjoy healthy food with the newly launched airfryer,” ended Gupta.

October 4, 2013
Pran is film industry’s choice for Dadasaheb Phalke award

NEW DELHI: The Film Federation of India has urged the Government of India to present the next Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national honour in Indian cinema, to veteran actor Pran.

FFI President Vinod K Lamba said the industry body had also sent the names of renowned actor Soumitra Chatterjee and senior producer Edida Nageswara Rao forwarded to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Born on 12 February 1920 at Delhi, Pran Sikand started his career by learning photography in Lahore. A chance meeting with a film producer got him his first break in ‘Yamla Jat’ in 1940. Married in 1945 to Shukla, he has two sons Arvind and Sunil, and one daughter Pinky. At partition in 1947, Pran came to Mumbai and restarted his film career after a brief struggle. He has acted in over 400 films and in each one has a new mannerism and a different style, holding the audience spellbound by his versatile and dynamic acting.

As a villain, in films like ‘Ram Aur shyam’ people shuddered with fear and hated him, and yet loved him as the good, unforgettable ‘Mangal chacha’ in ‘Upkar’. His film career spanned six decades.

His favourite hobbies now are watching sports (football, hockey, cricket), reading and looking after his pet dogs. He has five grand children and two great grand children.

Soumitra Chatterjee (born 19 January 1935) is an iconic Bengali actor known among other things for his frequent collaborations with Satyajit Ray. Soumitra‘s film debut came in 1959 in Satyajit Ray‘s Apur Sansar. As noted on the official website for Ray, “At that time, Soumitra Chatterjee was a radio announcer and had only played a small role in a Bengali stage production.” Soumitra would eventually collaborate with Ray on fourteen films.”

Chatterjee was cast in diverse roles by Ray and some of the stories and screenplays that Ray wrote were said to be written with him in mind. Soumitra featured as Feluda/Pradosh Chandra Mitter, the famous private investigator from Calcutta in Ray‘s Feluda series of books, in two films in the 1970s Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath. Ghare Baire, an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore‘s novel of the same name and one of Ray‘s major ventures of the 1980s, featured Chatterjee in a leading role in the character of a radical revolutionary in a love triangle with his friend‘s wife. These roles showcased Chatterjee‘s versatility in playing diverse characters, especially in an urban setting. In Shakha Proshakha, Chatterjee turns out a moving performance in the role of a mentally handicapped son of an aging patriarch on his deathbed and the only source of his father‘s solace, as his siblings squabble.

Telugu producer Edida Nageswara Rao owns the 30-year old film production house Poornodaya Movie Creations in Tollywood. He has produced films with a classical touch in the 1970s and 80s. He was born to Sattiraju Naidu, in a Telugu Naidu family. He was involved in some of the most memorable movies in Telugu film history like Shankarabharana, Swathi Muthyam, and Swayamkrushi.

Most of the movies produced by him won the National Film Award for best feature film in Telugu category, Nandi Awards and were screened in several international film festivals. These films were also dubbed and released in the Russian language. He started his career as a theatre actor, film actor, dubbing artist and then ventured into film producing. After getting retired from the film production, he has also worked as Telugu Film producer‘s Council Secretary, Nandi Awards Committee Chairman and National Film Awards Committee member.

February 14, 2012
Veteran Telugu film director Madhusudan Rao passes away

MUMBAI: Veteran Telugu film director V Madhusudhan Rao passed away on 12 January. He was 95 and had been ailing for the last few years.

The 95-year-old Rao made his debut as a filmmaker with the film Sathi Thulasi in 1959. Some of his films include hits like Anthasthulu, Aathma Balam, Mallepuvu, Angadibomma, Premalu Pellillu and Aradhana. He also directed a Hindi film called Lava Kusha.

Rao was responsible for introducing actor Nagarjuna to Tollywood; he also introduced Jagapathi Babu and Suresh to the silver screen.

Rao is survived by his wife and two sons.

January 13, 2012