ITV

Tag: Vishal Dadlani

  • Colors Infinity brings another season English singing talent hunt

    Colors Infinity brings another season English singing talent hunt

    MUMBAI: Looking for the next English singing protégé, COLORS INFINITY returns with India’s first ever home-grown English language singing talent show – The Stage. Season 2 promises to be even bigger and better after the resounding success of its first edition. In the first season, 20 singers were given the opportunity of a lifetime to take the stage and display their talent. But this year, singers across the country will get an opportunity to participate and become a part of this life-changing experience by submitting their video entries on http://www.colorsinfinity.com/thestage/ starting June 10th, 2016.

    With call for entries the second season promises to attract talent from every corner of the country, giving them a platform to exhibit their singing prowess. Shortlisted participants from the online entries will vie in the on-ground auditions to be held in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru for the final spots. Judges Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani and Devraj Sanyalreunite with host Shibani Dandekar once more in the search of the next singing sensation.

    Passionately talking about the upcoming season of The Stage, Ferzad Palia, EVP, Viacom18 and Head of English and Youth Entertainment, says “India is a goldmine of talent. And we proved it last year with 20 of the best English singing talent competing in the first season of the show. The Stage has done what no one has done before. It has given the unexplored English singing talent in India a unique platform to show their mettle and enthrall the audience with their sheer brilliance. Evaluating the response to the first season of the show, we have broadened the horizon by inviting participation from all over the country through our online platform and on-ground auditions. Season Two of The Stage promises to be grander not only in terms of participation but also the quality of the talent that we anticipate to grace the show. We can’t wait for the euphoria to begin.”

    Produced by SOL, a stalwart in the field of non-fiction content, the show promises to give viewers a different take on the music scene in India.

    On the new format, SOL producer Fazila Allana says, “With the first season we introduced India to some amazing English music talent that was undiscovered. Now, this year, with the second edition, we are taking it up a notch with open auditions and are eagerly awaiting the flood of talent that will surely greet us.”

    The Stage has been a revolutionary step towards bringing English singing talent in India to the forefront. The show has today brought alive an all new platform for showcasing talent, emerging as a new horizon for English music. Season 2 promises to elate the music scene and showcase some riveting talent in India. Coming soon to your screens, is the high decibel English music game changer, “The Stage 2”, only on COLORS INFINITY.

  • Disney India’s Broadway Style Musical Beauty and The Beast Red Carpet

    Disney India’s Broadway Style Musical Beauty and The Beast Red Carpet

    MUMBAI: Disney India brought back the magical experience of Beauty and the Beast live on stage at NSCI dome Worli with its second weekend of shows. The locally produced musical theatre extravaganza attracted a huge crowd of celebrities and once again left everyone mesmerized with their breath-taking performances.

    The show spotted Varun Dhawan, Boman Irani, Terrence Lewis, Vishal Dadlani, Karishma Tanna and others attending the grand musical.

    The highly anticipated show boasts of world class production values, extravagant sets, stunning costumes and over 100 of the finest musical theatre performers bringing alive the magical love story live on stage. Some of the prominent people who worked with Indian production include – Vikranth Pawar (Show Director and Creative Head, Live Entertainment at Disney India), Lesle Lewis (Music Direction), Terence Lewis (Choreography), Varsha Jain (Set Design), Gavin Miguel (Costume Design), Pallavi Devika (Hair & Make-up) and Suzanne D’Mello (Vocal Training). Most outstanding is the fact that this production of the Beauty and the Beast musical has been entirely developed locally but retains the original script and memorable music of the Broadway show.

    The show (in English) runs for 130 minutes in duration and has only select shows in Mumbai.

     

  • Disney India’s Broadway Style Musical Beauty and The Beast Red Carpet

    Disney India’s Broadway Style Musical Beauty and The Beast Red Carpet

    MUMBAI: Disney India brought back the magical experience of Beauty and the Beast live on stage at NSCI dome Worli with its second weekend of shows. The locally produced musical theatre extravaganza attracted a huge crowd of celebrities and once again left everyone mesmerized with their breath-taking performances.

    The show spotted Varun Dhawan, Boman Irani, Terrence Lewis, Vishal Dadlani, Karishma Tanna and others attending the grand musical.

    The highly anticipated show boasts of world class production values, extravagant sets, stunning costumes and over 100 of the finest musical theatre performers bringing alive the magical love story live on stage. Some of the prominent people who worked with Indian production include – Vikranth Pawar (Show Director and Creative Head, Live Entertainment at Disney India), Lesle Lewis (Music Direction), Terence Lewis (Choreography), Varsha Jain (Set Design), Gavin Miguel (Costume Design), Pallavi Devika (Hair & Make-up) and Suzanne D’Mello (Vocal Training). Most outstanding is the fact that this production of the Beauty and the Beast musical has been entirely developed locally but retains the original script and memorable music of the Broadway show.

    The show (in English) runs for 130 minutes in duration and has only select shows in Mumbai.

     

  • Colors Infinity looks to push the envelope with ‘The Stage’

    Colors Infinity looks to push the envelope with ‘The Stage’

    MUMBAI: Viacom18’s English entertainment channel Colors Infinity is poised to take Indian content to newer heights with the launch of The Stage, which is the first ever home grown English language singing show.

     

    Slated to launch on 10 October, 2015, The Stage will be aired on weekends at 9 pm.

     

    Colors Infinity is looking to push the envelop with the launch of this show. What’s more the channel has put its marketing might in extensively promoting the show across digital and on-ground platforms. From broadcast to print, a buzz has been created about the new reality show in the country.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Viacom18 EVP and head of English entertainment Ferzad Palia said, “We know there is a huge amount of talent in the English space across the country. This is just not a Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore show. We are pushing the envelope heavily by going into the reality space in the English entertainment genre, which has never been done before. The talent will be grown and taken forward.”

     

    When asked whether original English entertainment content like The Stage would work in India, a senior media planner opined, “Somebody had to push the envelope. I don’t see any reason why original English entertainment content should not work in India. It might not get success immediately, but eventually, in the long run, I see it tasting enormous success.” 

     

    With a jury comprising Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani and Devraj Sanyal, The Stage will be hosted by Shibani Dandekar.

     

    The show will provide a platform to 20 raw talent from around the country in a quest to find India’s best English language singer. The winner of the title will bag a record deal with Universal Music, which would be released globally, a 10 city tour, a mentorship program and a Renault Duster. Viacom18’s marketing muscle will also be used to back the winner’s career across all platforms.

     

    The Stage is produced by SOL. Speaking about the show’s unique format, SOL producer Fazila Allana says, “The show clearly depicts how talented Indian artists are. We looked for some great singers who will bring something new for the people and whose voices will stand above the rest. The contestants have their own individuality.”

     

    “The Stage has given me a chance to reveal the hidden gems of our nation. It marks a landmark in the music and entertainment industry,” asserts Universal Music Group South Asia MD and CEO Devraj Sanyal.

     

    Throwing light on the expectation from the show, Palia says, “We are happy with the show getting a good response. Whenever someone pushes the envelope and does something different, you see the entire society talking about it and that was our objective. There is great talent sitting out there and they don’t have a platform to showcase it.”

     

    Not running after ratings, Palia says that the channel’s objective was to come up with something unique for the Indian audience. “We don’t sell according to the ratings and we didn’t think about the expenses while doing the show,” he informs.

  • Colors Infinity experiments with locally developed English reality show ‘The Stage’

    Colors Infinity experiments with locally developed English reality show ‘The Stage’

    MUMBAI: Ever since its launch a little more than a month back, Viacom 18’s new English Entertainment channel Colors Infinity has been invading untouched territories. Continuing to tread on the same path, the channel is now set to launch a locally curated English musical reality show called The Stage.

     

    The one of a kind reality show will premiere on 10 October and will be aired on weekends from 9 – 10 pm. The channel has roped in celebrated names from the music world like Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani and Devraj Sanyal as judges. The show will be hosted by Shibani Dandekar.

     

    The Stage unlike other reality shows will not limit its exposure to the on-air episodes. “We will have on ground activities, live concerts, the winner will get a contract with Universal and a musical single will also be released. Hence its not just about 20 on-air episodes. We will go beyond and will leave no stones unturned,” said Viacom 18 EVP and head of English entertainment Ferzad Palia.

     

    The talent in the show will be nurtured by a group of experienced musicians. “We have contestants from across the country, and they are highly talented. The Stage will provide them with the platform to become popular and then nurture them to grow as professionals. The Stage will be a show where the winning contestant will be remembered for a long, long time. It is the most real reality show with very little edit,” Palia added.

     

    “It is not true that English content is consumed only by people in metros. Close to 62 – 65 per cent of English music viewership comes from non-metro areas. So English as a language is spreading across the country and that’s one of the primary reason why we decided to experiment with The Stage. We will target VH1’s audience with the show,” informs Palia.

     

    The Stage is presented by Renault and powered by the dating app Trulymadly. SOL is the production company on board.

     

    Renault India marketing head Virat Khullar said, “As a company, we at Renault stand for innovation and passion and The Stage is a fresh new concept in Indian television, which is bound to change the scope of entertainment in this country. This belief in the show is the foundation of our partnership with Colors Infinity. We are glad that we can be a part of this huge transformation of English entertainment in India.”

     

    Filmmaker and Colors Infinity co-curator Karan Johar said, “When I first heard about The Stage, I was amazed at the introduction of such a novel concept for Indian television. I can see a paradigm shift in the reality TV shows in India.”

     

    Actor and channel co-curator Alia Bhatt added, “English music is such an important part of our playlists but we don’t get to see it anywhere on our music platforms. So The Stage is an idea whose time has come.”

     

    Since the IP remains exclusively with Colors Infinity, it is highly possible that the channel will later syndicate the format to a different platform or other territories. “Syndication can be a possibility in the long run but at this stage our focus is to establish The Stage and innovate with other locally created English content,” summed up Palia.

  • Sony Liv opens voting phase for ‘Indian Idol Junior 2’

    Sony Liv opens voting phase for ‘Indian Idol Junior 2’

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) digital video entertainment brand Sony Liv is currently hosting the digital telecast of Indian Idol Junior season two (IIJ) which launched on 20 May.

     

    The show features budding singers from around the country competing with each other for the grand title of the next IIJ2.

     

    The voting process, which commences on 4 July will take place exclusively through the digital medium and closes on 5 July at 8 am. Audience need to simply download Sony Liv app from app store and vote for their favourite contestant through the app.

     

    Indian Idol Junior, India’s foremost singing talent show for young singers, was extremely well received by the audience during its first season. With contestants from as far as Dubai participating in the musical extravaganza in its second edition, the show promises to be bigger and more challenging in its return outing.

     

    With a jury comprising Vishal Dadlani, Sonakshi Sinha, Salim Merchant and Shalmali Kholgade, it promises to reprise its knack of scouting for young talent aged five to 15 and offering them a nationwide platform to showcase their vocal skills to become household names.

     

    The 13 contestants entering voting phase are Subhankar sarkar, Ranita Banerjee, Yumna Ajin, Niharika Nath, Ajay Bhirjwasi, Vaishnav Girish, Ananya Sritam Nanda, Nahid Afrin, Vidhi Jaswal, Srilakshmi Belmannu, Moti Khan, Nithyashree Venkataramanan, Surendra Singh Panwar. The show is hosted by hosted by charming Hussain Kuwajerwala and Asha Negi.

     

    SET EVP and digital entertainment head Uday Sodhi said, “Indian Idol Junior was extremely successful in its debut season and showed that music really has no boundaries. With the show set to provide a bigger and grander stage this time, Sony Liv aims to increase the outreach of the programme by providing anytime digital access to its diverse user base. The fact that voting lines are now open exclusively through the app or our online interface proves how the show is increasingly establishing a digital presence for its audience.”

  • Farhan Akhtar & Vishal Dadlani to produce music video for ‘X-Men’ TV premiere

    Farhan Akhtar & Vishal Dadlani to produce music video for ‘X-Men’ TV premiere

    MUMBAI: Star Movies is all set to premiere X-Men: Days of the Future Past on 19 April. However, this is the first time that the channel will be carrying out an innovation around the premiere. Star Movies has joined hands with Farhan Akhtar, Vishal Dadlani and SKRAT to produce a music video around the movie in a bid to essay the core of the film and pay tribute to the power of friendship.

     

    In X-Men: Days of the Future Past, the X-Men come together as one to ward off an indefeatable enemy. This movie showcases the power of camaraderie, brotherhood and above all the fact that the only way to save the future is to stand together. For together, they become an unstoppable force.

     

    Filmmaker, actor and Farout Media co-founder Farhan Akhtar said, “The song Mutant Macha is a collaborative effort between Skrat, Vishal and myself. It’s a song that portrays the ultimate hero – someone who stands for good in the most adverse of times. Our collaboration is keeping in spirit with the kinship that the world needs to create a united force for positivity.”

     

    Farout Media CEO and co-founder Anurag Rao added, “The vision for Farout Media is based on its core principle of ‘Music Innovations’, with a clear focus on artist interests and repertoire monetization. Star Movies – X-Men 2 Premiere partnership is a fantastic way to introduce new music through synchronization and retention of music rights by content creators.” 

     

    A Star Movies spokesperson said, “This association is in sync with our purpose of giving young talent of India a platform making this association a perfect example of camaraderie and friendship just like the movie X-Men: Days of Future Past.”

     

    X-Men: Days of the Future Past will premiere on 19 April at 1 pm and 9 pm. 

  • Sony to push digital platform Liv for ‘Indian Idol Junior’ auditions

    Sony to push digital platform Liv for ‘Indian Idol Junior’ auditions

    MUMBAI: It’s time for all the little ones to strengthen their vocal cords and showcase their talent as Indian Idol Junior (IIJ) is back with a bang on Sony Entertainment Television. And this time round, Sony is looking at giving its digital platform – Sony Liv a push via the show’s auditions.

     

    For the first time ever, IIJ will give a chance to the audience to be a part of the auditions through a digital process called Digital Ace.

     

    To take part, all kids have to do is upload their best audio or video performances on the Sony Liv website or the Sony Liv app. A digital jury will review all the performances and will select 12 kids who will be called to Mumbai for the Jury Round. Out of the 12 performances, the top four will get an opportunity to perform in front of the show’s judges.

     

    This second edition of IIJ will be judged by Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and Sonakshi Sinha. Singer Shalmali Kholgade will be the special judge for the auditions. 

     

    The first leg of the auditions kickstarted in Kolkata on 4 April and saw outstanding participation from kids. The city also saw the show bring in a new twist to the audition process with the announcement of digital auditions.

     

    SET SVP and marketing head Gaurav Seth said, “After the over-whelming response received last season, we are delighted to announce the commencement of Indian Idol Junior auditions. We would like to urge all the kids to show their singing talent and be a part of the new season. Digital Ace will only help kids to give the long lines a skip and impress the judges through their audios or videos. It’s definitely an endeavor that will help aspirants all over.”

     

     

    Dadlani added, “I am thrilled to be part of Indian Idol Junior once again. Looking at such talented kids is an inspiration in itself. Kolkata has always given us some of our best contestants and this time too we were not disappointed. We are also looking forward to the performances of the winners of the Digital Ace. We are sure this season is going to be an equally exciting one.”

     

    After Kolkata, the audition process will move to Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai on 11 April, 18 April and 25 April respectively.

     

  • ‘India’s Digital Superstars’ kicks off with 1400+ videos

    ‘India’s Digital Superstars’ kicks off with 1400+ videos

    MUMBAI: FremantleMedia has launched the first episode of India’s Digital Superstars. The digital talent hunt has already received a million views in less than a month.

     

    This is first of its kind digital talent hunt where the audience will be judging the next ‘Big Digital Star’ across a span of 14 weeks. The talent hunt has mentors like Sunny Leone, Anu Malik, Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant, Jazzy B, Andy, Raftaar and Anubhav Sinha on board.

     

    The show has already received 1400+ entries within the month and continues to invite entries across all demographics and talent genres. The winner will be given a contract worth Rs 20 lakhs from FremantleMedia and One Digital.

     

    The show is presented by Amazon.in, powered by Gionee in association with radio partner RedFM. The auditions were open to all Indians across the world over 13 weeks.

     

    Moreover, the Indiasdigitalsuperstar.com platform encourages participants to upload multiple videos of their talent and will be judged by the audience through the number of views and likes across YouTube, ZengaTV and Facebook.

  • Brand Kapil Sharma, a success on twitter too

    Brand Kapil Sharma, a success on twitter too

    MUMBAI: He has managed to charm Indian audiences with his sense of humour and timing. Brand Kapil Sharma though, is not just limited to television but the funnyman is a hit on micro blogging site twitter too. He features at the top of the most followed among TV celebrities on twitter with 17, 17,777 followers, followed by anchor Mandira Bedi with 4, 93,190. Fashionista Anusha Dandekar, is third in the list with 3, 28,262 followers. Television actor Ram Kapoor completes the list with 1,27,717.

    Indian channels too have been seeing increasing engagement on the micro blogging site, to woo fans and audiences. The channel Colors comes at the number one spot toppling other GEC’s like Zee TV and Star Plus which have come at the second and third spot respectively. Zoom, a Bollywood dedicated channel has beaten Sony for the fourth spot, which came in fifth.

    Former lead vocalist of the now disbanded electro rock band Pentagram and part of the duo Vishal-Shekhar, Vishal Dadlani tops the most mentioned musicians list. He’s known to be candid and openly voice his support and his opinions on current affairs and music. Although way more popular for his trendy lyrics and music production, Yo Yo Honey Singh, surprisingly comes in at number three. Female vocalist Shreya Goshal comes second while Academy award winner AR Rahman comes in fourth.

    The most spoken moment on the platform among entertainment vertical, was when Rajinikanth joined twitter, with over 2, 00,000 followers in the first 24 hours and now over 1.1 million in total.

    Popular on TV and also popular on twitter, Kapil Sharma has not just topped this list but is also one of the fastest growing TV personalities too. He is closely followed by Chef Vikas Khanna who is also popular for his charm and sharp looks. The other three most mentioned TV personalities are Karan Kundra, Karan Wahi and Kritika Sharma.

    In a news dominant nation, journalists make for influencers as well as change agents.  Harsha Bhogle known for his commentary as well as his opinion and contributory article in leading publications and magazines made it to the list. It is also intriguing to note that all mentioned are related to the TV medium than the print, Harsha being the exception. Rajdeep Sardesai tops the list while wife Sagarika Ghose comes in fourth. NDTV’s Barkha Dutt is second in line, while Rahul Kanwal is placed at number three.

    The list of some of the most followed Indians from the entertainment industry is not a tricky one to guess. Shahenshah Amitabh Bachchan is ranked number one with 11,881,345 followers, followed by the three Khan’s; Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman with 1,02,96,567,  9,925,022,  9,475,555 followers respectively. Female actor Deepika Padukone comes in fifth with 83,99,197  followers.

    The big names who joined the platform this year are Rajinikanth, Arjun Kapoor, Kajol, Twinkle Khanna, Kirron Kher, Alok Nath, Armaan Jain, Amit Trivedi and Prakash Jha.

    The top 10 hashtags for the year were ManwaLaage (Manwa Laage,  a song from the movie Happy  New Year), Happy Birthday Hrithik Roshan, Hrithik The Most Handsome Indian, I  Stand With Deepika Padukone (Users support actor Deepika Padukone for her stance against a national newspaper), Jai Ho Thunder Storms In 11 Days (the hashtag refers to fans waiting for Jai Ho movie 11 days prior its release) among others.