Tag: Zulfiqar Khan

MX Player, ALTBalaji rope in Kangana Ranaut for new reality show ‘Lock Upp’

Mumbai: MX Player and ALTBalaji have partnered to launch a reality show ‘Lock Upp: Badass Jail, Atyaachari Khel’ with Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut as the host of the show. The show premieres on 27 February.

Produced by Endemol Shine, the show features 16 celebrities who are put together lock- up for months and stripped of their amenities. The announcement was made at a press conference on Thursday by Ekta R. Kapoor along with MX Media CEO Karan Bedi and actor Kangana Ranaut. Also present were ALTBalaji Group COO Zulfiqar Khan, MX Media COO Nikhil Gandhi, and MX Player SVP and head – acquisitions Mansi Shrivastav.

The show will be live-streamed 24X7 on both ALTBalaji and MX Player. ALTBalaji will also introduce a fantasy metaverse game based on the reality show. “I am thrilled and excited to be foraying into OTT with such a unique and brilliant concept,” said Kangana Ranaut. “I want to thank Ekta for always being by my side, she has always been someone I admire and respect a lot. I am glad that she is there with me for my OTT debut as well.”

“Lock Upp is being launched on a massive scale and has all the elements that make for an entertaining reality show,” said Ekta R. Kapoor. “The concept of the show is brilliant, and I am sure that it will captivate the viewers and set a new standard for reality shows.”

“MX has always been a market disruptor – our user-first approach to create product and content experiences that appeal to our huge audiences’ segments has made us India’s largest entertainment platform today,” said MX Media CEO Karan Bedi. “Lock Upp is yet another step in disrupting the Indian entertainment ecosystem as it is designed as a digital-first non-fiction offering that will release on a scale that is unprecedented for India.”

“ALTBalaji is proud to be the first in the world to launch a metaverse game that is based on a reality show,” said ALTBalaji Group COO Zulfiqar Khan. “Gaming enthusiasts around the world can explore this fantastic world that we are creating with elements of blockchain and NFTs.”

“At the heart of MX Player’s success lies the ‘global Indian’ consumer and we have constantly been working towards creating content as per consumer preferences, especially given the large user base of over 300 million globally spanning across the US, UK, Middle East Southeast Asia and more that we cater to on our platform,” said MX Media COO Nikhil Gandhi.

“MX Player’s content design focuses on building a bouquet of engaging and entertaining offerings for our diverse audience and the biggest pillar of our content creation philosophy is our partnership with content creators and aggregators,” said MX Player SVP and head – content acquisitions Mansi Shrivastav.

February 4, 2022
Zulfiqar Khan appointed as Group COO, Balaji TeleFilms

Mumbai: Television production company Balaji TeleFilms which also owns SVOD platform ALTBalaji has appointed industry veteran Zulfiqar Khan as their new group chief operating officer (COO).

The media conglomerate announced this news through an internal mail to its employees. Khan will be responsible for the overall success of the company’s profit and loss of operations, content, marketing, and distribution deals, it said on Thursday.

He will replace Nachiket Pantvaidya who recently joined Asianet New Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd as the managing director. In this new role, Zulfiqar Khan will directly report to Balaji TeleFilms MD Shobha Kapoor.

Zulfiqar comes with nearly two decades of experience in broadcast & digital media companies. He began his career in 1999 with Star India and spent over sixteen years serving in distinct roles. In 2015, he moved to Eros Now as business Head and CRO for Eros Now. His last stint with HOOQ as managing director saw him leading strategy for the premium video-on-demand service.

Commenting on the development, Balaji Telefilms joint managing director, Ekta Kapoor, said, “We are ecstatic to welcome Zulfiqar aboard. His rich experience is sure to take Balaji Telefilms Ltd. to newer heights. Zulfiqar will be a driving factor for Balaji’s vision of shaping and defining its leadership in the ever evolving Entertainment sector”.

Balaji Telefilms managing director Shobha Kapoor said, “We have great expectations from Zulfiqar. I am sure his robust experience coupled with Balaji Telefilms Ltd. proven business excellence across production and distribution capabilities will create significant value for us”.

Talking about his new role, Khan said, “I am excited to be working with Ekta and to take on this challenging journey at Balaji Telefilms Ltd. which is a pioneer in content creation across platforms as well as one of the top digital entertainment platforms in the country. I am looking forward to a remarkable journey with the organization as we chart a successful growth story for the brand across verticals, in the coming years.”

May 20, 2021
HOOQ brings the intriguing Spy-thriller – ‘Killing Eve S1 and S2’ to enthral the Indian audience

MUMBAI: HOOQ– the largest Video-on-Demand service in Southeast Asia, brings Season 1 and 2 of the gripping spy thriller- ‘Killing Eve’ to India. The platform has bagged the exclusive rights for the series. It will see performances of some of Hollywood’s stalwarts such as Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer. Based on the novel Codename Villanelle, the show takes viewers on a thrilling journey. The series traces the life of Eve, played by Sandra Oh, a bored yet a smart MI5 security officer and Villanelle, played by Jodie Comer, a very talented killer. The chase becomes extremely fierce as Eve goes after Villanelle.

With its unique storyline, Killing Eve has garnered a lot of accolades from across the globe. The show has managed to retain unbroken weekly growth ratings and has also recorded the largest year-to-year growth of any returning series, in the past three years. Apart from the global popularity, the show has also managed to win awards at multiple prestigious award functions. The strong storyline of Killing Eve is backed by a highly talented cast in Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer who have received numerous global accolades. Sandra Oh is the recipient of Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and has been nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Awards. While Jodie Corner has won the BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actress. Sandra Oh has also starred in the famous American Drama series – Grey’s Anatomy and has made impactful appearances in notable Hollywood films.

Talking about acquiring the thriller series, Zulfiqar Khan, Managing Director, India – HOOQ said, “HOOQ has always aimed to provide the best of global content to its audience. Over time we have built a robust library which boats movies and series across genres, giving ample entertainment options to all our viewers. With Killing Eve Season 1 and 2 added to our content portfolio, we look forward to providing a thrilling experience to our unsatiated audience base.”

The series is based on the Codename Villanelle novellas by Luke Jennings and is executive produced by Sally Woodward Gentle, Lee Morris, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Gina Mingacci and lead writer Emerald Fennell. Sandra Oh and Francesca Gardiner are co-executive producers. Elinor Day serves as series producer. Damon Thomas returns to direct and is also executive producer, with Lisa Brühlmann and Francesca Gregorini also directing. Killing Eve is produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd. for BBC AMERICA and sold internationally by Endeavor Content.

Killing Eve Season 1 and 2 will go live from August 9, 2019, exclusively on HOOQ. This attention-grabbing thriller is sure to get you HOOQ’ed.

August 6, 2019
Zulfiqar Khan joins Hooq India as MD

MUMBAI: Zulfiqar Khan, former business head and CRO of Eros Now, has joined Hooq India as managing director.

He confirmed the development to Indiantelevision.com that he has joined Hooq.

At Eros Now, Khan was responsible for strategic planning, growth initiatives, business partnerships and original content to establish the platform as a market leader in the OTT space and worked for more than two and a half years.

Khan was also associated with Star India as senior vice president – ad sales for 16 years and led various leadership roles across sales, business development and revenue growth.

Also Read:

Hooq to maintain its Hollywood focus in India

OTT players aim to carve a niche with originals

Hooq announces release of first Hollywood original series

April 10, 2018
Eros Now to premiere original series ‘Salute Siachen’ on 15 Jan

MUMBAI: Eros Now has announced the premiere of it’s original series, Salute Siachen. The series will be aired on 15 January, Army Day.

This first celebrity expedition carried out in association with HTC, to the world’s second longest glacier and highest battlefield was to honour the Indian Army and salute their selfless contribution to the country.

The five-part series shot by the nine celebrity participants on HTC phones takes you through a whirlwind of emotions as they embark upon the toughest journey of their life. The 20-day trek saw popular faces from different walks of life come together to salute the Indian Army.

The celebrity participants underwent rigorous training and prepping for the expedition that began with an acclimatization trek to Stok Kangri base. Bollywood actors Arjun Rampal, Arunoday Singh, sports personalities – cricketer Rudra Pratap Singh and hockey player Yuvraj Walmiki, TV heartthrob Rannvijay Singha along with Namrata Gujaran, Hasan Zaidi, Shlok Sharma and Sonnalli Seygall battled out extreme weather conditions to scale the unpredictable Siachen.

Speaking on the launch of the series on Eros Now digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said, “Salute Siachen is a unique initiative and a humble tribute showcasing our appreciation of the accomplishments of the Indian army and what better occasion than the Army Day to launch this series paying tribute to the valor of our soldiers.”

Eros Now business head Zulfiqar Khan added, “Eros Now’s promise is to narrate inspiring and riveting stories to our audiences and what better way than to kick start with Salute Siachen, that will inspire and entertain millions of viewers. We are encouraged by the faith and support extended by our partner HTC.”

Commenting on the expedition, Rampal, said, “Thank our soldiers, in our own way. At the same time, it was a very personal and emotional journey, and I am grateful to the whole team for the support they gave to me to launch The Gwen Breast Cancer Foundation.”

Speaking on his experience, Singha said, “Salute Siachen has been an exhilarating experience and I am honoured to have been a part of this unique expedition and pay my tribute to the Indian Army.”

Singh commented, “As someone who plays cricket for our country, the urge to show my appreciation to the real heroes of our nation has only risen. Am glad that I could do my bit through Salute Siachen.”

January 12, 2017
Eros Now to premiere original series ‘Salute Siachen’ on 15 Jan

MUMBAI: Eros Now has announced the premiere of it’s original series, Salute Siachen. The series will be aired on 15 January, Army Day.

This first celebrity expedition carried out in association with HTC, to the world’s second longest glacier and highest battlefield was to honour the Indian Army and salute their selfless contribution to the country.

The five-part series shot by the nine celebrity participants on HTC phones takes you through a whirlwind of emotions as they embark upon the toughest journey of their life. The 20-day trek saw popular faces from different walks of life come together to salute the Indian Army.

The celebrity participants underwent rigorous training and prepping for the expedition that began with an acclimatization trek to Stok Kangri base. Bollywood actors Arjun Rampal, Arunoday Singh, sports personalities – cricketer Rudra Pratap Singh and hockey player Yuvraj Walmiki, TV heartthrob Rannvijay Singha along with Namrata Gujaran, Hasan Zaidi, Shlok Sharma and Sonnalli Seygall battled out extreme weather conditions to scale the unpredictable Siachen.

Speaking on the launch of the series on Eros Now digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said, “Salute Siachen is a unique initiative and a humble tribute showcasing our appreciation of the accomplishments of the Indian army and what better occasion than the Army Day to launch this series paying tribute to the valor of our soldiers.”

Eros Now business head Zulfiqar Khan added, “Eros Now’s promise is to narrate inspiring and riveting stories to our audiences and what better way than to kick start with Salute Siachen, that will inspire and entertain millions of viewers. We are encouraged by the faith and support extended by our partner HTC.”

Commenting on the expedition, Rampal, said, “Thank our soldiers, in our own way. At the same time, it was a very personal and emotional journey, and I am grateful to the whole team for the support they gave to me to launch The Gwen Breast Cancer Foundation.”

Speaking on his experience, Singha said, “Salute Siachen has been an exhilarating experience and I am honoured to have been a part of this unique expedition and pay my tribute to the Indian Army.”

Singh commented, “As someone who plays cricket for our country, the urge to show my appreciation to the real heroes of our nation has only risen. Am glad that I could do my bit through Salute Siachen.”

January 12, 2017
IDOS 2016: OTT advertising vs TV advertising

GOA: Is Online Video (read: OTT) advertising eating into TV’s share? That was the question posed by the final session of IDOS 2016 held in Goa’s Leela Hotel. The obvious consensus answer from the panelists was a big “no” – and it does not take a genius to reach that conclusion.

On the panel were IPG Media brands CEO Shashi Sinha, Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) digital head Uday Sodhi, Starcom India Group CEO, Mallikarjun “Malli” Das and Eros Now business head Zulfiqar ‘Zulfi’ Khan.

“Digital advertising accounts for about eight to nine per cent of total ad spends,” said Malli. “Most of this goes towards Google, Facebook. Two to three per cent is going towards digital video, and that too most of it is going towards You Tube. It’s early days yet for the OTT players to have any revenues of significance.”

“Google has played a pioneering role – the educational and evangelizing approach that it along with YouTube took visiting advertisers and agencies to explain to them the efficacy of using it platform,” said Zulfi. “The OTT industry is too nascent and new, and has a lot of work to do.”

Sinha pointed out that the disparity in CPMs between television and online IP video is drastic. “Television is being sold on a cost per rating point (CPRP) basis in India today. In most countries, it is on a CPMs,” he said. “The CPMs even for TV are very low, and for online video, even lower. Airtime on television has become a commodity as there is plenty of inventory, but networks have large enough audiences to present to advertisers.”

Added Malli: “Television also has a reliable currency – BARC – to measure what’s happening to their spends – the reach, the viewership. Which makes all of us in the media and advertising community secure. We can buy across a network and aggregate audience.”

The panelists agreed even though the OTT players are providing very specific – in fact a surfeit of data, enough confidence has yet to be built in among the advertisers. “There’s fragmentation in the OTT community. There are too many platforms,” said Sinha. “And you can’t aggregate enough audiences of significance to allow us to take CPMs up here.”

Sodhi agreed that OTT video platforms had managed to build an active audience of about 70 million. He said: “China’s tipping point for OTT to significantly impact TV ad spends came when the number of users crossed 200 million. India has to grow. SonyLiv has around around 10 million. Good and stable bandwidth and right pricing of data are the issues to be dealt with to expand the OTT user base,” Sodhi said.

Malli believed that the audience of 70 million is large enough. “The Times of India has a seven and a half million readership and there is thousands of crores going into the paper.”

Both Malli and Sinha stated that agencies have started presenting media plans which, include TV plus and online video. “That’s a great improvement over earlier. We are putting in money behind online video. But it’s left to the OTT- owner – the broadcaster – to show it as OTT ad spend or TV ad spend. However, to be fair, the sector will grow when FMCGs start putting in their faith behind digital online video,” revealed Sinha.

Then what is holding the ecosystem back? “Most of the robust OTT platforms are backed by the broadcasters,” revealed Sinha. “The leadership is fearful their targeted revenue objectives from television might get impacted if they start shifting the focus more toward digital video advertising. This leadership has to take a hard call.”

He pointed out that BARC – of which he is a technical committee member – is gearing up to measure online video consumption and become the second country in the world to do so.

“We are ready to launch online video measurement by March 2017. Relevant data is going to be provided by some of our partners in the ecosystem to allow us to provide effective measurement numbers. However, the signal has to come from the broadcast community,” he quipped.

Zulfi pointed out that Eros Now has around a million subscribers – split between India and overseas – paying Rs 49 a month for its Bollywood movie service.

However, his view that today snacking was the primary form of consumption of digital video, was countered by Sodhi, who stated that the SonyLiv audience was sticking around for around for 16-22 minutes per session.

They all agreed that there is a bright future for digital video advertising. But, none wanted to hazard a guess as to when will it happen. “I have no clue when will the inflection point come,” Sinha said. “It is now.”

Malli too said that he had no clue about it. “Although the stage is set, I can’t predict when a significant migration to digital will happen — in one, two or three years from now.”

Sodhi revealed that almost 70 million users are being added to the digital video consumers pie every year. “Within two to two and a half years we will have 200 million users,” he predicted. “And that will be a number no one will want to ignore. The advertising tap will flow and flow then.”

October 3, 2016
IDOS 2016: OTT advertising vs TV advertising

GOA: Is Online Video (read: OTT) advertising eating into TV’s share? That was the question posed by the final session of IDOS 2016 held in Goa’s Leela Hotel. The obvious consensus answer from the panelists was a big “no” – and it does not take a genius to reach that conclusion.

On the panel were IPG Media brands CEO Shashi Sinha, Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) digital head Uday Sodhi, Starcom India Group CEO, Mallikarjun “Malli” Das and Eros Now business head Zulfiqar ‘Zulfi’ Khan.

“Digital advertising accounts for about eight to nine per cent of total ad spends,” said Malli. “Most of this goes towards Google, Facebook. Two to three per cent is going towards digital video, and that too most of it is going towards You Tube. It’s early days yet for the OTT players to have any revenues of significance.”

“Google has played a pioneering role – the educational and evangelizing approach that it along with YouTube took visiting advertisers and agencies to explain to them the efficacy of using it platform,” said Zulfi. “The OTT industry is too nascent and new, and has a lot of work to do.”

Sinha pointed out that the disparity in CPMs between television and online IP video is drastic. “Television is being sold on a cost per rating point (CPRP) basis in India today. In most countries, it is on a CPMs,” he said. “The CPMs even for TV are very low, and for online video, even lower. Airtime on television has become a commodity as there is plenty of inventory, but networks have large enough audiences to present to advertisers.”

Added Malli: “Television also has a reliable currency – BARC – to measure what’s happening to their spends – the reach, the viewership. Which makes all of us in the media and advertising community secure. We can buy across a network and aggregate audience.”

The panelists agreed even though the OTT players are providing very specific – in fact a surfeit of data, enough confidence has yet to be built in among the advertisers. “There’s fragmentation in the OTT community. There are too many platforms,” said Sinha. “And you can’t aggregate enough audiences of significance to allow us to take CPMs up here.”

Sodhi agreed that OTT video platforms had managed to build an active audience of about 70 million. He said: “China’s tipping point for OTT to significantly impact TV ad spends came when the number of users crossed 200 million. India has to grow. SonyLiv has around around 10 million. Good and stable bandwidth and right pricing of data are the issues to be dealt with to expand the OTT user base,” Sodhi said.

Malli believed that the audience of 70 million is large enough. “The Times of India has a seven and a half million readership and there is thousands of crores going into the paper.”

Both Malli and Sinha stated that agencies have started presenting media plans which, include TV plus and online video. “That’s a great improvement over earlier. We are putting in money behind online video. But it’s left to the OTT- owner – the broadcaster – to show it as OTT ad spend or TV ad spend. However, to be fair, the sector will grow when FMCGs start putting in their faith behind digital online video,” revealed Sinha.

Then what is holding the ecosystem back? “Most of the robust OTT platforms are backed by the broadcasters,” revealed Sinha. “The leadership is fearful their targeted revenue objectives from television might get impacted if they start shifting the focus more toward digital video advertising. This leadership has to take a hard call.”

He pointed out that BARC – of which he is a technical committee member – is gearing up to measure online video consumption and become the second country in the world to do so.

“We are ready to launch online video measurement by March 2017. Relevant data is going to be provided by some of our partners in the ecosystem to allow us to provide effective measurement numbers. However, the signal has to come from the broadcast community,” he quipped.

Zulfi pointed out that Eros Now has around a million subscribers – split between India and overseas – paying Rs 49 a month for its Bollywood movie service.

However, his view that today snacking was the primary form of consumption of digital video, was countered by Sodhi, who stated that the SonyLiv audience was sticking around for around for 16-22 minutes per session.

They all agreed that there is a bright future for digital video advertising. But, none wanted to hazard a guess as to when will it happen. “I have no clue when will the inflection point come,” Sinha said. “It is now.”

Malli too said that he had no clue about it. “Although the stage is set, I can’t predict when a significant migration to digital will happen — in one, two or three years from now.”

Sodhi revealed that almost 70 million users are being added to the digital video consumers pie every year. “Within two to two and a half years we will have 200 million users,” he predicted. “And that will be a number no one will want to ignore. The advertising tap will flow and flow then.”

October 3, 2016