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TELE EXPRESS


There's a soap in my video

After makeovers, music videos are the next fad in TV serials

Amit Gurbaxani

Mumbai, June 19: WHEN Armaan and Jassi finally declared their love for each other, the producers at Sony Television decided to create a soundtrack to mark the momentous event. So, Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant crooned a love theme. Being a product of the channel, he was easy to get and paved the way for the ideal cross-promotional strategy. A video of the track and a full-length album of Jassi songs are in the works.

Rival Star Plus has been using music videos to boost their shows' visibility for some time now. First came Remix—the video for the theme from the high school dramedy that centers around four boarding school kids, who just happen to have their own band. The idea was inspired by ''underground rock bands at colleges like IIT,'' says producer Shristi Arya.

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''Unlike other soaps that feature item numbers, the songs are actually performed by the cast and take the narrative forward,'' she says. The producers have shot four more videos. The latest, Mast Mast, is currently on air on Channel [V]. The next couple of months will see Dil Ki Yeh Dadhkan and Love Station, a Bappi Lahiri retro-disco tune, hitting our screens.

Star Plus also felt that a music video was the key to building curiosity for their prime time tale of an orphaned girl, Miilee. ''Music was the best way to convey the freshness and happy-go-lucky attitude of the character,'' says Shailja Kejriwal, creative director, Star Plus.

The Sound of Music inspired theme helped the daily soap to make its mark. ''We're going to introduce a new song in the show every few months,'' she adds. Coming soon are videos from two of Zee TV's new shows, Raba Ishq Na Hove and Kasshish. While the title track for Aroona Irani's new daily has been sung by Sukhwinder Singh, Jeevan Kya Hai is the Jagjit Singh track that will soon be seen on Zee. ''It's one of a series of ghazals Singh has rendered for the soap,'' says Ashwini Yardi, the programming head at Zee.

Thanks to the availability of an in-house team for production and a sister channel ready to air them ad naseum, music videos are gaining ground as the new promotional weapon of the daily soap.

Watch out for Games Bond
STAR One is launched the most unique and clutter-breaking show Games Bond from June 17 at 8.30 pm.

Games Bond is an interesting format set in a virtually real ambience of a war-field as teams of five gaming champs who take on each other in a video gaming encounter.

One team plays the cops and the other team plays the terrorists as they try and gun down each other in an adventurous battle. Hosted by Rahul Dev, the show combines the drama and action from the participants intercut with full-screen video game footage. The team that emerges as the victor at the end of the series is crowned India's Games Bond.

Anjan Srivastav, who has in the past, been part of such path-breaking serials like Tamas, Nukkad, Alpviram, and Wagle Ki Duniya will now be seen in Star One's Siddhanth.

Anjan Srivastava: turns negative in Siddhanth

"I am playing a negative character and it is a very realistic role and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it," says this actor, who symbolized RK Laxman's common man over a decade ago on the telly .

When we ask him why he took such a long time to return to the small screen, he says, "Agar naye logo se kaam chal jata hai to Anjan ki kya zaroorat hai? (If the new faces can do the job, then why look for people like me). I can't do things just for the money, I need to do good

Mr Wagle as Mr Chand in a scene from Siddanth

work...you know, there has to be some intensity in the character and a certain atmosphere to work in. If Kundan Shah calls me for some work, I am ready to do it, because I am sure it will be quality," points out this veteran actor.

Why Siddhanth, we ask. "It is very realistic and more so, I like the script, the director and the technical aspect. You know there should be something for me in the script, I can't be there just for the sake of it!" says Anjan, who still performs for IPTA.

Meanwhile, Anjan will play Manish Chand, the owner of Shudh, a private company that supplied contaminated water at an inter-school football competition. The forthcoming episode of Siddhanth will show the dynamic lawyer fight against the water mafia.

Rahul Dev in Games Bond: Shaken and stirred

For video game freaks, there's finally something on Indian television. Games Bond, India's first gaming championship show, premiered on STAR One on Friday, June 17 and will be telecast on 12 more Fridays at 8.30 pm.

Set in a "virtually real ambience of a war-field", Games Bond will feature two teams with five gaming champs each in a video gaming encounter. The winning team will go on to represent India in the World CPL Gaming Championships to be held in the US.

The gaming show also features model-turned-actor Rahul Dev in an all-new avatar of a television anchor for the first time.

The show is also high on the tech factor with a lot of graphics being used to provide the "real look and feel". The first season would be only on the theme of military combat with broken water pipes and run-down walls used to give the War Zone and Underground aura to the gaming environment. As the game is played, the "picture in picture" along with the reaction shots help capture the intensity of the game continuously.

At the launch of Games Bond, Ravi Menon, head of programming of STAR One, said: "This show is another attempt from us to provide differential programming. Gaming is the most popular usage category for the PC after e-mail and word processing. Many countries are already witnessing exponential growth patterns in the gaming space. Now it's India's time to be exposed to world-class gaming."

Nigaar Khan to do a cameo

Nigaar Khan after doing a negative in Zee's Lipstic, ( where she was the central character) is all set to check in at Star One's premier hotel, Hotel Kingston, on 23 June.

Nigaar Khan

She is all ready to make a mark in tellydom with more positive roles. Nigaar seems quite excited about this role. "In the show i get ready to get married but we are not interested in getting married the traditional way. It is going to be a different kind of a role for me, " says this dusky beauty.

"I play a Gujarati girl, and this is the first time I am playing this role. I am very excited to play this character. The best part is there are no dialogues, my actions would speak louder than my words," adds Nigaar.

Nigaar Khan is all charged up to take on the small screen again!

Busy with her plays, the lady is all set to steal hearts by sporting a brand new look! No, we won't tell you any details...just check her out on the show.

'KBC2' associate sponsors: 6 down, 2 to go

MUMBAI: As the clock ticks for the launch of KBC2, what Star India has billed as the biggest by far TV event of 2005, six associate sponsors have been finalised. The six associate sponsors being Airtel, Nokia Gujarat Ambuja, LIC, LG and Hyundai.

According to industry estimates, Airtel, which is the exclusive mobile operator for KBC2, is paying between Rs 280 - 320 million (SMS revenue sharing inclusive). And excluding Airtel, the estimated rate for the remaining five sponsors has been pegged between Rs 130 - 150 million each. Says Star India executive vice president ad sales Kevin Vaz, "Six associate sponsors have been frozen. We are going to be upping the rates for the last two sponsors as there is plenty of time before the programme starts. We are in discussions with a couple of FMCG advertisers and a two wheeler company for the same." As for the other branding opportunities that the show allows for - currently Airtel has bought the 'Phone a Friend' bug and LIC has bought the 'Money Tree' bug. Adds Vaz, "We will be selling the in-programme bugs after we sell all the sponsorships. We would like to give the sponsors the first right of refusal. A couple of clients are very interested in the cheque as well as the computer branding but we will close all the bugs only after we have sold the sponsorships."

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If one looks at the six sponsors and their spending appetite on mass media in the past, clearly Gujarat Ambuja and LIC are surprises. Gujarat Ambuja is typically a print-led advertiser with total advertising spends across TV and print being Rs 100 - 110 million. Why a cement company would park all of its monies at one place is definitely worth pondering. According to media analysts, the reasons attributed are competition. With Grasim on an overdrive mode consolidating their various cements as well as their buy out of L&T (rebranding itself as Ultratech), Gurat Ambuja is probably looking at a corporate brand enhancing exercise repositioning itself thorough a high profile property like KBC2. A point worth noting here is that this will be the biggest deal a cement company has entered into on television per se. Cement as a category is an extremely low involvement product. So, a property like KBC2 will ensure consumer's mindspace and hence give a top of mind recall.

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As for LIC (Life Insurance Cooperation of India), it usually freezes its advertising budgets in March. This will be LIC's first ever annual deal. Also, with the onslaught on private players, LIC has probably realised that before it loses its monopoly position, the time has come to reiterate the brand and its values to its customers. LG has predominantly been a major cricket spender apart from LG CDMA. LG seems to be a question in doubt as to their strategic intent to tie-up with a KBC2. With LG keeping a very low profile in the recent past; it is not very clear as to what its agenda is. Nokia on the other hand, is a brand that usually advertises on niche channels. After the last cricket World Cup, Nokia allocates 40 - 50 percent of their spends to impact baskets, the rest being weekly magazines, outdoor tie-ups and print. The exception was Indian Idol, although the monetary stakes for KBC2 are far bigger. In essence, Nokia will be entering the mass platform for the first time in such a big way. Hyundai are moderate spenders and more skewed towards print and niche channels as well. This time round, Hyundai is probably ensuring itself a huge reach platform and property so to combat Maruti's latest offering Swift. Interestingly, most brands that have come onto KBC2 are male skewed brands This in all has enabled KBC2 to bring into its basket a wider range of advertisers who are not very active on Star Plus. KBC2 will also therefore help broadbase Star Plus' advertiser base. Validates Vaz, "All the sponsors confirmed so far are not the regular high spenders on Star Plus. We have signed up with advertisers across various categories like cement, telecom, insurance and consumer durables. Some of these categories have got onto television for the first time in such a big way." All female brands usually coming from the FMCG sector, targeting male audiences has always been a mammoth task; cricket being seen as the only impactful but heavy cost medium. Explains a media analyst, "The brands on KBC2 are all male skewed. This makes sense as male brands usually need to be constant for some time. So, considering KBC2 is a property where the lock in period is high, it makes for a sensible buy for these brands" While a KBC2, forces one to pool in resources for a total of six months, "brands that stand to take a risk will actually gain in the long term. KBC2 will force a brand to be constant, to be constantly in advertising space, in the consumer's mindspace on a big media window for a consistent period," adds another media professional. If one breaks down the estimated deal of the associate sponsors (130 -150 million) and across the entire 85 episodes (5100 seconds) then the approximate spot cost for a 10 seconder comes to Rs. 2,74500. Which is approximately the cost of a spot buy on Kyunki... Considering a total of 600 seconds of advertising time, and 60 seconds blocked per sponsor (assuming 6 sponsors), 360 seconds are blocked for associate sponsors; thereby leaving only 240 seconds for spot buys. Spot buys which will go at a heavy premium is estimated anywhere between Rs 3,50,000 - 4,00,000 for 10 seconds. Is it worth the monies? Vaz retorts,"KBC2 cuts across audiences and hence appeals to every brand. Every advertiser we have spoken to has been very upbeat about the programme and are very convinced that KBC2 will be the biggest thing on television this year. The six sponsors already on board are not the regular high spenders on Star Plus and the believe in the power of KBC2." Says Madison media director Sudipto Roy,"Every brand that has made some headway in the last two years have been risk takers. If a brand has to risk, it would rather be a risk on KBC2 than a much talked about cricket series which delivers an average TVR of a seven or an eight."

STAR One sees new high on Fridays
STAR India has done some experiments to strengthen the Friday slot, which have paid off. Beginning with bringing in 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge' on the Friday 10.00 pm block, the channel made June episodes of 'Bluff Master' a celebrity special and as far as numbers are concerned, STAR One has hit a new high on Fridays, beating other mainstay channels. If TAM Media Research numbers for weekend shares are seen, STAR One has shown a sizeable jump. However, if the Friday numbers alone are seen, the channel shares have gone to as high as 6 per cent, vis--vis a 1 plus channel share that STAR One otherwise claimed. 'The Great Laughter Challenge' had opened to good numbers at 2.3 for the CS 4+ in the Hindi speaking market. In this week, the rating has increased to a 2.73. If the channel's core TG (CS AB 10-44) is seen, the numbers are at 2.75 and 3.02 this week. In addition to these, Bluff Master's episode this week has also rated a high of 1.01 and 1.43 in the core TG. "Bluff Master presently is seeing the celebrity specials, which is lined up for all of June. This is the first of four such episodes," said STAR One's Ravi Menon, "This was a very conscious move, we wanted to give that support to the laughter hunt and the results are what we had expected." What Menon is particularly pleased about is the increase that the show has shown in its second week, "This is a property that cuts across audience, done in the STAR One style. The fact that the audience has returned in the second week goes on to show that the viewers have endorsed our faith in the property."

In June, with Bluff Masters celeb special episodes, more of the Laughter Hunt and the virtual reality game show 'Games Bond' hitting the screen, Star One should be seeing healthy numbers.

A new host for Bollywood. Aur Kya!

The lady in question is the only constant female presence in the lives of three metrosexual males. Before you come

to any conclusion, let us tell you that we are talking about Shonali Malhotra, who

plays Madhavi, Gaurav Chopra's hassled wife in Star One's Dil Kya Chahta Hai. She is now hosting Sahara One's show Bollywood Aur Kya, and no, she doesn't have Gaurav for company!

Bollywood Aur Kya is a weekly film magazine that takes viewers on a journey into the world behind the silver screen. Shonali has replaced Chhavi Mittal, who plays Disha in Zee's primetime show, Tumhari Disha. The gal who has done as many as 150 commercials, is now all set to make her mark as a host, chatting up Bollywood's hot celebs.

When we asked Shonali about what excited her about the role, she says, "It is like my baby. You know, a show like this is very special, because you are known because of the show and vice versa. Moreover, I am a people's person and I love to talk. The show also makes me aware of what's happening in the film industry."

Hosting is not something new for Shonali, she has done shows like Star Plus' Kuch Kar Dikhana Hai and DD's Bajaj Ki Lehren. Surpisingly, Shonali has been doing a lot of negative roles --- pretty face like hers, we thought would attract lots of positive roles!

Meanwhile, the lady has been busy, she has made her presence felt as the modern no nonsense woman in Zee's Aashirwad, a Pak spy with a mission in Saara Akash and an aggressive competitor to Jessica aka Jassi in Sony's Jassi Jaisi...She is now all ready to take on projects that will ahow her in positive light.

Bollywood is getting very big on television lately --- Filmi Fever on Zoom, Current Bollywood on Max and now Bollywood Aur Kya, will this SaharaOne show stand out amongst the many that have already hit the small screen? For now, we will let Shonali do all the talking!

This show is going to give this lucky lady a chance to interview the most happening actors on the big screen. We asked Shonali to give us a list of people she would love to interview. Let's find out who is on her elite list. Bollywood hunks Abhishekh Bachchan (That's obvious!) Saif Ali Khan (I did a Limca ad with him, I played his wife) Amitabh Bachchan (Who wouldn't want to interview him?) Bollywood's leading ladies Preity Zinta (I admire her energy level) Sushmita Sen ( I'd love to chat with her) Kareena Kapoor (I really like her") Stars from tellydom Nikki Aneja and Smriti Z Iraani "I would love to be interviewed by Malaika Arora Khan" One question that she will ask all these celebs is, "What's the medicine that keeps them going?"