By Our Staff
It’s not the first that mega-epic Ramayan is being aired on television. Various versions – in costume drama and animation – have been seen. But everytime a new avatar is set to launch, there’s much excitement. Why, everytime even a re-run is aired, there is excitement. Remember the lockdown when Doordarshan played a masterstroke by airing a rerun?
Well, this time, it’s Sony Entertainment Television that’s bringing to its screens (and streaming service Sony Liv) an all-new version of Ramayan. Called Shrimad Ramayan. Starting Monday, January 1, at the 9pm primetime slot.
Sony Entertainment Television has signed on Swastik Productions, a seasoned player with big bang mythologicals/historicals whose founder Siddharth Kumar Tewary had interestingly started his independent Swastik journey with Sony in 2007 (see interview from 2017).
So who’s playing Lord Ram? Actor Sujay Reu and Sita is Prachi Bansal. Amongst others in the cast: Nikitin Dheer as Ravan and Arav Chowdharry as Dashrath. Notes a communique: “The attention to detail in the costumes, a mega set design, and visual effects will further enhance the viewing experience, transporting the audience to the enchanting world of Ayodhya and Lanka.” Hmmm.
In a statement, this is what Neeraj Vyas, Business Head – Sony Entertainment Television, Sony Sab, PAL, and Sony Max Movie Cluster said: “This is not just a show… it is our attempt to bring the essence of our rich heritage into the homes of millions and create a shared experience for families across the nation. The learnings of this distinctive epic are relevant even today and resonate across generations, emphasizing the importance of family values and the significance of relationships. As we embark on this divine journey with Swastik Productions, we are committed to crafting an authentic and immersive experience for the viewers.”
Added Tewary: “Bringing one of the biggest epics to life is not just a creative endeavour but a profound responsibility. The launch of ‘Shrimad Ramayan’ signifies a commitment to quality storytelling with meticulous research and seamless execution. I am delighted to partner with Sony Entertainment Television and together, we look forward to the retelling of this timeless narrative that resonates deeply with viewers, fostering a renewed connection with our cultural heritage and values. I am thankful to amazing talent which is helping me create this – the star cast and the production crew which is working tirelessly on this mega project.”
By Our Staff
Sony Pictures Networks India has onboarded Prashant Bhatt as Head – Programming, Sony Sab. In his new role, Prashant will be spearheading the content and programming division for the channel and will be responsible for managing the content line-up and the channel’s creative strategy. Prashant will be reporting to Neeraj Vyas, Business Head – Sony Sab.
Said Neeraj Vyas, Business Head – Sony Sab: “We are happy to have Prashant onboard to drive the programming vertical. Am confident that Prashant’s expertise and his deep understanding of the industry will help us further strengthen our programming capabilities. Prashant will play a key role in ensuring we devise and execute a standout premium slate with ground-breaking narratives and high quality content for our viewers”.
By A Correspondent
Hindi GEC Sony Sab is all set to air fresh episodes of their shows starting Monday, July 13.
Said Neeraj Vyas, Business Head, Sony Sab: “We feel humbled that the audience continued loving our shows and tuned in to watch them even during this difficult time. Nothing makes us prouder than knowing that they choose to spend their time at home with Sony Sab characters. It gives us utmost happiness to bring back new episodes of their favourite shows on Sony Sab beginning July 13. We remain committed to our philosophy of spreading happiness through our values-driven light-hearted content while ensuing safety of all our cast and crew who work relentlessly to produce the content for our channel.”
By A Correspondent
Office Office has been one of the most iconic series on Indian television. Sony SAB is now bringing back the comedy show to “give viewers a much-needed dose of happiness amidst these challenging times”. The show airs Monday through Friday at 6pm and 10.30pm.
Said Neeraj Vyas, Business Head, Sony SAB: “We are bringing Office Office back on Indian Television in an attempt to put smile on the faces of our viewers. We proudly call ourselves as ‘Happiness Enablers’ and during these tough times, our intention is to continue to deliver quality content that families across India can enjoy together. Office Office is one of the most beloved shows on Indian television and we are extremely happy to bring it back for our discerning viewers. The show’s highly relatable content and humor will attract both sets of audiences – the ones who cherished and loved the show when it first aired as well as the younger viewers who might be discovering the show for the first time ever.”
By A Correspondent
Sony Sab is giving 100 fans an opportunity to get closer to their families through the ‘Khushiyon Wala New Year’ contest starting December 25, 2019.
To participate, fans need to share their stories on why they want to be with their families this year.
Said Neeraj Vyas, Business Head – Sony Sab: “At Sony Sab we proudly call ourselves ‘happiness enablers’ as our philosophy from the simple insight that when people are happy, it makes the world a better place. We are extremely overwhelmed with the response from fans for our shows and we believe they have been one of the key factors behind our success this year. This initiative will help us connect with our audiences on a much deeper level and spread more Khushiyon Wali Feeling this New Year.”
By A Correspondent
To kickstart celebrations of completing 20 years of entertaining movie lovers in India, Sony Max has rolled out its latest TV campaign highlighting its brand essence ‘Deewana Bana De’. The campaign celebrates the spirit of millions of cinema fans whose passion and enthusiasm for movies make them special and larger than life.
The TVCs are conceptualised by DDB Mudra and shot by Footloose Films. To promote the campaign, the channel is engaging in a massive television plan across news, kids and regional channels for three weeks. The marketing plan also consists of a huge digital leg.
Said Neeraj Vyas, Business Head, Sony SAB, PAL and Sony Max Movie Cluster: “I am thrilled that Sony Max which has been the undisputed leader, week on week for nearly three years, setting unparalleled standards in the industry, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For two decades, our robust library of films, path-breaking concepts, trend-setting programming have made the channel a strong favorite. We take pride in our deep audience insights and our ability to keep abreast of the dynamic and evolving movie viewing patterns that have helped us stay ahead of the curve. On this truly momentous occasion, we reiterate our commitment to offering only best-in-class entertainment.”
Added Vaishali Sharma, Head, Marketing & Communications, Sony Sab, Pal and Sony Max movie cluster added: “As Sony Max completes 20 years, we are extremely excited to present our viewers with the brand-new campaign that bring together our two memorable decades in ‘Yeh Hai Desh Ki Deewangi.’ Like Gullu Gulati, each one of us have grown up with the passion and madness for movies. He represents the heart of every Indian. With this milestone, we only promise to get better and bigger from here on while entertaining our audiences to their heart’s content.”
Said Rahul Mathew, National Creative Director, DDB Mudra Group: “Indians and Hindi cinema are inseparable and when it comes to movies, it’s Sony Max. The clear brief given to us was to conceptualize a campaign for the channel which has been the epitome of Bollywood movies for past 2 decades now. To capture the essence of this stature we had to recreate the ‘Deewangi’ that represents the emotions of the entire nation. Hence, Gullu was born whose ‘Deewangi’ for movies and Sony Max resonates with every movie lover in India.”
By A Correspondent
Sony Sab is out to redefine itself through a new philosophy and has launched a brand campaign with a tagline ‘Khushiyon Wali Feeling’. The TVCs are conceptualized by Contract and shot by Boot Polissh Films.
Said Neeraj Vyas, Business Head, Sony Sab, Pal and Sony Max movie cluster: “We are absolutely delighted to present an exciting new brand campaign which will usher in our new brand philosophy. We believe this campaign will further help us strengthen our positioning as a brand that goes beyond just providing comedy content and will help us connect with our audiences on a much deeper level with a focus on wholesome happiness. These brand films truly reflect the very core of our brand which is built on showcasing light-hearted values driven content which makes people happy”.
Added Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, Chief Creative Officer, Contract Advertising: “The brief to us was simple – happiness is something that goes beyond comedy. It’s about how people feel. People remember how they feel and that’s what drives their own happiness and makes them into better people. And, when people are happy they are more likely to spread their happiness through simple acts of kindness. Taking this core thought forward, we have built these exciting brand videos with relatable situations and characters – something Sony SAB is known for. Weaving these two things together, I believe we have created something the viewers will completely resonate with.”
By A Correspondent
Contract Advertising has bagged the creative mandate for Sony Sab and will be handling all its creative duties, which include brand and show-related communications. The business that came after a multi-agency pitch will be handled out of the agency’s Mumbai office.
Talking about the new association, Neeraj Vyas, Business Head, Sony Sab said: “We welcome Contract Mumbai as our creative partner for Sony Sab. We are currently at an exciting juncture of expanding our content portfolio and taking the channel towards growth. It is therefore the right time to bring in a fresh perspective and Contract seemed like the most fitting team to collaborate with in this endeavour. We look forward to infusion of fresh and creative thinking and eventually taking the business to the next level with this partnership.â€
Added Vaishali Sharma, Head – Marketing & PR, Sony Sab: “After an extensive pitch process that involved key creative agencies, we are happy to have Contract Mumbai on-board as our creative partner for Sony Sab. We look forward to positioning the exciting new content line-up in the most refreshed way to take the brand ahead. With great creative minds on board from both sides, we look forward to some path-breaking creative campaigns and marketing communication for Sony Sab.
Commenting on the win, Raji Ramaswamy, CEO, Contract Advertising said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with Sony SAB in their ambition to further growth across geographies. Sony SAB is a great brand to build and we are very excited to work on it.We look forward to creating memorable work across media to build a larger audience base for the channel.â€
By A Correspondent
For long, the humour channel of the Sony Pictures Network has been the highest rated. Even ahead of flagship Sony Entertainment Television. The channel has ensured that it’s fit for family viewing and hence it has steered away from stuff that even border on the risqué. Now, Sony Sab has launched its a new brand identity. The ‘re-energised’ channel will see a new line up of comedy shows, lively packaging and vibrant visuals, notes a communique.
Actor Varun Dhawan has been roped in as a Happiness Ambassador for the channel. Said NP Singh, ‎CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India: “For over a decade, SAB has emerged as the most distinctive channel in GEC and built a sizeable loyal audience. The new, re-energised SAB is all set to deliver on the promise of Haste Raho India as its mission is to be recognised as the ‘frown flipper’ for Indian audiences.â€
Added Neeraj Vyas, Senior EVP & Head, Sony Sab and Max cluster: “The re-energised SAB further strengthens our core proposition through a reinvigorated language of humor and a compelling purpose of making more than a billion Indians laugh more, every day. The new brand identity along with a range of new shows offering more laughter, modernity, relatability and variety, will help us strengthen the connect with our core audiences as well as attract newer audiences to the channel.â€
By A Correspondent
The Grand Finale of the second season of ‘Media KeSurtaj’ was held on Friday at Bungalow 9 in Mumbai. It was organised by SPN’s music cluster channels, Sony MIX and Sony ROX HD and hosted by RJ Salil.
A arkaoke competition amongst media professionals, Media KeSurtaj, brought out hidden singing talent among media agency professionals. The audition rounds were held across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru in agencies like OMD, Carat, Lodestar, Initiative, Publicis, Madison, ZenithOptimedia and GroupM between March 15 to 24, 2017. Elevated levels of enthusiasm and participation were displayed among all the participants and 180 contestants were shortlisted for Friday’s finale.
The winners were selected in two categories namely, the popular choice and the critics’ choice. Each category had two sub-categories, i.e, Solo & Duet. The video of each participant’s audition is up on display up on the website for an audience poll. The voting closed on April 7, receiving a tremendous response with overall 32000+ votes being registered. The popular choice category winners were selected based on the maximum votes received. The jury for the Critics’ Choice Awards included the masters of the industry including music composer Ajay Singha and singer Ash King, among others.
Ecstatic at the win, the Popular Choice Solo winner, Pankaj Dobhal from ZenithOptimedia, exclaimed: “I had not expected to win a singing competition my entire life. Doing something beyond your daily routine feels great and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me and had faith in my voice.†With all excitement, Critics’ choice Duet winners, Craig Viegas&PrachiKalkar, GroupM said, “Singing has always been our hobby, never knew that it would get us such a big reward. We would like to thank Sony MIX for this initiative and giving us such a great platform to showcase our hidden talents.†Apart from these, Popular choice Duet category winners were Ashish Rane and Neelam Shridhankar from Carat Media and the Critics’ choice Solo category award was bagged by Gaurav Chopra from GroupM.
The winners of the popular choice category won prizes worth Rs 20,000 and the critics’ choice category got an all-expense paid trip to Dubai for two.
Talking about this innovative programme, Neeraj Vyas, Senior EVP and Business Head – Max Cluster and Sony Mix, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) said, “I feel, for most of us music is an integral part and one of the key drivers in our daily lives. Hence, we decided to use this musical platform to encourage media professionals to showcase their hidden talent while they get a break from their daily routine. We at SPN were elated with the first season of Media KeSurtaj and extremely overwhelmed with the response received in this second season as well and will hopefully expand to new horizons soon.â€
By A Correspondent
Sony Max, Sony Six and SONY ESPN, the official television broadcasters of the Indian Premiere League (VIVO IPL) have unveiled a new campaign titled “10 saal aapke naam†to coincide with the tenth edition of the tournament and the network’s association with it.
The series of six ad films with the key message “10 saal aapke naam†encapsulate the fervor and madness of the fans across gender, generations and geographies.
The creative agency continues to be DDB Mudra and the films have been directed by Hemant Bhandari of Chrome Pictures Media. For the anthem the broadcaster has roped in music composer duo, Salim-Sulaiman and singer Benny Dayal.
Said Neeraj Vyas, Senior EVP & Business Head, Sony Max cluster at SPN: “Over the last nine years we have seen the tournament grow in terms of stature, viewership and the buzz that it creates and hence it was only logical to make the tenth year a grand celebration. The marketing campaign borrows from real life insights on how viewers engage and involve themselves with the game. We believe that the fans are instrumental in making this tournament the mega blockbuster that it is and that is why this year’s campaign is an ode to the Vivo IPL Fanâ€.