By A Correspondent
Once upon a time, there were six princesses. 15 warriors were fighting to get the attention of these six princesses and rule the kingdom of love. Worry not! We are not narrating a fairytale. This is the basic premise of Splitsvilla 9.
MTV is back with its high profile show of finding love. This year the show is hailing women power, with a mix of love and power-play, giving women the authority to call the shots with its new theme, ‘Where women rule’. It will be hosted by Rannvijay Singha and Sunny Leone. 15 boys will be pitted against each other to impress six girls. This time, some of the male contestants will be known faces while some will be new.
Speaking to MxMIndia at the launch, Ferzad Palia, Head- Youth and English Entertainment at Viacom18, said: “It is a consumer shift that we are seeing across the country, where women are finally coming up to claim their own right place be it in society, corporate world or anywhere. People have spoken about it; there has been faff than actual action. As a brand, we are very passionate about the fact that women need to be given their due respect and men need to learn respecting them. It is happening but the more that the brands that youths look up to, if we can push it, which is great., †about the theme. He also added that over the years, the age group of viewers has also evolved since there has been a rise in slightly elder audiences tuning in to watch the show, which shows that Indian consumers are ready for such bold content.This is the third year that actor Sunny Leone returns to host Splitsvilla 9. “I am thrilled to be back on Splitsvilla 9 more so because the ultimate power lies in the hands of women,†she said.
The show that has been shot in the colonial town of Pondicherry will witness the boys going to any and every extent to make the woman of their choice happy. They will make their every move worthwhile to not only win the heart of the girls but also to survive and win the reigns in this game of love.
“I think what works for MTV content is that we keep evolving year after year. So, to have so many hit shows, and have the same format evolve year after year, it almost becomes a different show in itself. It does not happen by fluke. There is a lot research that goes in, a lot of this is created by design. So, we work very hard behind the scenes, which is why when we put out our Youth Marketing Forum research, a lot of people come to listen because they know exactly what MTV is talking about. So, I think research is a very integral part of what we do and that helps us stay one step ahead of the curve,†Palia said, adding that Season 9 of Splitsvilla is scheduled to start on June 11, 2016 on MTV.
But today people tend to be offended if they disagree with a certain aspect of the content or the content as whole; how does one deal with it without disrupting the reality of the show? “We have dealt with it for many years, we are not being any more careful now than we were a few years back. Self-censorship is extremely important. We understand the laws of the land. We will always be a brand that pushes it to the edge but does not over step the line. We understand that we are television, very very mass medium. You could end up hurting sentiments, unintentionally sort of guiding the youth in the wrong direction; which we will never do. We are the voice of the youth. It is tough but people getting offended are age old. Today, if someone gets offended they put up a post, tweet but you just have to work within the parameters. There is no content that will work for everyone. As long your intentions are good it will largely be okay. †he said.