Sony Pictures International Ramps Up its 2020 film slate in India with High Talent Filmmakers

Sony Pictures International Productions in India has aggressively ramped up its ongoing local productions by collaborating with four leading filmmakers as it mounts its film slate for the year 2020.

From an action entertainer to a biopic thriller, the four projects toplined by filmmakers - Umesh Shukla, Sabbir Khan, Sajid Samji and Sashi Kiran Tikka (Goodachari, in Telugu) - are evidence of the Studio’s concentrated effort towards becoming a local production content power house.

 

Slated to begin production between now and end of this year, each of the four films promise to bring different types of exciting entertaining content to the audiences worldwide.

Vivek Krishnani, MD, SPE Films India Private Ltd says, “We are excited to work with such talented directors from our industry, who share a common vision like us at Sony Pictures as we seek to become a content led Studio.With Umesh, Sabbir, Sajid and Sashi working on four very different subjects we can’t wait to bring entertaining clutter breaking content to the audiences.”

“India continues to be a top priority for Sony International Productions,” said Laine Kline, head of Sony Pictures International Productions. “These filmmakers epitomize what makes Indian cinema special. Their distinctive creative visions will elevate each one of these projects on our upcoming slate.”

Sabbir Khan says, “I am really happy to partner with Sony Pictures as I am excited by their approach towards making films. Headed by Vivek Krishnani they have a team of like-minded people who are facilitating everything to make the right films”

Umesh Shukla, adds, “I want to offer content that’s relevant, entertaining, funny and which conveys a message. I'm glad to yet again collaborate with SONY after 102 Not Out."

Sajid Samji says, “I feel I am in safe hands as I know Sony will do fab job beyond just producing the film but take the marketing and promotions of the film to another level”

Shashi Kiran, “As film makers, we get an opportunity to tell stories, stories that inspire, that move us, and stories that leave an impression on us. I'm honored and grateful to Sony Pictures and G Mahesh Babu entertainment for giving me the opportunity to direct Major and tell this story to the entire country.”

As the Studio continues to expand its footprint in India, Sony Pictures is also gearing up for a huge Hollywood line-up this year with Spider-Man: Far From Home, Angry Birds 2, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, the Charlie’s Angels reboot and the sequel to 2017’s blockbuster hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

Selfie With Bajrangi’s success continues as creators Cosmos-Maya focus on the L&M Strategy

Indian kids have found a new playmate in the form of Bajrangi who helps them in their day to day lives.

Bajrangi, the contemporary, child version of the Indian God Hanuman has penetrated households like no other. Latest BARC data indicates that Cosmos-Maya’s one of a kind buddy comedy ‘Selfie With Bajrangi’, which airs daily on Disney’s Hungama TV is a hit with children and parents alike. The show ranks #1 among all the shows in Kids Category (Local + International, Animation + Live Action) basis Average Impressions (Week 16, 2018 to Week 23, 2019).

After two successful runs on Disney’s Hungama TV in Summer and Diwali last year, the recently launched third run, comprising brand new episodes of the second season of the show, has also garnered high ratings. Disney is excited with the consistent numbers and kids may have a chance to get more of their favourite buddy Bajrangi. Cosmos-Maya is planning 10 TV Films and a theatrical film on the IP.

Bajrangi’s admiration can be attributed to the fact that it has the ability to speak to viewers in the universal language of relatability. The secret sauce is familiarity with novelty. It is set on a quintessential Indian family who all viewers can relate with. The protagonist Ankush's life changes when he meets Bajrangi, the nine-year-old child version of the Indian God, who no one but he can see. The show is modeled on kids’ day to day lives and beautifully encapsulates the nuances of Indian culture in an entertaining format. Bajrangi does not just help his buddy Ankush with his day to day problems, he helps comfort the millions of kids who watch the show. The show has become an everyday affair for families and Ankush and Bajrangi have become household names.

Jubilant on the development, Anish Mehta, CEO Cosmos-Maya said, “Selfie With Bajrangi has just exploded. Programming of the show was just as important as the creative aspect and I’ll take this opportunity to thank team Disney.”

Dheeraj Berry, SVP, Development & Current Projects, and creator of Selfie With Bajrangi added, “With Selfie With Bajrangi, we ticked all the boxes pertaining to Indian entertainment. There is the beloved Hanuman, there is a quintessential Indian family, there are mild antagonists. Basically, it is a very feel good show that the entire family can enjoy. Thank you to Disney for helping us build this brand with their innovative programming strategies.”

Selfie With Bajrangi is another Cosmos-Maya IP after Motu Patlu to stay on top of the ratings chart for such a long period. The show’s success over the last year has helped it cross the critical juncture of being just a fad and Cosmos-Maya foresees L&M potential given its consistent success.

CEO Anish Mehta further added, “We are now our own competitors. Selfie With Bajrangi is everything Motu Patlu is not. L&M is the next logical step with this proven and consistent success.  Motu Patlu’s foray into consumer products began two years after its launch. Selfie With Bajrangi has taken lesser time in establishing itself as a highly relatable brand.”

Saregama reinvents Carvaan with hundreds of Podcasts

~5000 evergreen retro songs, access to 15000 additional songs and a host audio stations via WiFi~

Saregama Carvaan takes a technology and content leap with Carvaan 2.0 by giving access to hundreds of daily updated Wi-Fi based audio stations along with 5000 evergreen pre-loaded songs. Like the original version, Carvaan 2.0 also stands by its promise of simplicity, nostalgia and a lean back listening experience. The device now comes with a fourth category named “Wifi” along with Artistes, Specials and Geetmala.

The pre-loaded 5000 songs continue to be accessed anytime without internet along with other features like FM/ AM, USB & Bluetooth. In addition, the customer can now one-time connect her Carvaan 2.0 to home wifi using free companion app, and then access hundreds of audio stations including specially curated playlists offering 20k Hindi songs.  A lot of care has been taken to keep the connectivity and content access process simple and intuitive. This stations cover genres like Devotional, Entertainment, Music , Health and wellness , kids, Sports, News , lifestyle. Some of the prominent stations are Bhagwad Geeta ka Saar, Sampoorna Sundarkand, Nani Maa ki Nuskhe, Musafir hoon Yaaron, Wordgram, Open Mike (poetry), Bachchon ki Kahaniyan, Bedime stories, Stock Market updates etc. Each of these 150+ stations is updated regularly, and can be accessed on-demand and maintains bookmark.  With so much high quality podcasting content being created, we believe that the available number of stations will touch 1000 within a few months.

Talking about the latest launch, Mr Vikram Mehra, Managing Director, Saregama India said, “Carvaan 2.0 is our response to consumer feedback about widening the content offering on Carvaan. The list of new audio stations cut across the age groups and offers something to every member of the family. Next few months will see us enhancing the content offering by working with a wide range of content creators who see Carvaan as an effective platform for disseminating their audio content”

Carvaan 2.0 is available in Classic Black and Emerald Green at Rs 7990. The same has been launched in Gold variant as well with iconic Harman Kardon speakers in two colors - Champagne Gold and Rose Gold at Rs 15990.  Carvaan 2.0 has a rechargeable battery lasting up to 5-6 hours and promises 1 year door step warranty backed by an all India service network.

Both the newly launched variants are available on www.saregama.com

“Being a single mother is hard,” says Deepshikha Nagpal

Popular Bollywood and television actress, Deepshikha Nagpal, who is currently seen essaying the character of Nilambari in &TV’s Main Bhi Ardhangini has been shooting away from her Mumbai home in Jaipur for over 4 months. In an attempt to keep abreast with the lives of her two kids, she has been making constant trips to Mumbai to spend as much free time she can with her daughter and son who are currently at the age of 18 and 13 respectively. Be it birthdays or any special occasions of theirs, erratic shoot schedules have kept the actress heavily occupied with shoots. 

Speaking about the difficulties she faces being away from home, Deepshikha said, “As much as I love shooting for Main Bhi Ardhangini, it’s always a heart-breaking moment to leave my kids alone in Mumbai and come to Jaipur. It’s the first time I have been staying away from them for work and the distance is much more difficult that I thought it to be. Whenever I get time off, I take the first flight back to Mumbai so that I don’t lose even a minute to spend time with them. The constant early morning, 5:00 am flights and late-night returns to Jaipur has taken a toll over my health. At times I have travelled just for a day to Mumbai and returned the very same night, exhausted but content at seeing that my kids are doing great. While it can get extremely tiring and hectic, I don’t mind doing it for them because that’s the kind of mother I have been and that’s what has made them confide and share an extremely close bond with me.” 

Adding further, she said, “I have never faced any kind of struggles with work, but more emotional ones arising from motherhood. I used to be occupied with shoots even when they were young but despite that, I ensured to take out time to raise them well and never let them feel that I am away. Being a single mother is hard, especially when you cannot be a part of their growing years much and miss out on being there for so many activities of their lives. Perhaps seeing your kids grow itself is an emotional struggle that every mother faces.” 

On asking her what gets her through each day, the actress said, “I talk to my kids regularly, sometimes 5 times in a day and although I may be away, I am aware of all the ups and downs in their life. I believe the bond that I share with my son and daughter has become much stronger in the past few months and I believe it’s somewhere for their betterment too. I never stopped being a best friend to my kids, however occupied I got with work. We still plan exciting outings and vacations where we decide to enjoy our time together and cut ourselves off from the daily stress.  We all have certain commitments to make in life and my kids really understand and support me well in that. For a mother, that’s all that matters.” 

To make up for all the lost time with her kids, Deepshikha recently went on an extravagant trip to Austria with her son and daughter. While she continues to keep her optimism high, her character Nilambari is up to another evil plan to cause trouble in Madhav (Avinash Sachdev) and Vaidehi’s (Aditi Rawat) life. 

Keep watching Main Bhi Ardhangini every Monday to Friday at 9:00pm only on &TV

Karan singh Chhabra gets post breakup tips from Shahid Kapoor , Kiara Advani

Bollywood heartthrob Shahid kapoor and the Ms Dhoni actress Kiara Advani became love guru s for Television host and actor Karan singh Chhabra while shooting for one of his chat shows. 

"Never leave yourself alone after a breakup and always surround yourself with friends and people you like . Cry out on day one if you like but then move on. Follow your hobbies and do what you like'" shared shahid kapoor when asked on tips to move on from a break up.

On asking about his experience of hosting this special episode Karan shared "It's always fun to chat with Shahid kapoor as he is witty and intelligent while Kiara is the bubbly girl next door and I have been working with them during all their film releases and it's quite fun"

This Father's Day, Swara Bhasker's dad takes the hot seat

This Father's Day, she turned the limelight to her father, Commodore Chitrapu Uday Bhasker, on her IGTV show Fish Bowl, who answered some fun questions from her social media followers.

Talking about how she came up with this idea, Swara said, “My dad was visiting me in Mumbai when the idea of making this video came to me and my manager Sanjeevini. My dad is really good with giving the right advice and that has always helped me. So I thought why not make a Father's Day video with him answering some millennia questions and being cyber dad for them.”

The show had many interesting and weird questions from Swara's followers. From sex, foot fetish to betting problems, the fans threw many questions at Swara's father but he took every question like a pro.

Swara seemed surprised at the calmness of her father answering these questions with ease. But then, she has seen her father be a great adviser to her first hand.

“There has never been a moment where I would have been shy to discuss any issue with my father. When my mother was away and completing her studies, it was my father who took care of me and my brother. He knows us very well because there was no communication gap between us and I am really glad about that,” says the actress.

Talking about the most sane advice given to her by her father, Swara says, "He once told me something which I will never forget. He said that, 'You don't have to do anything which you don't want to.' That is something which has stayed with me and I always remember it."

Sony MAX2 Highlights and Listing - 16th June – 30th June, 2019

SUN	16-Jun-19	19:00:00	KARAN ARJUN
MON	17-Jun-19	19:00:00	KOI... MIL GAYA
TUE	18-Jun-19	19:00:00	NAAJAYAZ
WED	19-Jun-19	19:00:00	HUM TUMHARE HAIN SANAM
THU	20-Jun-19	19:00:00	PARVARISH
FRI	21-Jun-19	19:00:00	Jaani Dushman (1979)
SAT	22-Jun-19	19:00:00	DON
SUN	23-Jun-19	19:00:00	SOORYAVANSHAM
MON	24-Jun-19	19:00:00	JEET
TUE	25-Jun-19	19:00:00	DEEWANA
WED	26-Jun-19	19:00:00	VAASTAV
THU	27-Jun-19	19:00:00	SALAAKHEN
FRI	28-Jun-19	19:00:00	GHULAM
SAT	29-Jun-19	19:00:00	AAMDANI ATTHANNI KHARCHA RUPAIYA
SUN	30-Jun-19	19:00:00	SANGHARSH