SaharaOne launches two new prime - time shows,
Unveils BITTO from Monday, May 17, SHORR to follow soon.
Mumbai, May 12, 2010: Badal Raha Hai Samay…Badal Raha Hai Aapka Apna SaharaOne!
SaharaOne from its inception is largely influenced by the vast and rich cultural heritage and traditions of India that have percolated down from its predecessors. This has always reflected in the shows that have been offered to its viewers over a period of time. From this May, SaharaOne is changing and the change is clearly an effort directed to facelift the channel effectively to engage additional viewership to its already existing base. From the new channel packaging to the renewed initiatives in programming, SaharaOne is promising its viewers a fresh and new exposure that suits their changing tastes with time. This sets in motion with the unveiling of its two riveting new shows ‘BITTO’ and ‘Shorr’. These two emotive back-to-back sagas will trace the journey of two young girls ‘Bitto’ & ‘Kankoo’. While ‘Bitto’ will hit the television screens from May 17th, Monday – Friday at 8.30 pm, the launch date of ‘Shorr’ will be announced soon.
Announcing the new look and feel of SaharaOne and the two new shows, Shri. Avinash Kaul, CEO – SaharaOne Channels said, “The expanse of real masses of India lies in the hinterlands and not only in its advanced metros. These masses form a huge chunk of consumers that are essential for the success of any brand in India. It is this viewer base that SaharaOne largely focuses on and draws its strength and inspiration from time to time. SaharaOne shows right from its inception have always been rooted in tradition and have been influenced by the vast and rich cultural heritage and traditions of India. This also reflects in our shows that we have offered to our viewers over a period of time be it the Rani of Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki, Rukmini of Kesariya Balam Aavo Hamare Des or Vaishnavi of Mata Ki Chowki. All these shows have the element of rich Indian traditions and values yet they portray the strong, independent thinking Indian women. In the present scenario there has been abundance of GEC’s and it becomes crucial to build and retain the brand in the viewers mind. SaharaOne’s new look and feel is an effort in this direction.
The refurbished channel packaging reflects the shimmer of gold across, with elements that signify the rich Indian tradition. In India gold is a celebrated metal and also the one which guarantees security. Gold signifies insurance and is rightly termed as ‘Streedhan’ that is given in marriage to a daughter by her father. It is in the same spirit that we have attempted to bring in our new channel packaging by basking it in the glitter of the colour gold. It is our way of giving assurance to our viewers at large on the quality content that we intend to bring to them.
The tag line designed for the new packaging, ‘Nayi Kahaniyaan, Nayi Saheliyaan, Naya SaharaOne’ signifies that the channel is viewer centric and caters to their ever changing preferences while remaining rooted in traditions. Each of our shows is firmly rooted in the everyday life of our viewers and with each new show we will be exploring a different sub culture within the umbrella of the Indian culture. For Bitto the story is set in UP and for Shorr the story is set in Gujarat. The flavors of each region will be visible in each and every show and we are confident that the strengths of the characters as they grapple with adversities will strike a chord with the viewers and endear us even more firmly to them.
SaharaOne is all set to unleash high decibel marketing campaigns to support all its new programme launches. There is a huge thrust on online presence with a brand new website, distribution in international markets apart from the traditional UK, USA markets and syndication of our popular content in India and across the world. New teams have been put in place to make sure that we are quickly up to speed and the teams have been handpicked from the best of broadcast companies. There is a huge thrust in distribution area with a dedicated team to monetize the subscription incomes and at the same time make sure that we are available across all cable head ends in good bands. A synchronized effort across all functions of the broadcast business is being executed and we are very excited with the challenges in front of us.”
Mushtaq Shiekh, Creative Director, SaharaOne Television says, “It's our changing personality which has mandated a change in look. In keeping with the times and the tastes of our audiences, we have taken some brand new initiatives in programming and the results will be unveiled for all to see. Indeed, the packaging is the harbinger of these launches. Our audiences would have witnessed a host of visual and aural changes to the packaging and promotion of our shows. In keeping with our core programming sensibilities however, these changes will remain true to the spirit of channel – we may be changing, but at heart, we're still Sahara One Television. But with a sparkling new aura: Naya Sahara One. Yesterday we were vibrant, today we're effervescent. The sparkle and spunk is back And it's time once again to put that best foot forward.”
Sheetal Ladha, Programming Head, Sahara One Television says, “With the thought of Nayi Kahaniyaan, Nayi Saheliyaan, Naya SaharaOne behind us we are armed with a plethora of new shows and new characters which take forward the overall brand promise. Kick-starting the same are two new shows ‘Bitto’ and ‘Shorr’. These are based on real life struggles of women and girls from our country and the problems they are facing 60 years post independence. We would like to contribute to the overall social upheaveling of the country by telling people the saga of these two very special girls whilst making it entertaining and informative.”
Produced by Contiloe, SaharaOne’s ‘BITTO’ is set against the backdrop of social discrimination in a village in Uttar Pradesh. It depicts the tyranny inflicted by the upper castes on the lower castes. Bitto (Pallavi Gupta) is a young simple village girl with simpler dreams of having a happy and secure home and family. Unlike her sister Rajjo (Vandana Lalwani) who has a fiery temperament, ‘Bitto’ is shy and timid and lives in a village that has clear demarcations between the lower castes and the upper castes. The members from the lower caste are subjected to discrimination and vicious atrocities by Bade Thakur (Vaquar Shaikh) who represents the upper caste and is the gram pradhan of the village. Bitto shares a close bond with her sister Rajjo and fears for her. Bitto sees the cruelty that Bade Thakur unleashes around her on her people. Whether Bitto succeeds in defying the regulations set on her and her community for deriving a respectful living is at the heart of the narrative.
‘Bitto’ boasts of a spectacular starcast where the lead character of Bitto is played by the vibrant Pallavi Gupta who was last seen as Kajri in the show Mitwa while Vandana Lalwani plays her sister Rajjo. Versatile actor Vaquar Sheikh essays the character of Bade Thakur, Suryapratap Singh. Other starcasts includes Pallavi Rao as Sugandha, Maya Yadav and Jayshankar Tripathi as Bitto’s parents Phoolmatiya and Harilal respectively amongst others
Commenting on ‘Bitto’, producer Abhimanyu Singh of Contiloe Entertainment Ltd says, “The show has a positive message of empowering women. Gandhiji started the struggle for equality in society for all, regardless caste, creed, color, language. However in today's day, society is plagued by many outdated systems and customs. Bitto is a drama series with such a backdrop where the protagonist gets all the power by law but has none in reality.”
Speaking on the show Shorr, Jay Mehta and Kinnari Mehta, producers of Jay Mehta productions says, “Puratan kaal se chalte aa rahe rudhivadi samaj ke jhoothey reeti- rivazon ke khilaf apni aawaz ko buland karti huee ek gungi ladki ki bolti kahani hai Shorr.”
‘Shorr’, is the story of Kankoo, the youngest daughter of Harjivan and Sushila Mandaliya from Vankaner in Saurashtra. While both the brothers of Kankoo are married, Kankoo’s parents are still in search of a compatible match for her. Kankoo has impaired vocalization since childhood and although she is young and beautiful, marriage has become a distant dream for her. She desires to lead a life like any other girl of her age, she wishes to sing, wants to talk to everyone, communicate her feelings through words and dreams of a blissful married life. But all these basic desires of Kankoo like any girl of her age have been eluding her time and again. Will Kankoo’s aspirations be fulfilled? Shorr is an emotive saga of a girl Kankoo, for whom expression is the only tool of communication and thereby reflects her pain and despair.
The lead character of Kankoo is essayed by the beautiful and effervescent Snigdha Srivastava who was last seen as Bhakti of Rahe Tera Aashirwad while Ragesh Asthana and Sheetal Anthani plays Kankoo’s parents Harjivan and Sushila respectively.
Will Bitto and Kankoo succeed in fulfilling their desires? Or
Will the ever discriminating society crumble their hopes, dreams and aspirations?
Join Bitto and Kankoo as they strive to cope up with circumstances life throws at them with SaharaOne’s new offerings, BITTO starting May 17th, Monday – Friday at 8.30 pm and SHORR, coming soon.
About SaharaOne Television
Sahara TV was launched in 2000 as a 24-hour Hindi entertainment channel. On 10th October 2004, the Channel became SaharaOne with the launch of The First Indian Sangeet Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
SaharaOne Television provides a strong mix of engrossing fiction & non-fiction entertainment and is popular for its star-studded mega events, dramas, mythological series, reality shows, kid’s programming, thrillers, feature films, film-based programmes, and much more. Even as it provides variety of shows across all the above genres, SaharaOne Television also focuses on providing entertaining and engrossing portrayal of strong, independent thinking Indian women in its soaps and serials.
With a strong focus on quality content and innovative programming and promotions, SaharaOne Television is poised for a position of strength amongst the mainstream Hindi General Entertainment Channels in India.
SaharaOne Television is part of the umbrella brand SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd, whose other businesses includes SaharaOne Motion Pictures - India’s biggest motion pictures production company, FILMY - A 24 hour digitally encrypted movie channel and FIRANGI – India’s first world television channel in hindi.
Media Contacts
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