Filmy, seriously!
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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SaharaOne is all set to launch its movie channel, Filmy, this February. The channel's Business Head Ashutosh gives the details.
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PHOTO: ANU PUSHK
FILMS IN A BOX (From left) Chunky Pandey, Purbi Joshi, Vinay Pathak and Lallan are all set to play host on an array of film-related shows on Filmy channel.
There was a time when Hindi films had just started to be shown on TV, and all people talked about then was catching up with some old film they might have missed in cinema halls. Many had the opportunity to watch famous films of bygone days like "Bobby", "Mera Naam Joker" "Pyasa", "Mother India", etc. during those days of Doordarshan's monopoly. Then at the start of the cable TV era, Zee TV came up with that grand idea of airing tele-films.
And we got to see some good creative cinematic work, particularly from directors like Mahesh Bhatt and Shyam Benegal.
But now, welcome to the competitive world of Indian television, with many a player today jostling for as many eyeballs as possible by beaming not just golden Bollywood oldies, but even the latest blockbusters. So much so that at times, you feel, a year-old film is real old! Mind you, on an average, movie channels like Zee Cinema, Sony Max and Star Gold air no less than 450 Hindi movies a month. That comes down to airing five films a day.
And come February 12, viewers shall find yet another channel in the fray. Being rolled out from the Sahara stable, this one is Filmy, and if you would like to take its slogan seriously, it says, "Ma kasam Filmy hai."
Explains the channel's Business Head Ashutosh, "Though we are a movie channel, we are not quite like the others. They air five movies a day and that's it. But we will air three movies a day and do some original programming based on films, something others are not doing yet."
And in this programming category, he names a flagship set of four characters integral to the channel's programming formats - Rokky, Lal Gulab, Lallan and Ruchi Reporter. The big shows he talks about are "Aaj Ki Filmy Khabar", a film news show, "100% Filmy" that will air movies with a lot of action and drama, "Personal Se Sawal Karti Hai" with Ruchi Reporter, "Rokky's 99" with the colourful host Rokky played by actor Chunky Pandey and "200% Filmy" that will air only blockbusters.
"So all these shows will establish the channel as being filmy and not beaming just films," underlines Ashutosh.
Admitting that there is indeed a surge in viewership of movies on TV despite the mushrooming of multiplexes, he even talks of space for yet another Hindi movie channel. "Look at the TRPs these movie channels share. Among Star Gold, Sony Max and Zee Cinema, as many as 500 points get distributed. So I have reason to feel there is scope for yet another movie channel after Filmy."
No slot for regional films
Ashutosh says the channel would not be airing just the SaharaOne productions but would go the whole hog in owning the airing rights of the latest blockbusters. He, however, is not ready to dish out a slot for regional films.
"Those Doordarshan days are gone. There are so many options in front of a viewer now that he would not want to watch a film, the language of which he doesn't understand," he states. Filmy surely would try to show some good foreign films and short films, he adds.
"After the launch, we have plans to add some more new elements. Though I am not ready to talk about them yet, I am sure the newness will further differentiate Filmy from the usual Hindi movie channels," he sums up.
Well, let's see after the cat is out of the bag.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
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