Colors is the first broadcaster to go on air after the lockdown and they launched their new show ‘Ishq Mein Marjaawan’ virtually. All is fair in love and war says the adage. But to what extent one can go to prove their true love? What price can they pay for their love? And what happens when love becomes the biggest gamble of your life? Riddhima’s path to love is nothing less than a bed of thorns as she must first quench Kabir’s thirst for revenge before she unites with him. Mired in deceit and lies, COLORS’ romantic thriller Ishq Mein Marjaawan will compel you to change your perception of love. Once again, it will take viewers on the journey of love and revenge through the lives of the protagonists.
We spoke to Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, on the show and how it feels to be back on air after the lockdown.
As the first broadcaster to come on air after a hiatus of nearly 100 days how does it feel? Both for the channel and Production House?
The audience has been craving for original content and it feels great to be the first broadcaster to take the plunge and air fresh programming first. They are slowly getting accustomed to the new normal and we have designed our programming strategy accordingly. We factored in the lag and production pace before putting fresh episodes on air. Hence, we are working against a timeline and creating banks of episodes for all our fiction shows. The pre- shot episodes of Khatron Ke Khiladi and some of our fiction shows enabled us to air new episodes a week before the stipulated deadline putting us ahead of the other broadcasters. In the next couple of weeks, we will have new episodes for our entire weekday and weekday programming. We moved to airing two of our popular fiction shows Shakti Astitva Ke Ehsaas Kii and Barrister Babu this week and starting next week, we will have our full-fledged FPC up and running with other fiction shows Choti Sarrdaarni, Naati Pinky, Shubharambh, and Pavitra Bhagya. Furthermore, we are strengthening our content repository with the launch of the new romantic thriller Ishq Mein Marjaawan. Making a gradual progression, we will also air Naagin in the coming weeks while firming up our weekend programming. Thus, we will have fresh content available from 7-10 pm on weekdays and 8-10pm on the weekends providing an entire gamut of shows for the viewers.
During this lockdown viewers have moved away from GEC to other genres, what would be your marketing strategy to bring back your viewers?
The audience’s affinity towards their favorite characters plays a major role in re-establishing their connection with the show and we are focusing on this very factor. Keeping our characters at the center, we have devised all our programming and marketing communication. They are the soul of the show and creating ‘Kahani Ab Tak’ capsules that take the audience through their favorite characters’ journey so far and has helped us to familiarize the audience with the show once again. Traditionally, we are looking at achieving that through shows promos across our network and non-network channels to build intrigue around the new content.The consumption of the digital medium has grown manifold and becoming omnipresent across platforms is deemed crucial. We have been creating interesting video vignettes showcasing our characters while reiterating the time slots. We have a huge social media presence and we are also utilizing that effectively to communicate with the audiences. We are also looking at creating clutter breaking communication for our shows along with high points as all the channels will be starting their respective communication as well.
Is the Production House following all precautions as set by the government during the shoot?
We have embraced the new normal and are finding best possible ways to work around it. The challenge now is to make sure that everyone sticks to the SOPs and no one is flouting it. But we are being extremely cautious and strictly abiding by the safety protocols implemented by the producers, broadcast and government fraternity. We are sticking to the timelines, creating a pressure-free environment, keeping a tab on the daily influx of people on the sets, and ensuring the same set of people are working together to keep risks at bay. We also have cast and crew members saying in or around the campus to avoid travel hassles. Regular fumigation of sets, access to medical services, placement of sanitizers, and usage of N95 masks, regular temperature checks, and other necessary protocols are being followed by everyone.
Concept of this show, can you elaborate?
Ishq Mein Marjaawan has been a successful property and we wanted to emulate the success of the show through a new storyline and equally impactful characters. The show promises dynamic characters, thrill, and many hair-raising moments that will make you rethink the definition of love. We are convinced that viewers will once again fall in love with the characters and enjoy every moment of the suspense-filled journey.”
