Mumbai: Indian Homegrown OTT Platforms MX Player and ALTBalaji together announced the most fearless reality show – Lock Upp: Badass Jail, Atyaachari Khel. In a never-seen-before reality show, 16 controversial celebrities will be put together in a lock up for months and will be stripped of their amenities. Adding to it, Kangana Ranaut will step in as a fiery host of the show.
A daring celebrity host, compelling tasks, dramatic fights, and an interesting mix of contestants who will do anything & everything to survive in the jail is the perfect amalgamation of entertainment.
At the press conference, Karan Bedi, CEO – MX Media along with Ekta R. Kapoor announced the Kangana Ranaut as the host for this first of its kind format. Also gracing the event were ALTBalaji Group COO – Zulfiqar Khan, Nikhil Gandhi – COO, MX Media and Mansi Shrivastav, SVP and Head – Content Acquisitions, MX Player who were present while unveiling the logo of this dynamic show.
Kangana Ranaut quipped: “I am thrilled and excited for foraying into the OTT with such a unique and brilliant concept. The scale and reach of both ALTBalaji and MX Player are massive. I am sure this show will give me a great opportunity to get in touch with my fans and entertain them as the host of Lock Upp. I want to thank the boss lady Ekta for always being by my side, she has always been someone I admire and respect a lot. I am glad that she is there with me for my OTT debut as well. To all my fans out there, get ready for the most FEARLESS show ever!”
Karan Bedi, CEO – MX Media added saying, “MX has always been a market disruptor – our user first approach to create product and content experiences that appeal to our huge audiences’ segments has made us India’s largest entertainment platform today. Lock Upp is yet another step in disrupting the Indian entertainment ecosystem as it is designed as a digital first non-fiction offering that will release on a scale that is unprecedented for India. We are excited to collaborate with ALTBalaji and with one of India’s finest actors – Kangana Ranaut.”
Speaking about launching Lock Upp, Ekta R. Kapoor, shares: “I am glad to announce India’s biggest & the most fearless reality show Lock Upp hosted by the powerhouse of talent and the dynamic Kangana Ranaut. Kangana has been a very dear friend, I am glad to support and congratulate her on her first digital debut. Lock Upp is being launched on a massive scale and has all the elements that make for an entertaining reality show. The concept of the show is brilliant, and I am sure that it will captivate the viewers and set a new-standard for reality shows. I am also glad that MX Player has partnered with ALTBalaji. I wish the team the very best and I am sure they will create history with Lock Upp and that it will be a roaring success!”
Elaborating on how this format promises to be an audience favorite, Nikhil Gandhi, COO – MX Media said, “At the heart of MX Player’s success lies the ‘Global Indian’ consumer and we have constantly been working towards creating content as per consumer preferences, especially given the large user base of over 300Mn globally spanning across the US, UK, Middle East South East Asia and more that we cater to on our platform. There is a lot of potential for an edgy, larger-than-life, captive reality show that Lock Upp is. And, with India’s favourite Queen, Kangana Ranaut as the host and sixteen incredibly popular contestants who will do anything & everything to survive in the jail – we believe this format will surely be an audience favourite.”
Speaking about this content partnership with ALTBalaji, Mansi Shrivastav, SVP and Head – Content Acquisitions, MX Player said, “MX Player’s content design focuses on building a bouquet of engaging and entertaining offerings for our diverse audience and the biggest pillar of our content creation philosophy is our partnership with content creators and aggregators. To bring alive this unique captive reality series, we are thrilled to partner with ALTBalaji, one of the leading content creators in our country. Together, we share a belief in consumer obsession and with this unconventional nonfiction offering – we are hoping to win millions of hearts.”
ALTBalaji Group COO Zulfiqar Khan also announced that ALTBalaji will also introduce the world’s first fantasy metaverse game based on reality show. An innovation like this which is one of a kind and for the first time in India, this game will be introduced with Lock Upp where the audiences can play real and win real.
Speaking about the game, Zulfiqar Khan, COO – Group ALTBalaji shares, “ALTBalaji is proud to be the first in the world to launch a metaverse game that is based on a reality show. Gaming enthusiasts around the world can explore this fantastic world that we are creating with elements of blockchain and NFTs. It is going to be a very exciting release and will introduce the viewers to the dynamic world of Lock Upp.”
MX Player and ALTBalaji will livestream this show 24×7 on their respective platforms and will have the audiences interact directly with the contestants. The audiences will be empowered to punish or award their chosen contestants and even play ‘Khabri’ to some of them. Produced by Endemol Shine India, the show premiers on MX Player & ALTBalaji from 27th February 2022.
