Mumbai: At the 24th edition of FICCI frames the convention for the business of media and entertainment Fireside Chat Deepak Dhar, Founder & Group CEO, Banijay Asia, Endemol Shine India in conversation with Gaurav Laghate, Senior Editor, Livemint said that despite the fact that the industry is seeing winds of change with things like consolidation with Viacom18 and Disney-Star India coming together his company is not ruffled. It will grow and its strength is the big formats that it has.
“We are poised to be in a strong position. We have big formats that most broadcasters want. People are in a mad rush to get eyeballs. We can bring in more and more formats that people want” He mentions formats like Monk, Suits that can be tailored for the Indian market. But he also feels that the time is right for India to create formats that travel globally. Streamers now bring audiences together. So people watch now Korean content. Earlier people would watch a lot of Spanish, Israeli content etc. The opportunity for India is that content is now about the language of emotions.
Dhar was earlier with Endemol that brought Big Brother to India as Bigg Boss. He then left and formed a JV with Banijay which went on to acquire Endemol Shine. He is now in charge of both. For him he hates being in a comfort zone. He said that he likes building brands, teams, ecosystems, empowering them and then take that story forward. He doesn’t care much for the status quo. So when he became well known for doing a lot of unscripted content fairly well he decided to undertake a new journey and that led to him dealing with shows like ‘Night Manager’, ‘The Good Wife’.
He feels in the next couple of years Indian stories, characters will travel globally. His company has in the pipeline Indian shows with a global lens, Indian shows with a very global perspective. “At Banijay given our distribution strength we are very well positioned to take a lot of our shows and put them into the limelight.” He said that his company focuses on both sides of the value chain – both TV and streaming. ‘Bigg Boss’ he said has seen its ratings go through the roof in multiple languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu multiple times the slot average. ‘Fear Factor’ is going from strength to strength. “We are only seeing growth here. ‘Masterchef’ has gone to digital on Sonyliv. We have not pivoted too much in one direction. We have focussed on both sides of the value chain.”
In terms of budgets, he said that he is not ruffled here as his company operates at various prices points. Different offerings cater to different parts of the value chain. He said that the company can brings from the TV and streaming side at the TV++ model. Delivering quality at a reasonable price point has been a focus all the time. Everyone wants content at the end of the day whether it is broadcasters, platforms or audiences.
When asked about more and people finding objections to content and regulation he said that one has to make a conscious choice at an early stage when it comes to story and characters. “You don’t want to have a controversial show for the sake of delivering a controversial show. At the drawing boiard if you are conscious of the characters, stories that you are taking forward I do not see an issue with regulation. If you are conscious at an early stage it is fine. We have not an issue with content that we have pout out.”
When asked about short form content like Reels he mentions that his content now competes against it. People watch content related things like weddings, parties etc. “We are facing the competition. So we are creating content in that manner. You will see formats, shows from us which are very short form. These will come very soon. Short form will be an opportunity to build on.” Live events are another area of growth for Banijay. He said that he recognises that the company needs to go beyond fiction and non-fiction. “It is an extension of the non-fiction work that we do. We produced the opening ceremony for the India Pakistan cricket World Cup game. We are now in the midst of Miss World. It is a natural extension.” It had acquired Italian live events firm Balich Wonder Studio last year. They have delivered opening ceremonies for the Fifa World Cup, the Olympics.
He noted that for doing local shows having a feel for content is important for him. You want to have a feel for the content and its emotions. He said that his team looks a content that can be Indianised or can be Indian like dramas, crime thrillers etc. The company has a very strong development team he explains. A strong research background has been built in as well. When asked about Big Brother China being shot in India he said that it is about the strength of various teams like technical. These are being built out. One can expect to see going forward shows like ‘Temptation Island’, ‘Survivor’ being shot in India.
He said that he is very happy that doc series are finding favour with audiences. The age and wave has started. Now is the time when big, bolder ideas are coming out. A third format was needed besides scripted and unscripted. There are great stories and access to people is there. “I am personally excited about the documentary space.” He noted that the lines are blurring between TV and OTT and a lot of content is platform agnostic. “It is moving from TV to OTT. People are consuming at their convenience. It is not so much about appointment television. So content consumption habits have changed. Hence the way you create and deliver has to change.”
Talking about the success of Bigg Boss he said that the secret sauce for him was the fact that a show has to have a story a very sharp one line story. In the case of Bigg Boss it was truly about one man who is the bhai who controls the bullies in the house. It is simple and clear to people. Salman plays the bhai of the house. He puts the house at rest. He schools them, celebrates with them, punishes them etc. in this manner Dhar explains it becomes a truly Indian show instead of a staid copy of the Big Brother format. It was made to be true to what is seen in this part of the world. He said that shows like Night Manager, the Good Wife have been big successes. The goal is to look for shows that can be adapted that feel more Indian than a foreign product. Then you have to get the right teams, the right infrastructure, and the right ingredients to make a show that lands in the right manner. But it has to start with an Indian emotion or an Indian story.
