New Delhi : The weekends are always known for the dominance of Non-fictions content with the likes of reality shows, Game shows, Chat Shows and quiz shows with GECs competing with each other to gather maximum eyeballs. However, the trend seems to be reversing back in favour of fiction content with Star Plus launching its new fiction show “Airlines” in the weekend time band of Sunday 9 PM slot. However, they are not the same old tear jerking family dramas, rather they are unique concepts with a vision to attract the young audience.
Produced by Miditech, the show Airlines – Har Udaan Ek Toofan and trails the thrill, glamour and danger associated with the aviation industry. Set against a glamorous backdrop, viewers will see Tulip Joshi and VJ turned actor Yudishthir aka Yudi essaying the roles of pilots.
The show will commence from 24 August and viewers will witness a story of a woman who dares to join the airline industry as first officer initially and ultimately becoming a pilot. The series is penned for 26 episodes as of now and could see an increase in the number of episodes depending on the response from the audience.
Initially, when weekends meant only dominance of reality shows, Star Plus wanted to explore more in that space. And now after exploring various genres including saas-bahu syndrome and mythology with Mahabharat, it is ready to take to the skies with “Airlines – Har Udaan Ek Toofan” with an aim to strengthen its Sunday prime time band.
Set in Delhi, the show features the journey of first officer Ananya Rawat who navigates through a world of gender discrimination and regressive attitudes embedded in the modern and glamorous aviation industry. In her quest to establish her identity, Ananya realises that there is more to this industry than just battling male attitudes as she comes across many hindrances that eventually make her a stronger person.
The series is the first to have received permission to shoot inside the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal-3. From roping real pilots for tutoring actors to shooting at existing terminals, the makers and channel has put in their best to retain authenticity of the situations and incidents covered in the show. Since most of the sequences required the setting to be inside an aircraft, a special set modeled on Boeing 370 has been created.
According to Star Plus SVP – marketing Nikhil Madhok the channel with the new programme will be able to break the saas-bahu mould, showcasing a clear shift from the normal programs aired on all channels. The focus for the channel was on the role of a female in a male dominated profession.
Madhok while answering on why it has been chosen as a weekly show added that “It is because of the huge work involved in creating each episode.” According to industry sources, while a normal Hindi daily soap production cost ranges anywhere between 6-8 lakh per episode, a series like this could cost around three times more than what a daily does.
On the marketing front, the promos are already doing the rounds on 25 television channels. To attract the younger audiences, social media will be used in a big way to promote the property with integrations also with YouTube, Yahoo and MSN.
Miditech has also collaborated with Pixion to help recreate the world in the skies with its unparalleled proficiency in computer graphics and visual effects.
The success of this show is expected to redefine the TV watching habit of the Indian audience.
