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.
The show is also going to be available on the Metaverse and this is the first time a production house has decided to put a reality show as a game on the Metaverse.
Medianews4U caught up with Zulfiqar Khan – Group COO – ALTBalaji at the launch event.
The OTT journey and where do you see it in the coming years?
I look at it from a different lens, I don’t think OTT is going through a transition, but the society is. Forms of communication, entertainment, and lifestyle follow the aspiration of the people which will be powered by technology. OTT is a beneficiary in the investment in infrastructure, communication and delivery and everybody having a personalised screen in their hand. I genuinely believe that innovation at the rate at which it will happen now thanks to technology, the experiences will shift beyond the screen and even if it is on the screen it will be on a different mediums and formats. I see a fast tracking of innovation because for any technology or eco system to change there is a gestation period and once the tipping point comes everything changes dramatically.
Disruption in the OTT genre?
The answer is simple, Ekta is a brilliant story teller and it is in our and the audience minds that we have confined her to Television soaps, she has done many other things and ‘Lock Upp’ continues in the same DNA disrupt and give people what they want and to do that you need conviction and courage. We are excited to introduce the viewers to the dynamic world of Lock Upp.
What made you think of putting it on Metaverse?
There is this huge young generation today that is not watching linear TV or consuming content there. They are consuming content but in different formats. Our parents consumed content by reading newspapers, our generation watched TV and todays millienals consume content in different mediums. Rather than telling them come to us we are telling them we will come to you. We are entering their world with ‘Lock Upp’, and that world is technology inspired. All the youngsters are across the country and the globe and technology breaks geographies and demographics.
The incentives to be part of this game?
The content is brilliant and there will be something for everyone. The announcement has just been done, all the social media handles are active and as we come closer to the launch we will share much more interesting information regarding the show.
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.
