Media Entertainment & Art Community

T-Series, Asia’s largest music label, publisher and India’s largest film studio ventures into producing web-series on OTT platforms. Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series will focus on creating content for all mediums which shall appeal to all sectors of the audience, with gripping shows across genres. Expressing his delight on the announcement, Bhushan Kumar, the Chairman & Managing Director of T-Series said, “We at T-Series have always believed in the power of stories, be it through the music we make or the films we produce. Taking forward this very ideology, we are ecstatic to now foray into producing web-shows with powerhouse content makers such as Aanand L Rai, Anubhav Sinha, Nikhil Advani, Hansal Mehta, Sanjay Gupta, Bejoy Nambiar, Suparn S Varma (The Family Man), Mikhil Musale (Made In China), Soumendra Padhi (Jamtara) among several more stalwarts. Through this we aim at offering fresh, original and exclusive stories tailored for our viewers across the globe.” He further adds, “With this expansion, we aim at creating ‘binge-worthy’ content that will cater to new audiences and will include tapping new markets. We are thrilled to diversify and become a creative hub for producing music, films and web shows. With the recent budget announcement by our Financial Minister, there is great progress in the pipeline with the 5G spectrum expansion. It has been projected that Rural India will be connected via optic fibres by the year 2025 and this essentially means that the internet will be easily and cost effectively available which surely is a great boost to the world of OTT and content creators all over. The OTT audience will expand exponentially.” Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series has seen an exponential growth over the last decade due to the diverse genre of films produced across theatres and OTT platforms and chartbuster tracks released on their YouTube channel. Now, T-Series shall once again captivate the world with a wide range of movies and web shows spanning over the genres of action thrillers, biopics, murder mysteries, jailbreak dramas and more in 2022 and beyond in the digital world.    

The Indian OTT market is generating a revenue of around $1.9 billion now and it is expected to grow to a whopping $4.5 billion by 2026. With such a humongous prospect in the offing, OTT giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar have been extensively focusing on beefing up their subscriber base. But as it appears, the Indian OTT audiences are not too satisfied with what these paid OTT platforms are offering them. As per a survey report from Accenture, the vast majority of the Indian OTT crowd opine that the content served up by these OTT platforms are irrelevant to them. The survey states that 74% of the OTT users opine that the content they are paying for is too expensive. What is more worrisome to these OTT giants is that 46% of the users are planning to move away from digital media entertainment in the next one year. Another strong point that is being raised by Indian OTT users is that the OTT platforms are not offering them personalized recommendations. They are “frustrated” with recommendations that are so very irrelevant to 81% of them that they are ready to switch media platforms to get better recommendations. Ease of use is another key criterion here. 69% of the users feel that navigating through OTT platforms to find content suitable for them is a frustrating experience. “As the video streaming segment has matured, consumers are increasingly finding the experience to be complicated, expensive and hard to use. Evolving consumer preferences and tough economics will create challenges for video streaming platforms,” said Saurabh Kumar Sahu, Accenture India’s Managing Director for Communications, Media and Technology practice. He also added that the ecosystem needs a “major reset and the consumers will need greater control over their viewing experience.” In terms of market share, Netflix leads the pack with 29% of the market followed by Disney+Hotstar which slightly lags behind with 25% of shareholding. Another contender, Prime Video also comes a close third with 22% market share. All in all, the leading OTT platforms in India should work towards providing their paid subscribers with better personalized recommendations. Solely focusing gaining more subscribers will not help the cause and considerable effort should go into providing users with a seamless experience.    

Tata Sky, one of the largest Direct to Home (DTH) platform has rebranded itself with a new name and identity and will now be called as Tata Play. The DTH company has joined hands with Netflix to offer new OTT centric channel packs as well. The new name of the company will be visible to the viewers from January 27. With the OTT combo packs, Tata Play users will be able to get a subscription to both the OTT platforms in the Binge service as well as the normal TV channels. Tata Play Binge will host content from 13 leading OTT apps through a single User Interface while offering the flexibility of single subscription and payment. The new combo pack will list OTT services which include Amazon Prime Video and Disney+Hotstar. Meanwhile, the subscription cost of the pack is yet to be announced. “We also welcome Netflix to our family. Plus, we are making service visits free for all customers starting today, and our de-active DTH customers can continue to recharge and get restarted on the platform with no re-connection charges. The name Tata Play thus signifies our expanded range of product and services. The new identity is an outcome of our desire to be future-ready while making tomorrow better than today for homes and families,” said Harit Nagpal, MD & CEO – Tata Play Ltd. The company also announced that it has renamed its broadband network to Tata Play Fiber. “I firmly believe that it’s one thing to own content, quite another to make it accessible. Distribution is what makes content easily discoverable for the masses, consumed, and talked about. Our DTH business has a sizeable market share and we’ll continue our endeavour to expand the TV viewing universe. Our Broadband business with 100 per cent fiber network provides impressive speeds, and that’s why we renamed it to Tata Play Fiber,” Nagpal added. Tata Play is a joint venture between Tata Sons and The Walt Disney Company, which over the years has expanded to 23 million households in India.

Schools in Maharashtra, including Mumbai, are reopening today, January 24, for offline classes for the students of pre-primary and classes 1-12. The announcement was made last week by Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad and she said that parents’ consent will be important for attendance. The minister also said that local authorities have been empowered to assess the Covid situation and take the decision regarding safe reopening of schools. However, schools will remain closed in Pune and Aurangabad. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday said no decision has been taken regarding resumption of physical classes at schools in Pune district as COVID-19 cases are on the rise. Ms Gaikwad, announcing the decision of reopening schools said parents and teachers of the state wanted resumption of physical classes. “During our continued dialogue with parents & teachers we received consistent feedback about restarting physical classes along with online education for better learning outcomes. During my recent interaction with Collectors/CEOs, a similar view was expressed,” the minister said last week. A recent survey of cities across Maharashtra suggests otherwise. According to the survey conducted by the online community platform LocalCircle across tier 1, 2-3 and 4 cities of the state that received 4,976 responses, 62 per cent of the total surveyed parents are not willing to send their children to schools from Monday. To ensure health and safety of students, schools will ensure strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols and SOPs. Students and teachers will wear masks at all times and only one student will sit on a bench. Vaccination drives for older students to be ramped up. Source: Careers360

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, became the sixth-highest grossing movie in history with $1.69 billion at the global box office. It passed “Jurassic World” ($1.67 billion) and “The Lion King” ($1.66 billion) to secure that spot. The only films ahead of it in terms of worldwide box office takes are “Avatar,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Titanic,” “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” The Spider-Man movie returned to the No. 1 slot in North America, adding $14.1 million between Friday and Sunday, along with $27.7 million overseas. Starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, the movie released in December has generated $721 million at the US domestic box office and $970.1 million internationally. Spider-Man’s latest adventure has done exceptionally well in the UK which is also Holland’s birthplace collecting $116 million to date. Mexico contributed $73.4 million, South Korea with $60.6 million and France with $59.9 million to the movie collection. In addition, the movie managed to draw big numbers without being released in China, which is the world’s biggest moviegoing market. The achievement is more notable because the movie came during the coronavirus pandemic, when theatregoers have been skeptical about returning to auditoriums amid an Omicron-fueled surge in the number of cases. The Marvel-backed film, directed by Jon Watts, stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Zendaya as Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr Strange, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds and Jon Favreau as Harold “Happy Hogan”. It also stars actors like Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori and Marisa Tomei in pivotal roles.

In an attempt to take control of divisive and anti-India content online, the Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday warned that the government will continue to take such action against those “hatching conspiracy” against the country. This come days after 20 YouTube channels and two websites were blocked for spreading anti-India propaganda and fake news. “I had ordered for action against them.… I am happy that many big countries across the world took cognisance of it. YouTube also came forward and took action to block them,” Thakur said. In a “closely coordinated” effort with intelligence agencies, the I&B ministry had in December last year ordered the blocking of 20 YouTube channels and two websites as they were spreading anti-India propaganda and fake news. “And in future also, action will be taken to block any such account hatching conspiracy against India, spreading lies and dividing the society,” the minister asserted. In a statement in December, the ministry had said that these 20 YouTube channels and the websites belonged to “a coordinated disinformation network” operating from Pakistan and spreading fake news about various sensitive subjects related to India”. The channels were used to post “divisive content in a coordinated manner on topics like Kashmir, Indian army, minority communities in India, Ram Mandir, General Bipin Rawat, etc”, it had said.

Padma Vibhushan awardee Pandit Birju Maharaj, who took the traditional Indian dance form to the world, left for his heavenly abode on Monday. The legendary Kathak dancer passed away at the age of 83 in Delhi after suffering a heart attack. As soon as the news of his death was shared on his social media platform by his granddaughter Ragini Maharaj, several Bollywood celebrities and his fans mourned the loss. Maharaj-ji, as he was popularly known, died surrounded by his family and disciples. His granddaughter Ragini Maharaj told PTI, “He was with us when this happened. He had his dinner and we were playing antakshari because he loved old music. He was lying down and suddenly his breathing became uneven. We think it was cardiac arrest as he was also a heart patient. This happened between 12.15 and 12.30 am. It must have been just a minute or so. We rushed to the hospital but unfortunately, we could not save him. He died before reaching the hospital.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his death is an “irreparable loss” to the entire art world. “Deeply saddened by the demise of Pandit Birju Maharaj ji, who gave Indian dance a special recognition world over. His passing is an irreparable loss to the entire art world. My condolences to his family and fans in this hour of grief,” the prime minister said. Actor-politician Hema Malini was one of the firsts to pay tribute to the late dancer. “The nation mourns the passing of a true legend, Shri Birju Maharaj, Kathak exponent par excellence. His ghungroos were on his ankles till he breathed his last. I always admired and respected him as a giant of the medium of Kathak & will miss his presence on the firmament of dance,” the actor, who herself is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer, shared on Twitter. Madhuri Dixit, who collaborated with him in three films wrote, “He was a legend but had a child like innocence. He was my guru but also my friend. He taught me the intricacies of dance and Abhinay but never failed to make me laugh at his funny anecdotes.” Kamal Haasan shared a throwback picture of himself when he was trained by the legendary Birju Maharaj. He called him “the unparalleled dancer.” Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan shared a throwback picture with Birju Maharaj. He said his passing away “marks the end of an era for Indian dance and Kathak.” “For me it’s been a personal loss. He was loved immensely by my family and his memories live in our hearts forever. The heavens will dance for him today and everyday,” he shared. Choreographer-turned-filmmaker Farah Khan was also among the firsts to react to Maharaj’s passing away. “The world loses a genuine stalwart,” she mentioned via Twitter. Source: PTI

Odisha: The people of Odisha were disheartened to hear the demise of veteran actor Mihir Das. On Wednesday, his mortal remains were consigned to flames with full state honours at the Satichaura crematorium. Amlan Das, his son and widely known actor, lit the pyre in front of his family members and famous people from the film fraternity. Due to Das’s valuable contribution to the Indian cinema with his acting, he was given the ceremonial guard of honour before the final cremation. Even as heavy rains were spread across the region, hundreds of people had gathered to pay their final tributes to the actor. Slogans of ‘Mihir Das amar rahe!’ could be heard during the funeral procession from Das’s residence at CDA area to Satichaura crematorium. According to reports, he was suffering from renal ailments and had been admitted to a hospital for more than a month. He died in the hospital on Tuesday at the age of 63. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart B B Harichandan, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Education Minister Pradhan were among people who condoled the actor’s loss. Source: Republic World

Mumbai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced a change in the T20I game regulations. According to the change, an in-match penalty for slow over-rates will be included, among other changes to the playing conditions for Twenty20 Internationals. The governing body also introduced an optional drinks interval midway through the innings in bilateral T20 international cricket as part of its freshly updated playing conditions. The in-match penalties are in addition to the sanctions for slow over-rates outlined in Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. “The over rate regulations are captured in clause 13.8 of the playing conditions, which stipulate that a fielding side must be in a position to bowl the first ball of the final over of the innings by the scheduled or rescheduled time for the end of the innings,” the ICC stated. They added further, “If they are not in such a position, one fewer fielder will be permitted outside of the 30-yard circle for the remaining overs of the innings.” Source: The article has been published by IndiaToday with a few edits by the ArdorComm News Network Team  

According to an article by Variety, it has come out that there will be no celebrity presenters when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announces this year’s Golden Globe award winners on January 9, 2022. This apparently came out when Varity came across an email that was sent by the Globe’s talent booker to several publicity agencies inquiring about the participation from their clients. In addition, sources have revealed that no celebrity has expressed their interest in participating in the ceremony. “The Golden Globes will move forward with a small event on January 9th that will not only award the best performances in television and film for 2021, but also on recognizing the importance of supporting diverse creatives across the industry,” the letter reads. “The event this year will celebrate and honor a variety of diverse, community-based programs that empower inclusive filmmakers and journalists to pursue their storytelling passions. The HFPA has financially supported important underserved organizations for decades and will continue to invest in the future leaders of our industry.” No details were provided about how the winners will be revealed or where the Globes will take place. “The event will have limited guests and with strict COVID protocols that include not only proof of full vaccination, but also a booster shot and a negative PCR test,” the email reads.