MUMBAI: First, Bollywood?s badshahs broke into television, hosting non-fiction shows. Amongst the first to do so was Amitabh Bachchan with KBC in 2000. Shah Rukh Khan. Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Abhishekh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Priety Zinta followed.

Now Bollywood?s biggest are gearing up to break the fiction bastion. Earlier this year, Colors revealed that Anil Kapoor would be starring in the fictionalised series 24 which would be helmed by Abhinay Deo. Now Sony has announced that the Big B is also taking a leap into the fiction genre and will be acting in a limited episode series to be directed by Bollywood?s lovable enfant terrible cult director Anurag Kashyap. Endemol and the Bachchan owned Saraswati Creation are coming together to co-produce the show.

With a bound script in place, filming is slated to start within a week. Bachchan says "the fiction series would be an altogether new experience for the Indian audiences. It will serve as a sumptuous Indian thali having a flavour of everything including humour, satire, emotion and drama while keeping the underlying social aspect of the country in mind."

Endemol MD & CEO Deepak Dhar says that industry and viewers should "expect anything less than a larger than life production values with the series being shot like a film with both outdoor locations and lavish sets."

One wonders how Star and Zee will go one up on Sony and Colors? Can we expect an announcement on their star line up for another fiction show?

MUMBAI: ETV Bangla is all geared up to entertain their viewers with one of India?s biggest reality TV show Bigg Boss. The show that took the nation by storm will now set foot in West Bengal, revolutionising entertainment with its perfect blend of reality and unscripted drama. While Bigg Boss will now speak in Bengali, actor Mithun Chakraborthy will be seen hosting the show, but in an all new avatar.

Produced by Endemol India, Bigg Boss is slated to go on air on ETV Bangla in the month of June.

Talking about his new role, Mithun Da (as he is fondly called) said, "Bigg Boss is a very intriguing format. To be a celebrity and to be under surveillance 24x7 on national camera is no easy task and it?s my honor to be the link between the Bigg Boss house and the outside world for my fellow friends of the industry. I look forward to starting the shoot for the show soon."
 
Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar said, "Bigg Boss is based on a universal concept that has successfully appealed to audiences across markets. Adapting a cult show like Bigg Boss in a regional market helps us reach out to captive audiences who are eager to consume the programme in their preferred language. As the format of the show is non-scripted, one can expect nothing but the purest form of reality arising from unpredictable situations leading to a great viewing experience. We are certain that the Bangla version will be received with a lot of enthusiasm."

MUMBAI: Endemol India?s big-ticket reality show Bigg Boss is set to enter the regional space with ETV Kannada bagging the format rights to produce it in Kannada.

This shows a growing trend of big shows travelling to regional-language markets. Star India, for example, has shown Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) across many of its regional channels.

With Southern superstar Sudeep as the host of the show, the Kannada version will see its local newsmakers and celebrities from all walks of life entering the Bigg Boss House.

Bigg Boss Kannada will be aired on ETV Kannada in March.

ETV Kannada Programming Head Parameshwar Gundkal said, "Television content is all about story telling. It deals with emotions and drama of everyday life. Bigg Boss deals with this fact in by far, the biggest way. This is the best show available for the viewers to get up close and personal with their favorite celebrities."

Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar further elaborated saying, "Bigg Boss has connected extremely well with Indian audiences because it showcases reality in its truest, unadulterated form. Season after season, it has been the talk of town and to maintain the same amount of fanfare in its Kannada version, we have incorporated a gamut of innovations and new ideas based on our observations and learning from the Bigg Brother Format world over."

The group of celebrities who will be living together for 14 weeks will bring out the best and worst in each other as they struggle to keep their calm and survive in the Bigg Boss house confines. The Bigg Boss house will not have any kind of entertainment or sources of communication with the outside world.

With cameras tracking their every move 24x7, the contestants will have to do without basics that they hold dear like a television, books, internet or their phones.

MUMBAI: The television and movie content companies are combining in India as a way to scale up their businesses. Eros International Media, the leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, and Endemol India, producers of some of the most spectacular television content, have entered into a strategic alliance to co-produce three feature films as well as original programming for television.

The deal will allow Endemol to penetrate into the mainstream Bollywood market while Eros gets an opportunity to enter into the television content business. While Endemol is widely known for its versatile TV formats across genres, Eros has a vast film library.

Says Eros International Media Executive Director Jyoti Deshpande, "We both are IP driven companies and Eros having been market leaders in the filmed entertainment arena, while film co-production has its natural synergies, we will also create original high quality compelling television content as digitization takes Indian television into the premium subscription phase. The alliance is founded on the coming together of our respective core competencies in film and television."

As a part of the three film deal, Eros and Endemol will be co-producing an action comedy which will be a remake of a South Indian blockbuster, an original romantic comedy and a comic caper.

The collaboration has earmarked Rs 1 billion to fund these three productions. Targeted at Bollywood enthusiasts across genres, the first film to be made will be a romantic comedy, which will go on floors later this year.

Says Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar, "After successfully producing content for some of the biggest format shows in the country, we are expanding our portfolio to films and are delighted to partner with leaders in this space. Through this association, we look forward to making a mark on the big screen as well."

Television formats and original programming for television is another area that Eros and Endemol plan to collaborate on. Many of Eros owned filmed Intellectual Property Rights will be considered for adaptation for the television format and vice versa for Endemol owned IP.

The production house, which holds IP rights for various scripted and non-scripted formats, had entered the film production business last year taking the re-make rights for Sujoy Ghosh?s Kahaani.

Endemol India had last year sold 49 per cent stake in the company to Peter Chernin?s CA Media. The strategic investment was raised with the intention of acquiring small production houses and producing films in multiple languages.

Eros recently entered into a deal with HBO for creation of a premium television channel housing English and Hindi movies. "Eros gets associated with two strong brands like HBO and Endemol. But how much of a revenue jump it gets remains to be seen. Endemol, on the other hand, gets a foothold into the Bollywood market. But it is not an exclusive alliance and the confirmed commitment at this stage is for three co-produced movies," says a media analyst.