MUMBAI: Ever since its launch a little more than a month back, Viacom 18’s new English Entertainment channel Colors Infinity has been invading untouched territories. Continuing to tread on the same path, the channel is now set to launch a locally curated English musical reality show called The Stage.
The one of a kind reality show will premiere on 10 October and will be aired on weekends from 9 - 10 pm. The channel has roped in celebrated names from the music world like Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani and Devraj Sanyal as judges. The show will be hosted by Shibani Dandekar.
The Stage unlike other reality shows will not limit its exposure to the on-air episodes. “We will have on ground activities, live concerts, the winner will get a contract with Universal and a musical single will also be released. Hence its not just about 20 on-air episodes. We will go beyond and will leave no stones unturned,” said Viacom 18 EVP and head of English entertainment Ferzad Palia.
The talent in the show will be nurtured by a group of experienced musicians. “We have contestants from across the country, and they are highly talented. The Stage will provide them with the platform to become popular and then nurture them to grow as professionals. The Stage will be a show where the winning contestant will be remembered for a long, long time. It is the most real reality show with very little edit,” Palia added.
“It is not true that English content is consumed only by people in metros. Close to 62 – 65 per cent of English music viewership comes from non-metro areas. So English as a language is spreading across the country and that’s one of the primary reason why we decided to experiment with The Stage. We will target VH1’s audience with the show,” informs Palia.
The Stage is presented by Renault and powered by the dating app Trulymadly. SOL is the production company on board.
Renault India marketing head Virat Khullar said, “As a company, we at Renault stand for innovation and passion and The Stage is a fresh new concept in Indian television, which is bound to change the scope of entertainment in this country. This belief in the show is the foundation of our partnership with Colors Infinity. We are glad that we can be a part of this huge transformation of English entertainment in India.”
Filmmaker and Colors Infinity co-curator Karan Johar said, “When I first heard about The Stage, I was amazed at the introduction of such a novel concept for Indian television. I can see a paradigm shift in the reality TV shows in India.”
Actor and channel co-curator Alia Bhatt added, “English music is such an important part of our playlists but we don’t get to see it anywhere on our music platforms. So The Stage is an idea whose time has come.”
Since the IP remains exclusively with Colors Infinity, it is highly possible that the channel will later syndicate the format to a different platform or other territories. “Syndication can be a possibility in the long run but at this stage our focus is to establish The Stage and innovate with other locally created English content,” summed up Palia.
