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Commenting on his appointment, Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., said, “Nalin comes with an extensive experience and exposure across various functions like marketing, sales, product management and business development. His experience and leadership skills are integral to the opportunities that lie ahead with the increasing consumption of digital entertainment. With his sharp analytical skills and keen business acumen, he would be an asset to Hungama.”

Upon his appointment, Nalin Gagrani said, “I am truly delighted to be a part of Hungama, a leader in the digital media entertainment space. I am looking forward to applying my experience across various functions and sectors in my new role. ”

Nalin brings with him 18 years of experience across sectors like telecom, airlines, retail and beverages. His last assignment was as the Head of Marketing at Aircel- Mumbai and Maharashtra circle. He has also worked in leadership positions at organisations such as Kingfisher, Pantaloon, Vodafone Essar and Jet Airways. An engineer by qualification, Nalin holds a post graduate degree in Management from NMIMS.

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Just call on the hotline at any time of the day and night, and you’re presented a huge range of songs from four definitive categories – Hit pe Hit, Past ka Blast, Khambakht Ishq and Bollywood Phataka, specially selected by our expert DJ from MTV. MTV DJ Dial offers music 24×7, just a call away, with welcome messages by your favourite MTV VJs!

Aditya Swamy, EVP & Business Head – MTV India, said, “Entertainment has moved from being a one way medium to a 2 way exchange. With MTV DJ Dial, we are giving people the opportunity to carry a piece of MTV wherever you go…We have consistently looked to engage with young people across 3 screens and this another step in that direction…”.

Commenting on the launch Albert Almeida Chief Operating Officer, Hungama said, “The Mobile phone has emerged as the most preferred entertainment device with consumers today. At Hungama Mobile, we endeavour to constantly create new and innovative products and services on the mobile platform for our partners to take to the consumer. In a film and music obsessed country like ours, MTV DJ Dial not only gives the consumers a chance to listen to his/ her favourite music anytime, anywhere, but also connect with they’re favourite MTV VJs.

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Huuked is a software application for mobile phones that allows users an easy way to share your pictures, videos and other files of any size. It transfers your files from phone to phone in real-time. Your contacts can access the files you’ve shared by using the Huuked mobile phone application or the website. Huuked lets you decide which content to share and with whom. With the integration of the Hungama.com store on the application, users do not need to go out of the app environment to experience, buy and share the very best of Indian Entertainment content across genres such as Bollywood, Regional, Devotional, International and independent music.

“We are very excited to launch the Hungama co-branded Huuked service to the Indian consumers. Users in India are now able to share their mobile pictures and videos easily while discovering the hottest Indian mobile entertainment content along the way.” says Jarkko Utriainen, CEO of Huuked Labs.

The Huuked app with the Hungama.com store will be available for downloads on app stores for all Java enabled and Symbian handsets from May 2011.

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Users can sing along with streaming lyrics and they can also access and download music from the Hungama storefront to enjoy a seamless music experience. This initiative will enable Indian music lovers to get the latest and the best in music complete with subtitled lyrics and social features.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with India’s leader in digitial entertainment content,” said Larry Goldberg, CEO and president of TuneWiki. “The TuneWiki/Hungama alliance allows us to bring our unique and exciting music player experience to music lovers throughout India.”

Commenting on this initiative, Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Digital Media said, “So far music has been driven by traditional media players in India. TuneWiki offers an innovative music player that simplifies the user experience and provides access to an enormous lyrics database. The use of data-intensive features, such as subtitled lyrics and lyric translation, requires a high-quality application that can seamlessly support these features, and TuneWiki is the partner that makes it possible to offer our users an even better mobile music experience.”

Users can access Tunewiki application via a subscription model at Rs. 5/day, Rs. 10/week, Rs. 30 /month. This application is compatible with all Java enabled handsets that include major mass market and premium handset models making it a largely usable proposition.

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“We are delighted with the viewership performance of all our channels and our shows. This success is testament to the unique way Disney engages with Indian kids and families” says Natasha Malhotra, VP and GM, Walt Disney Television International India.

The network’s channels took over top slots in all markets – Disney Channel stood at #1 in HSM at 171 GRPs, Disney XD held #1 position in South at 135 GRPs and Hungama TV was #1 in All India at 147 GRPs (Source: TAM Week 20 kids 4-14 SEC ABC 7000 to 2300 hrs).
The network has seen significant growth on the back of an exciting content mix that is locally relevant, aspirational and entertaining.

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Intel, in association with Hungama Digital Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, is making available a selection of famous Bollywood and international movies, including blockbusters from Yash Raj Films, Paramount Pictures, T-Series and Reliance Home Video.

R. Sivakumar, Managing Director, Sales & Marketing Group, Intel South Asia, said, “The launch of Intel Insider in India is absolutely be-fitting considering it is the home of one of the largest film industries in the world – Bollywood. Intel Insider now gives home movie viewing a whole new meaning, where film lovers can watch their favorite movies in HD from the comfort of their homes.”

“The introduction of Intel Insider is a significant breakthrough in the entertainment space where consumers can unlock an ever increasing and expanding world of high-definition content on their PC” said Intel’s George Thangadurai, General Manager, PC Client Services.

Intel Insider technology also offers a “proactive queue” capability that will help consumers pre-download films ahead of the release date, and give them the ability to purchase those films, securely, even if they are not connected to the Internet. This will allow consumers to start watching their movies immediately on the release date without waiting to download during peak traffic times. The technology is available on all 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor based PCs with built-in visuals.

Intel® Insider technology, when combined with Intel Wireless Display (WiDi), will allow streaming of premium, high-definition movies from a PC / laptop to an HD television, without cables, thereby delivering the ultimate movie-viewing experience to consumers, with stunning image clarity.

Intel has been working with movie studios in Hollywood and Bollywood including Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Image Entertainment, Yash Raj Films and UTV Motion Pictures to offer an expanded library of movies and entertainment to the PC.

“For content companies and studios, the most precious thing is security for their movies and content, and the fact that it can be delivered and experienced by the consumer in a secure environment. Bollywood, the world’s largest film industry by number, as well as the world of digital media would be well served by the flexible business models, HD and secure online film distribution options under Intel® Insider™. Hungama aims to have new releases and also convert existing catalogs over time, to be available on this technology platform”, said, Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The storefront will have over 50 movies in HD at the launch of Hungama Movies in Q2, 2011.

“The film-going audiences who are willing and eager to pay for quality, legitimate Indian films, will now be able to do so, via secure digital distribution across the globe. This technology allows studios to reach out to a vast set of consumers, via a channel with the highest level of security that also gives them a great viewing experience,” said Yash Chopra, Chairman, Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd.

“The new age film consumer wants the flexibility to be able to access high quality content and pay a premium to access content as early as possible, on her preferred mode of viewing at that time. Intel® Insider™ gives us the ability to reach out online to the audience of Indian films spread worldwide. This is in line with our objective to provide ease of access to our content on multiple platforms” said Amrita Pandey, Senior VP, International Distribution and Syndication, UTV Motion Pictures.

Intel Insider creates a protected environment for the distribution, storage and playback of premium content. The technology offers movie studios and online video services a scalable, consistent solution that provides an additional level of protection. With Intel® Insider™, consumers will have access to a larger and growing library of movie titles in HD from online service providers such as Hungama.com.

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The soundtrack opens up with the film’s title song. The track is upbeat and makes people want to get up and dance. The tracks encapsulate a familiar sound with exciting mood.

“Shakira” is all about masti and dancing! The Punjabi vibe and techno remix make this song a hit. The song has an authentic Punjabi feel to it and comes out as an energetic foot tapping number. The next song in the album “Bade Dil Kripa” mashes modern sounds with Punjabi flair. It has an interesting blend of Western and hard core Punjabi influences that make the track more refreshing. “We Are So Innocent” impresses with its fun quotient and starts up the celebration.

“Mast Punjabi” brings Punjabi sounds to today’s Bollywood scene. The song is catchy and matched with a remix with which the music lovers will burn the dance floors wherein Anand Raj Anand contributed to the tune rendering the song with Sunidhi.

As an irony to its name, No Problem’s soundtrack is full of fun and entertainment with all the required ingredients!

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While consumers can continue to make their music purchases and downloads through the Hungama site, this unique offer is for Sify café/ e-port members which enables them to use their membership to download music, wallpapers, dialogues and much more entertainment content from Hungama.com within the same price packages. This is also an additional avenue for customers to avail their favorite Hungama music – through Sify cafes/ e-ports.

Speaking about the initiative, Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Consumer Business, said, “We are extremely happy to partner with Sify which has the country’s largest chain of branded cyber cafes. This is our first venture into retailing and first-of-its kind service in India. This will give us a great opportunity to reach out to our end consumers in more ways than one, making the entire experience of music downloads easy, virus free and entertaining. We are dedicated to offering great value and quality to our customers by providing an ecosystem that encourages consumers to download entertainment legally”

Commenting on this development, Natesh Mani, President – Consumer Business, Sify Technologies Ltd said, “We are very pleased to partner with Hungama digital media to extend yet another lifestyle enhancing service to our customers and enrich the Sify mylife consumer eco system. We are confident that Hungama will be able to benefit from the huge customer base that Sify has built across the country over the years. This tie-up will further reinforce our commitment to offer the best to our customers.”

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Hungama Digital Media will distribute Cartoon Network and POGO content to mobile handset manufactures as embedded content and mobile memory cards, on Hungama.com and their affiliate websites for internet platform and on leading DTH operator mobile stores. Further, Hungama will manage Cartoon Network’s mobile store on www.cartoonnetworkindia.com enabling users to browse content and also purchase via SMS. Expanding availability across platforms, the consumer will have on the go access to a plethora of entertainment choices.

Sharing details of the partnership, Siddharth Jain, Vice President & Deputy General Manager, Distribution & Business Operations, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd, said, “Having been in India for close to two decades, Turner has had many content distribution partnerships across its well entrenched brands and is consistently expanding opportunities of consumer engagement at various levels. We are delighted to partner with Hungama Digital Media and look forward to now offer consumers a variety of entertainment content and experience across the length and breadth of mobile and other platforms.”

Commenting on this partnership, Siddhartha Roy, Chief Operating Officer, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, said, “With over 670 million mobile subscribers and over 10 million broadband subscribers in India, we are rapidly becoming a digitally connected nation. At Hungama, it is our endeavour to take great quality digital entertainment to the audience in a form that is most convenient to them- via mobile or the internet, anytime anywhere. Furthermore at a price that is economical. We are happy to add Turner International’s repertoire of content to the Hungama network.”

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Adgully: Movie producer, TV biz honcho, renowned media personality — how do you handle so many roles?

Ronnie Screwvala: It is about the teams you work with. It is always about the teams. It is not about just coming up with an idea, it is about how you work in a team and how you create — and we partner really well. I think that’s the two key successes of UTV: teamwork and partnership.

AG: What was the rationale of forging a partnership with Bloomberg?

RS: Bloomberg is the number one business brand in the world. Today, there is not a single person in business, anywhere in the whole world, who does not have in-depth knowledge coming from Bloomberg. In a business, success depends on how deep you can go into research, how deep you can go into history and facts, and analyse the data. There is nobody in the world who analyses data better than Bloomberg.

AG: What inspired you to start a unique channel like World Movies?

RS: We are in the creative business and not only wanted to create a movie channel but also own it in all aspects. We had a Hindi movie channel and a Hollywood channel, which is UTV Action. Therefore, we wanted everything in between the two, neither Indian nor Hollywood, which is the rest of the world. Most people think the rest of the world makes only art house films. In reality, they just make very very strong films. That was the single motivation for World Movies.

AG: You exited Hungama shortly after starting it. What was the reason behind that decision?

RS: No we didn’t exit it. The Walt Disney Company is the number one media company in the world. When we were segregating our activities we felt that since they were running a kids’ channel, Hungama should go with them in their kids’ channel bouquet. And it was not as though we first we sold the channel and then Walt Disney came in. We inherited a partner first and in that process the segregation happened where we looked at Hungama as a separate channel that came under their cluster of kids’ channels. Otherwise we would be competing in the same space with a partner.

AG: Do we see any merger, acquisition or dilution in the near future?

RS: No absolutely none. There is no reason for us to look at dilutions, I think in all our verticals we are growing and holding up.

AG: How do you see the group evolving in the next few years?

RS: I think we are the only diversified media conglomerate in this country. I think as a brand we reach out to more people than all broadcasters do, or any movie productions company does or anyone in the print medium. I think first and foremost we want to start building on the fact that we are a B2C company. The brand has to mean something to the consumer, when he watches a movie, when he consumes a game on a mobile, or when he consumes a product of ours on the internet or on television. At all points, the consumer has to get a sense of a certain standardized quality.

AG: CBS is entering in India in partnership with Reliance ADAE, what is your take?

RS: There is not a single media company in the world now that can ignore India. If you look at the whole world landscape, Europe is kind of dead, Japan is insular and there is no other large country in Asia. China is closed for media, so where is anyone going to look for an opportunity? So there is no surprise or shock that everyone in media is looking at India.

AG: Any parting message

RS: I think the media has started figuring out how to have a balanced approach and actually contribute positively and not controversially. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]