AgTalk | Exciting to create specialised content: Contiloe's Singh

Abhimanyu Singh began his television production journey back in the early 90’s when he first independently produced for the public broadcaster - Doordarshan under the banner of Contiloe. Since then, as they say, there is no looking back. Headquartered in Mumbai, Contiloe Entertainment’s journey began in 1995 with a single aim – to have a diversified portfolio from factual to non-factual programs and is thus now fully integrated film and television software company which has also emerged into one of the sort after production companies in India.

The works of Contiloe is spread across all genres from drama, comedy, thriller/horror, anchor driven films, event based shows, documentaries, music videos, feature films and much more.

A trend setter in the India television market, it has set a lot of firsts in many genres within the industry including crime, comedy, detective, horror. Currently, the production house boasts of presenting some of the most popular TV soaps like Bharat Ka Veer Putra - Maharana Pratap, Adaalat, and Emotional Atyachaar.

Alumni of The Doon School, Dehradun, Singh holds graduate degree in Arts, English Honours from St. Stephens College, Delhi. Till now he has successfully produced over 60 shows and 2 feature films which include various genres ranging from historicals, crime, horror/thriller, events, formats, comedies, animation and mini-series.

Adgully caught up with Abhimanyu Singh, Founder & CEO, Contiloe Entertainment Pvt Ltd who spoke about the company’s journey till date, new trends in the domain, success factors and much more…

Adgully (AG): Since the inception of Contiloe Entertainment in the year 1995, how would you view your journey so far at Contiloe?
Abhimanyu Singh (AS): The television industry has changed at a rapid pace thus making each inning more exciting and full of learning. The last 20 years have been very satisfying and I feel proud to have been a part of one of the most exciting industries in our country, see it grow and bloom into one of the finest in the world.

AG: Tell us a bit about the early days of Contiloe at length. What were the genre’s you tapped then and which are they key areas of proficiency currently?
AS: Contiloe was started in the mid 90's by my brother and me and our first show was for the public broadcaster DoorDarshan. We parted ways in mid 2000. Aakhein, a thriller genre show was produced by us for DoorDarshan. I was always a fan of mystery, thrill and the supernatural. This went onto be one of the main genres that we specialized in with shows such as Ssshhhh..Koi Hai (Star Plus), Krishna Arjun (Star Plus), Fear Files (Zee Tv), Savdhaan India (Life OK), Adalaat (Sony Entertainment). We made a debut in historicals in 2009 with Jhansi Ki Rani and since then we have successfully put together nearly 1000 episodes in historicals between Jhansi Ki Rani, Veer Shivaji and Maharana Pratap. We have also done 500+ episodes of The Great Indian Comedy Show and Maniben.com in the comedy genre.

AG: What is the overall team size of Contiloe and how it’s placed in India?
AS: We have a team size of approximately 50 people and 600 plus freelancers on various shows. Obviously, the number of freelancers reduces or increases depending on the number of shows.

AG: What would you attribute your success as a leading production house to?
AS: We have always focused on our conviction and all the success can be attributed to the dedicated team and their collective hard work.

AG: How do you see production houses in India growing and how would you rate the growth of Contiloe in the previous year?
AS: The TV production segment is getting very fragmented and it can be a challenge in the short term for all the stakeholders. Having said that, the current trends show that the audiences want more specialized content, which makes the content creation business very exciting. This coupled with the demand for more content will see robust growth with the production business. New channels are coming up and the production houses have lot of work to look forward to. With an expanding bouquet of channels, new content would be required, thus we do foresee a good future for producers.

AG: You have strong base in producing Indian shows, any plans to produce international content?
AS: I would love to make an Indian show for international audiences but there is no immediate plan in this direction as of now.

AG: Contiloe’s current offerings belong to different genres. What according to you is the genre which is garnering more eyeballs on Hindi GEC’s today?
AS: According to me, the historical, mythological and crime/thriller has really emerged as successful genres across the TV industry but the daily soaps still rule the roost.

AG: What are some of the challenges a production house faces in India. Is the situation same when it comes to your international counterparts?
AS: The biggest challenge for growth that our production business has to reckon with is to find trained creative and production talent for our shows.

AG: What according to you makes Contiloe stand different from competition?
AS: Ability to adapt to a changing environment and do multiple genres successfully is the key mantra to our success.

AG: What according to you is attracting producers and broadcasters to the concept of ‘finite show’ or develop a series-style show?
AS: The audience attention span is getting shorter like for example 20/20 cricket has become the most popular format in cricket as it lasts fr just 3 and half hours. To cater to this audience, which is emerging fast, it is imperative to give finite stories with a beginning, middle and an end.

AG: What is on the planning chart for the coming months?
AS: There are a few exciting TV projects in the pipeline. Once we are firm on them then I would be in a position to discuss those with you. On the film front, our feature Darr @ The Mall released this year in February. We have our 3D animation film, Mahayoddha Rama which should release early next year. [By Ranjana Gupta| Twitter: @RGrightsreserve]

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