Colors has steered clear of all the drama in ‘Rising Star’: Nina Elavia Jaipuria

Colors is back with the latest season of ‘Rising Star’, its live singing reality show. Produced by Optimystix, ‘Rising Star’ premiers on March 16, 2019 and will air every Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm. 

Shankar Mahadevan and Diljit Dosanjh return as judges, and joining them this season is singer Neeti Mohan. Singer-actor Aditya Narayan will be the show’s host for this season. Incidentally, Narayan was earlier seen as the host of Zee TV’s singing reality show ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs’ for quite a few seasons. 

This season, viewers can be a part of expert panel for ‘Rising Star’ through the Voot App. With the spotlight on ‘aam janta’ once again, the contestants will urge the virtual judges sitting at home to support their hopes, dreams, ambitions and aspirations and be a part of the live voting process. 

Speaking at the show’s launch event, Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head - Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, said, “After two successful seasons, ‘Rising Star’ has established itself as India’s only live interactive show on television and we are extremely pleased to be the pioneers in this space. Our campaign for this season – #JantaKaPyaar – emphasises the power of aam janta and the fact that their support has helped talent in this country to rise above and beyond. The 9 pm weekend slot on Colors has worked tremendously well for us with a hit season of ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ and we are sure that this season of ‘Rising Star’ will resonate with the audience in a similar way.” 

Manisha Sharma, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, added here, “Our audience have enjoyed shows like ‘Bigg Boss’ and ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ over the weekends and promising the same energy and entertainment, we are back with the third season of ‘Rising Star’ for our primetime slot. We are delighted to have Shankar Mahadevan and Diljit Dosanjh back on the expert panel along with Neeti Mohan as the newest member. Brand new addition to the team will also be the host, Aditya Narayan. Back after two successful seasons, ‘Rising Star’ is the only live show with no fake emotions, no over-produced tears and stories. The show is purely based on the talent of the singers and their journeys. It’s time for India to yet again come together and help raise the wall to find the next ‘Rising Star’. In this show, your teacher, your community and even your society will all cheer for you to be a singing star.” 

Producer Vipul D Shah of Optimystix remarked, “The Indian audience has overwhelmed us with the love they have showered on ‘Rising Star’ in the first two seasons. This time again, the wall between the contestants and the audience continues to remain the most crucial element of the show and it can only be lifted for the best singers based on live votes. Our concentration in this season is of course, the mass support of the public via live voting. It is the audience who has the power to pave the path of success and opportunities for our talented singers.” 

Adgully caught up with Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head - Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, to know more about Colors’ plans for ‘Rising Star’ and what we can expect in Season 3. Excerpts:   

What was the response to the first two seasons of ‘Rising Star’?
They have been very good. This is all an experiment and I think Colors has been very good and very brave when it comes to experimenting with new ideas and concepts. This is a live show and it is something very unheard of. So, as we went from Season 1 to Season 2, the ratings and interactivity improved and going forward, it will only increase. That’s why we have come up with Season 3, which will have a new look and better interactivity. 

What were the challenges that you faced while conceptualising such as show format?
The only challenge was not to end up with yet another music show. We wanted something unique. There are already several simple talent hunt shows on other platforms, which is why we started this show and we thought of putting our money where our mouth is and gave this a shot, and it all came together. Manisha and the Colors teams have done great work with the show. 

On the shoot day, there is a production meeting at 7.45 pm, which I think is their prayer meeting, where they discuss what’s going to happen. There are no retakes and no room for mistakes. This is different, because it is instant gratification. You don’t have to wait for any result or any elimination. 

The show has steered away from the emotional drama that comes along in other shows...
We do have emotional moments, but those are genuine emotions as stories and talent go hand-in-hand and we can’t do without them. It is all for real that you see in the show, and all that set us apart. 

What were your expectations from the channel and the advertisers when you started out with such a show?
The expectations were very high as we had put our heart into the show. It was one-of-a-kind. We pioneered an idea and decided to put out something different. Everyone in Colors agrees that – be it for ‘Rising Star’ or ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ or ‘Bigg Boss’, etc. – we are risk takers at the end of the day. People will embrace the show if they like it. In fact, Season 2 of ‘Rising Star’ got a much better response than Season 1. 

Who are the advertisers on board?
Currently, we don’t have any sponsors yet for ‘Rising Star’. Thus it’s a wait and watch in terms of advertisers, with the show going on air this Saturday. 

What are your marketing plans?
Along with the usual blitz of print and outdoor campaigns, the marketing plan is very music based. We are taking this in a very different way. Music and radio is a match made in heaven. So, we have taken DJ Chetas and Naezy to sing and promote ‘Rising Star’ on Instagram, Facebook, Saavn, etc. We will also be doing a whole lot of music competitions on-ground. Show’s host Aditya Narayan is travelling to Lucknow for one such event today.
How long was the preparation process for Season 3 of ‘Rising Star’?
It took us over 8 months. We have to plan well in advance for all our shows. For instance, preparations have already begun for the next season of ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’.

With the new tariff regime coming into play, what kind of challenges are you facing as a broadcaster?
At the end of the day, we have to be true as broadcasters. Our role is to provide entertainment content and we do that. People should get the content as soon as they switch on their TV sets. People don’t switch off TV and say I won’t watch it since there is no content. So, we try our best to give out good content and are ratings have been good. The consumer doesn’t care about what your ratings are, they watch what they want to watch as long as they like the story and the characters resonate with them. 

Under the new tariff regime, we have made it even simpler for our viewers, where we are offering 22 channels for just Rs 22, which works out to less than Re 1 per day. We have taken extra care to make sure our content is great. ‘Rising Star’ is our differentiator; we have everything live on it. It’s very different from our other content, so people make sure that they have Colors in their house. 

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