Jalsha & Jalsha Movies HD will redefine TV viewing in Bengal: Kevin Vaz

Bengali viewers are in for a visual treat with the launch Star Jalsha HD and Jalsha Movies HD, which are slated to go on air from tomorrow, coinciding with the first day of the Bengali New Year – Poila Baisakh.

Both the channels will be available on all the leading carriers like Tata Sky, Airtel, Manthan, GTPLKCBPL, Digi Cable, Siti, Meghbhala Digital, DEN, Hathaway and AMBC.

Sharing more on the launch of the two HD channels, Kevin Vaz, General Manager, Star Jalsha and Jalsha Movies, stressed that the aim was to provide a visual delight to the viewers and redefine the television viewing experience in Bengal.

Vaz reminisced that Star Jalsha was launched in 2008 with the promise of ‘Cholo Paltai’, which means ‘Let’s change’. “Right from its launch, Jalsha has been a channel which has been ahead of the rest by doing something new all the time,” he added. At that time, the primary viewership of the regional channels comprised the older generation. In order to bring in the young viewers, Jalsha introduced romance-based shows, talk shows, etc.

“The quality of production for Bengali channels at that time was very cheap. Therefore, we decided to provide quality which was as good as the national channels. For this we invested money in the production houses and asked them how we could give the viewers the same kind of feel as a national channel. What really helped us gain viewership and momentum of people coming back to the Bengali channels from the national channels was because the kind of quality and the kind of storytelling that had completely changed,” Vaz remarked.

The emphasis was on providing a better viewing experience, couple with a strong storytelling element, which was reflected in all the shows of the channel. Vaz cited the Bengali mythological/ fantasy series ‘Kiranmala’, which he said had computer generated (CG) work that even a lot of the national channels didn’t have. “‘Kiranmala’ was one of our top rated shows in Bengal, rating as high as around 13 TVR,” Vaz said. Mythological series ‘Shri Krishna’ is another series that is heavy on CG work.

Vaz further said, “After we started investing in content which could be a visual delight, we thought it was time now for us to get Bengali viewers all this in HD quality. We first invested in the software, and then decided to get that in HD so that these shows would be a viewed in richer colours, with greater clarity making images sharper.”

He further said that the reason for launching Jalsha Movies in HD was to offer the viewers a movie hall kind of an experience. “All movies are shot in HD, so there is no reason why the same experience can’t be replicated on television,” he added.

At the same time, Vaz clarified that the HD feed would be a replica of the SD feed, but would give viewers a far better visual quality. Both the feeds will be absolutely identical.

Going forward Jalsha is gearing up for its mega series, ‘Mahanayak’, which Vaz said would be one of the biggest shows on Bengali television. Being produced on a mega scale, the series will star well-known Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee in the lead role, marking his debut in a TV serial. This show is slated to go on air in the next 5-6 weeks and promises to be a visual delight. Vaz refrained from sharing details on the promotion strategy for the show stating that it was too early for that and that the same would be revealed closer to the launch date.

Star Jalsha Parivar Awards is another major property lined up.

Jalsha Movies HD will telecast an eclectic mix of blockbuster movies like ‘Arshi Nagar’ (A land of mirrors) by multiple National Award winner Aparna Sen; ‘Ki Kore Toke Bolbo’ (How do I tell you), a romantic saga; ‘Power’, featuring Jeet in a double role, and more.