Regional is a fertile ground for imaginative ideas: Ravish Kumar on Bigg Boss Marathi

‘Bigg Boss’, Colors’ flagship reality show, is all geared for its Marathi avatar. The first ever edition of ‘Bigg Boss’ in Marathi will premiere on April 15, 2018 at 7 pm and subsequent episodes will air from Monday to Saturday at 9.30 pm, while the Sunday episode will air at 9 pm. The show will be anchored by actor-director-producer Mahesh Manjrekar. 

Dabur Red Paste has joined hands with ‘Bigg Boss Marathi’ as the Presenting Sponsor in its very first edition. The show is Co-Powered by Rin, along with Special Partners Dabur Anmol Jasmine Hair Oil, Nirvana Realty’s Wollywood and Haware Intelligentia. 

This is not the first regional venture of ‘Bigg Boss’, as the show has won over the audience in the Kannada, Bangla, Tamil and Telugu speaking markets, besides Hindi. 

Speaking at a press meet in Mumbai last week, Ravish Kumar, Head, Regional Entertainment, Viacom18, had remarked, “The last couple of years have seen a considerable rise in viewership in the Marathi market, which can be attributed to shows with strong production values and innovative concepts. With learnings from 40 markets from across the globe, we are launching the very first season of ‘Bigg Boss’ in Marathi, tailor made as per the coming of age Marathi viewers who love disruptive content, human drama, real emotions and cinematic production values.” 

Speaking on the branding opportunities, he added, “The show also opens up wonderful opportunities for brand integrations owing to the individual affinity level that it conveys and the buzz value it creates. The content is also very digital friendly, which gives us more avenues to amplify the show.” 

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Adgully spoke to Ravish Kumar to know more about the Marathi version of ‘Bigg Boss’, the promotion strategy, winning over Marathi viewers, the celebrity house mates and more. 

How have you tempered ‘Bigg Boss Marathi’ for the Marathi viewers’ sensibilities? 
We don’t really temper the season when we look at ‘Bigg Boss’ in the regional markets, because firstly, it’s a family show and it is always aired during prime time. Besides, we try to cast it like a traditional joint family, where you have a father figure, a mother figure, the good son, the spoilt son, the girl next door. Hence, we want it to be a show where everyone in the family can actually sit and enjoy. According to us, TV viewing is still a time when the family sits together and interacts, whereas in today’s time everyone is on a different device and sitting in a corner. So, we want to bring that conversation and togetherness back. 

You are launching this property during IPL season. How do you plan to retain your audience during this time? Or is this a source of entertainment for snacking audience?
It’s not for the snacking audience and I guess all content finds its own audience. I think it’s a great time to be a viewer as you have so many choices, but that should not stop us from coming up with such kind of content. 

What’s the strategy to market and promote ‘Bigg Boss’ within the smaller pockets of the Marathi audience?
‘Bigg Boss’ as a property speaks for itself and because the fact that we have pioneered it very successfully in other regional languages is also a big factor there. If you look at the Marathi genre itself, two years ago BARC came into being and the genre moved ahead and has been climbing up steadily ever since. When you look at where we are today, I must say that Marathi is a very strong genre and also there is a lot of appetite for content in this market. 

We are also lucky to have a fabulous host in Mahesh Manjrekar, who, being an actor, director and producer, can look at things through multiple perspectives. Mahesh is a brilliant host who can help take this show forward. We are also very fortunate to have roped in Dabur as our presenting sponsor and Rin as co-powered by partner, apart from other sponsors. Thus, there is a lot of appetite amongst advertisers in this market for quality TRPs. 

As far as promotional strategy for ‘Bigg Boss Marathi’ is concerned, since it is the first season, you will see the promos across print, OOH, radio and also cross-channel promotions. There will be continuous innovations around it. We have also made a music video as people are more likely to connect with music and that also stays long after the show has ended. 

What are your expectations from the show in terms of revenues? 
We expect to break even in the first year itself and subsequently move on to even bigger numbers. 

What is the mix of housemates that we will get to see inside the ‘Bigg Boss Marathi’ house?
You will have to wait till April 15 to know the names of the participants, but having said that, we try to get people who basically represent everyone. You will find a lot of known and unknown faces. You will find people who have been in the news and people who want to be in the news. 

What’s the duration of the first season?
The usual season lasts for 98 episodes over 14 weeks, and including the launch and the finale, it is 100 episodes in total. The show will be aired seven days a week. 

What are the other shows that you have in the Marathi market? 
In Marathi, we are doing a music show called ‘Sur Nava Dhyas Nava’ and ‘Kunku Tilki Tattoo’. This is a market which encourages and rewards innovation and so we are always on the lookout for something to delight our audience. 

We have seen quite a few regional shows being adapted for the mainstream audience and vice versa. What are your thoughts on this trend? 
Regional, to me, especially in movies has always been a trendsetter. We have seen some great movies especially from the Malayalam and Telugu industry which have a distinct flavour to them. With the cost of production being lower and more sensible, we are not scared to innovate and experiment. 

Regional is a very fertile ground for imaginative ideas and new concepts that are very powerful. Also, Hindi has a very talented ecosystem which again can lend itself to any regional language, and you can see this happening within the network itself. My point has always been that good content works – it doesn’t matter if it is Hindi or any regional language or Hinglish. If it’s a good story with a strong connect, it can be adapted meaningfully for any market.

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