There will be mistakes and there will be fun: Raj Nayak on 'Rising Star'

Colors’ new talent hunt show, Oppo Camera phones presents ‘Rising Star’, is being touted as India’s first live showcase of pure talent. With live viewer engagement at its core, ‘Rising Star’ will premiere on February 4, 2017 and air every Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 pm. 

Produced by Optimystix Entertainment, ‘Rising Star’ will hand over 79 per cent of the judging mandate to the 130 crore Indians expected to tune-in to watch the show on television, while the panel of celebrity experts comprising Shankar Mahadevan, Diljit Dosanjh and Monali Thakur will have a 21 per cent say in a talent’s singing prowess. 

Adgully caught up with Raj Nayak, CEO – Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, at the show’s launch conference yesterday in Mumbai to know more about the show’s concept and creating competitive advantage. Excerpts: 

On the concept behind ‘Rising Star’.
‘Rising Star’ is the first real-time show, not just in India, but in Asia as well. I think this is the best time to start such a show in India, when the entire country is going digital. India is ready and has been waiting for a show like this. We do a lot of reality shows and most of them are voting-based shows. We cast our votes, but have to wait for a week to know the results of the votes cast. In contrast, with ‘Rising Star’, we are live and if there are mistakes, so be it. There will be mistakes and there will be fun. It will be a show set in real-time, showcasing the raw talent live and letting the viewers to decide on their fate. 

On getting together musical talents like Shankar Mahadevan, Diljit Dosanjh and Monali Thakur.
While planning on the expert panel for the show, we were very clear that we wanted one purist who is well-known for his music and he was Shankar Mahadevan. We then wanted a youngster who had attitude, who was a good singer and had immense following amongst the younger generation, and that was Diljit Dosanjh. We then wanted a girl in the mix; again it was strategic in nature to find a person who has contested in a singing reality show as our judge, and she was Monali. As Shankar has said, it will be an inspiration for people to see her move from the contestant side to being a judge. That’s how we managed to get all three on board. 

On creating differentiation amid shows like ‘Indian Idol’, ‘Dil Hai Hindustani’ on competitor channels.
The reason we are emphasising on the live element of ‘Rising Star’ is because people generally believe that voting on talent hunt and reality shows are done live – be it ‘India’s Got Talent’, ‘Bigg Boss’, ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’, et al – whereas this is not the case. Hence, bringing in the differentiation and making the viewers aware of it is going to be a challenge for us. Of course, we will be putting the live bug, which happens in sports channels, but that is a challenge. We have to make the viewer realise that it is live. The beauty about it is that there is engagement happening. When you watch a sport like cricket, the last two overs are the most exciting, but in ‘Rising Star’, every two minutes there will be a result – the contestant will be either in or out. It will be a cliffhanger throughout the show, which does not happen in any other show. It is not like you vote and then wait a week for the results, here the results will come out every five minutes and that’s going to be a huge thing. 

On the risk factor for such a show.
Everything in life is a risk and everything in life is also an opportunity, thus we have looked at this as an opportunity. Colors is known for its innovative and cutting edge programming. It’s in our DNA to experiment and do something new all the time. One of the briefs to my programming team is that we don’t look at other channels, we tell ourselves that we have to keep reinventing every day, what new are we going to do. When we were thinking of doing this show, we knew that it was a risk and we won’t say that we are not nervous. But do you know the adrenaline rush that comes from the challenge of executing a show like this? We may have some faults here and there, but we will get it right eventually. We will again be seen as trendsetters and I think that’s the job of leader brands. We have always been a leader brand and we have always been trendsetters, and ‘Rising Star’ is one more show where the whole country will follow us.

On putting together a show of such mammoth proportions, Vipul D Shah, MD, and Co-founder of Optimystix Entertainment India, said in a release issued, “‘Rising Star’ will change the course of Indian television altogether through its live, interactive and engagement-driven format. The technological and logistical requirements ensure a larger-than-life scale, which will amplify the opportunities for talent to rise and excel. The entire country has its eye on ‘Rising Star’ and we are pushing the boundaries of entertainment to bring them a show that has created waves internationally and is now set to heighten the viewing experience in India.” 

Speaking about the association with Colors, Shah told Adgully, “Our relationship with Colors has been very good and I am confident that with ‘Rising Star’, our partnership will be further strengthened. When Raj Nayak told me that he wanted Optimystix Entertainment to produce the show, I felt very blessed. But when he said that the show would be a live one, then I felt stressed. So, you could say that this is a ‘bless aur stress wala show’ with the fun element of being live. With this show, people will realise that the power is in their hands to decide on the fate of the contestants, that this is true democracy.”

Media
@adgully

News in the domain of Advertising, Marketing, Media and Business of Entertainment

More in Media