iWorld
Arré to launch ‘Re-Gender’, ‘Official Chukyagiri’ & ‘Abbas-Mastan’
MUMBAI: UDigital’s digital media brand, Arré has been in the news for its bold content after announcing its first digital reality series based on social experiment Ho Ja Re- Gender. The ten months old brand is all set to take entertainment level a notch higher with its two more series Official Chukyagiri and Abbas-Mastan.
Co-founded by Ronnie Screwvala, B. Saikumar and Ajay Chacko in October 2015, the platform saw the exit of Screwvala in April 2016. The other two founders viz. B. Saikumar, Ajay Chacko along with Enam group acquired the residual stake held by Unilazer Ventures and Screwvala.
Ho Ja Re-Gender has 20 episodes with the first episode to go on- air from July 23. It is the series is India’s first digital reality series based on a social experiment where six young people find out what it’s like to be the opposite sex. Three men and women will undergo the experience of a lifetime by transforming themselves into the opposite gender. Complete with prosthetics, makeup and clothes, they will role play the other gender through various everyday tasks and special missions inside and outside the house they live in.
The series is about understanding what it truly means to be male or female in our times and what better way to understand it than becoming the opposite sex?
Re-Gender, based on a licensed international format from Armoza Formats, comes to India after a successful run in Iran and Germany and will be hosted in India by popular television celebrity Ranvijay Singha and his wife. It also features Rithvik Dhanjani, Karan Wahi, Raghu Ram and Bharti Singh.
Another series Official Chukyagiri is a slice-of-life fiction web series that is an emotionally charged yet humorous take on life in corporate India viewed through the eyes of an intern.
Speaking about the content strategy, Arre founder and managing director B. Saikumar said, “We wanted to launch Arré with a differentiated property, one that was entertaining, contextual and clutter-breaking. I am happy that A.I.SHA was the right show to launch with, since the viewer response has been overwhelming and it has set a good benchmark for our upcoming shows. We’re excited about Season 2 and hopefully will pack in enough thrills and chills for our viewers.”
Third series, Abbas-Mastan is a show about two peace loving terrorists who are also movie buffs. Also producer of A.I.SHA, Raghu Ram, Founder of Monozygotic announced the launch of the show’s season two.
iWorld
Anirudh Ravichander and Universal Music India join forces to take South India’s sound to the world
The composer behind 13 billion streams launches Albuquerque Records with UMI as its exclusive global partner
MUMBAI: Universal Music India has struck an exclusive partnership with Albuquerque Records, the freshly minted independent label of singer-composer Anirudh Ravichander, in a deal that bets big on South India’s booming pop and hip-hop scene going global.
The arrangement, announced on 17 March, will see Universal Music India handle future pop and hip-hop releases by Anirudh himself, as well as artists signed to the new label. A first release is already in the pipeline for April, featuring Anirudh.
The numbers behind the man are hard to ignore. Debuting in 2012 with the viral sensation “Why This Kolaveri Di”, Anirudh has since clocked over 13 billion audio streams across more than 770 tracks, cementing his position as the No.1 South Indian artist on Spotify by total streams. His fingerprints are all over some of the Tamil film industry’s biggest musical moments, from Hukum and Vaathi Coming to Arabic Kuthu and the A23 Theme.
But Albuquerque Records is a different beast. Built for the non-film space, it is designed to nurture independent talent and champion the next wave of Indian pop voices. “Universal Music India’s leadership in pop and hip-hop made them the natural partner,” said Anirudh. “I’m excited to take independent voices to audiences around the world.”
Universal Music India’s chairman and CEO Devraj Sanyal was equally effusive. “Anirudh represents the future of Indian music, bold, original, and with enormous potential,” he said. “Identifying transformative talent is our superpower, and this partnership reflects that belief.”
Sanujeet Bhujabal, managing director of Universal Music India, framed the deal as more than a distribution play. “Albuquerque Records represents Anirudh’s bold artistic vision in the world of pop and hip-hop,” he said. “True to his legacy of innovation, this partnership is set to establish yet another landmark creative space, this time for the emerging world of iPop and beyond.”
For Universal Music India, the deal deepens a long-running push into South India’s four key language markets: Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. The label already has regional imprints, film partnerships with Maddock Films and Excel Entertainment, and a growing non-film roster. Landing Anirudh, arguably the south’s most bankable music brand, is a statement of intent. South Indian music has the streams. Now it is coming for the world.
