MAM
‘KBC2’ campaign to float on ‘hope’
MUMBAI: “Umeed pe to duniya kaayam hai.” (The world survives on hope.) The theme of this oft repeated optimistic phrase is just what Star Plus and its ad agency O&M have hooked on to for the campaign of the big crowd and moolah puller KBC2. The show’s second edition with Big B at the helm hits the small screen on 5 August.
The ad campaign, primarily television centric, will be rolled out in five phases, the first of which began on 16 May. Star India senior vice president marketing and communications Ajay Vidyasagar says, “The first phase of the campaign will urge viewers to participate in KBC2 with the promise that in return what they will get will be ‘Umeed Se Dugna’ (Double of what one hoped for).” This directly implies the doubled prize money of Rs 20 million and also hints subtly at the hopes people have of meeting Amitabh Bachchan, appearing on television and the fame attached to it. This phase will also create hype on the return of KBC.
The second phase, which rolls out on 23 May, will stress on the time period during which the phone lines for the show will be open, i.e. 6 – 19 June. This campaign will push viewers to be prepared to participate in KBC2 with the tagline – ‘Kya Aap Tayaar Hai?’ (Are you ready?)
The third phase will delve into the logistics and detailed mechanisms of how one can participate in the show with the Chaudhary Makhan Singh TVC. “The initial entry process for KBC2 is different from what it was for KBC. Last time round, viewers got the question that would qualify them to participate in KBC, via the phone. This time however, the entry level question will be flashed on Star Plus during prime time and viewers can answer via SMS,” says Vidyasagar.
Next, the viewers will be educated on how to participate in the show via the telephone. While these promos will run in May and June, the concluding part of the campaign – the ‘Tune In’ phase – comprising three TVCs and 10 countdown films – will be rolled out in July, informs Vidyasagar.
All in all, 11 different TVCs featuring the Big B will be rolled out in the coming months before the show goes on air. Two TVCs in the first phase, four TVCs in the second phase, one TVC each for the third and fourth phases and three TVCs in the concluding phase of the campaign is what’s in store.
Talking about the KBC2 campaign, O&M business director Meenakshi Bhalla says, “While thinking on the theme of the campaign, what we came across was that KBC was a realization of every Indian’s dreams. The campaign rests on ‘umeed’ (hope), which is what drives the viewers. KBC has a lot of equity in the market, the question in front of us was how to encash that equity.”
While print, outdoor, Internet campaigns and direct marketing will be rolled out in a few weeks, the ground activation will start only in July, informs Vidyasagar.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
