Film Production
Asianet’s first in-house production soap to air on 10 January
MUMBAI: Malayalam language channel Asianet is getting into in-house production of serials, joining a trend already started by ETV Networks in the South.
“The initiative is meant to develop Asianet’s in-house production centre as an effective resource for producing soaps. If it works, we will do more fiction based programmes and telefilms inhouse,” says Asianet vice president programming Sreekantan Nair.
For the comedy serial Santhanagopalam, Asianet is using its own production team. The script is written by Nair himself. Only the director and the star cast have been outsourced. The show is placed in the 9:30 pm slot (Monday to Friday) and will launch on 10 January.
Asianet wants to assess the quality and production value with this venture. “This is an experimental venture. Since we had the necessary resources, we took up this project. We want this show to compete with the outsourced serials,” says Nair.
Speaking on the advantages of having a soap as in-house production, Nair offers, “This will help us to keep everything under control. We can change the script and the product and can even wind up the show if required.”
Asianet, however, will continue to commission private producers for most of its shows. “We haven’t planned any more in-house projects yet. We will see how this turns out. But outside production houses will continue to supply content on our channel,” says Nair.
In the southern region, ETV has been using its internal team to produce fictional programmes . The majority of the soaps aired on ETV Telugu, for instance, are produced in-house.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
