News Broadcasting
K Sera Sera may set up TV production house
MUMBAI: Production company K Sera Sera is training its guns on the bigs boys of the production business Balaji Telefilms and UTV.
The aim is to be among the top three production houses in India in the movies and television business by the year 2004-2005, K Sera Sera’s New York-based president Ash Pamani says.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com after the annual meeting of the board of directors today, where the company’s results were declared, Pamani said, “We have had a terrific year. Owing to the fabulous synergy that we have with our creative partners Varma Corp, we are hoping for a great year ahead. While this year we recorded Rs 240 million turnover for the financial year 2003-2004, we are aiming at Rs 750 million for next fiscal. As of 31 March 2004, there has been no pending investor grievance or debt.”
“With more professionalism setting into the Indian entertainment industry, we firmly believe that this industry would only become more structured and grow in the years to come. Our current financial performance reaffirms the same,” Pamani said.
If last year the stress was on films, this year it is television software. Although plans aren’t finalised yet, establishing a television production house in on the cards, says Pamani. The company has entering into creative partnership for making TV serials with Girish Mallik promoted Clapstem Productions for the production of two serials, which will roll out on Sahara in June ’04. For the year 2004-2005, the production company has plans for four serials thus far, one daily and three weeklies. While Clapstem is producing one weekly and a daily for Sahara, the next one is assigned to Ravi Rai productions. Starring Aman Varma, the weekly is currently being pitched to Sony.
Event management is another area the company is examining getting into. It isn’t quite keen on taking it up this year though, says Pamani. The company has, however, already entered in joint ventures with leading stars of its forthcoming movies Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Ajay Devgan. The stars will get a select percentage of profit margins.
That apart, 75 per cent of the distribution set up, which the company is working on in association with the PVR theatre chain, is already established. “We will complete the remaining 25 per cent in this year. As for overseas distribution, we have already started New York operations. We will be looking at the London and the Hong Kong market too,” offered Pamani. “In addition to the distribution platform, we are also looking at extensive marketing of the movies,” he added.
K Sera Sera, in a tie-up with Varma Corporation released three movies in the financial year 2003-2004. Darna Mana Hai, a multi-starrer suspense thriller, was the debut production, which was released in July 2003. According to Pamani, the company grossed profitable business in all the territories in India. The second production from the company a thriller Ek Hasina Thi, starring Urmila Matondkar and Saif Ali Khan was released in January 2004. Its latest release, Ab Tak Chappan, was out on 27 February 2004.
K Sera Sera will be releasing seven-eight more films from its stable in the next financial year 2004-2005. The company has chalked out detailed plans and is plans to produce 10 films in a period of two and half years, in association with Sahara India Pariwar and Varma Corp in a Rs 350 million joint venture.
Production company K Sera Sera has announced an impressive annual performance. After the annual meeting of the board of directors, held on 4 May 2004, the company announced that for the period 1 April 2003 to 31 April 2004, the turnover of the K Sera Sera production Ltd stood at Rs 240 million.
K SERA SERA CLOCKS NET PROFIT RS 35.7MN
K Sera Sera has announced an impressive annual performance. After the annual meeting of the board of directors, held on 4 May 2004, the company announced that for the period 1 April 2003 to 31 April 2004, the turnover of the K Sera Sera production Ltd stood at Rs 240 million.
For the same period the company reported a profit of Rs 57.6 million and after tax of Rs 35.7 million. The company has also declared dividend of Rs 1 that is 10 per cent.
Said Pamani, “We have had a terrific year. Owing to the fabulous synergy that we have with our creative partners Varma Corp, we are hoping for a great year ahead. While this year we recorded Rs 240 million turnover for the financial year 2003-2004, we are aiming at Rs 750 million for next fiscal. As of 31 March 2004, there has been no pending investor grievance or debt.”
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
