Film Production
Optimystix Entertainment finding creative ways to maintain social distancing on air
MUMBAI: Television shoots that were suspended due to the Covid2019 pandemic have now resumed following the necessary guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government. Sony SAB fans can now rejoice as the shoots for all shows have now resumed and will be back with new episodes soon. On 29 June, Sony SAB's light-hearted family entertainer show Tera Kya Hoga Alia and Balveer Returns started shooting.
Optimystix Entertainment creative head Nikul Desai tells indiantelevision.com that the production house is ecstatic to start shooting. The company is also prepping up for a singing show named Taare Zameen Par for Star Plus and Disney+ Hotstar.
He says that owing to the pandemic filming pattern will be changed. Things will be looked at from the lens of multitasking with people, contestants and the crew. A lot of television work like scripting, dialogues and direction used to happen on the spot. But, that way of working has changed now. A lot of pre-production work with the team and actors are done well in advance.
“Due to various SOP measures and guidelines, we get less number of hours in a shift to complete the shoot. It means the output could be hampered, considering a smaller number of crew and other technicalities,” says Desai.
And we are back.. back to do what we do best..
Entertain you!!#TeraKyaHogaAlia #OnLocation #SafetyFirst #TheShowMustGoOn #PostPandemic #TheNewNormal #BackWithABang #TeamOpti #Unlock1@OptimystixMedia @sabtv pic.twitter.com/yvm4z1oALQ— Optimystix (@OptimystixMedia) June 29, 2020
He also mentions that there won't be major changes in the script of Taare Zameen Par. The company will now also showcase a few stories revolving around the lives of contestants who have been positively or negatively affected by the pandemic.
The first set of the auditions of Taare Zameen Par happened before the lockdown, now the second set of auditions will happen online.
“We are currently figuring out ways to maintain social distancing on the show. Like earlier, judges having a banter, fall over each other or hug contestants and bless them; those will not happen. We are finding out creative means and ways to bring the fun quotient in the show. The idea is to follow all the norms and yet not hamper the emotional side of the show," he shares.
There will be minimal mention of pandemic and lockdown, but the production house is not too keen to mention Covid2019 in its shows as it believes audiences are watching television to refresh their minds. No one likes to be reminded about a pandemic.
For Balveer Returns, VFX, edit team and other technical teams are working from home.
Artists are given scripts in advance to save time and rehearsals are happening over Zoom calls. So, when the actors are on set, they have a fair idea about the shoot and the studio ends up saving some time.
He also points out that actors are travelling with their own vehicles. Apart from that writers, people from post-production are mostly working from home. The production house is also providing sanitised vehicles for people who used to travel by public transport.
There is no fixed date for the telecast as they need to be sure about the banks of the episode. August is a likely period.
Optimystix Entertainment’s lockdown special show Kuch Smiles Ho Jayein… With Alia starring Anusha Mishra and Balraj Syal is off air now. According to Desai, it was a short series with just five episodes as it was the need of the hour. The studio is now focussing on its prime fiction show.
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.
