Rainbow Productions rises in the east

Rainbow Productions is riding the crest of the regional programming wave. The Calcutta-based production house churns out seven hours of programming daily. The programs include two breakfast shows, four soaps, and six newscasts. On the company’s CV are the three year old running serial, Janmabhumi, and Calcutta’s only privately produced newscast – Khas Khabar – on DD-7. The program provider claims a turnover of Rs 1000 million .

Rainbow plans to invest Rs 30 million in new equipment. The equipment includes DVC Pro or DVC Cameras, DVCPro edit suites, and Beta systems for high end work. The program provider is in negotiations with European channels including Arte, and development agencies i.e. International Fund for Agricultural Development to produce international programming.

Rainbow also plans a Bengali portal – khashkhabor.com – but is facing a glitch in using the Bengali font. Rainbow Production’s Director Jagganath Guha believs that a solution can be found in using the Roman script and audio targeting the Non Resident Indian,away from home Bengali citizenry. The portal, expected to cost Rs. 10,00,000 in the first year, will feature news and information using text and photographs. It will launch in the first quarter of 2001.