GECs
RCTV has slew of telenovelas on offer for Indian market
MUMBAI: Love, passion, revenge, ambition and intrigue! These are the tantalising themes that the telenovela genre deals with. Now RCTV International, which claims to be Venezuela’s largest media company, is looking to penetrate the Indian market with a slew of new telenovelas.
Last year Coral Pictures, which is RCTV International’s distribution arm, sold the show My Sweet Fat Valentina to Star. This was adapted as Dekho Magar Pyar Se and was produced by Shrey Guleri. It has also sold Juanas Miracle to Sony. In the new show, medical advances combined with human error create a new life but in the wrong body.
Now the company has announced that 11 more shows are available for purchase. RCTV Intl GM and VP Jose Escalante says, “RCTV realises that India is a market that has to be approached with a flexible product solution in order to better penetrate it. We have both scripts and audio-visual finished products which are available to premium partners interested in our concepts.
However, he also explains that though flexibility is an important mind frame in the company’s core business there has to be a more solid penetration of the audio-visual finished product which can be achieved and will be executed by RCTV International.
“The quality of our story lines and production standards are quite remarkable and one step at a time there can be a potential major enjoyment experienced by a different culture when watching a different one with identical life issues to observe and have emotions for.”
The catalogue for India and Asia has been designed with Telenovelas having an average of 120 episodes and with a couple of them reaching close to 160 episodes each, of which runs for an hour. RCTV International director international sales Asia Gonzalo Redondo says, “RCTV is not only catering to traditional television audiences that have enjoyed classic Telenovela story concepts.”
“The catalogue clearly reflects through more diversified telenovela story lines – the evolution of now contemporary life situations being experienced or at least very much familiar in knowledge to many groups of people and as a consequence creating much interest when observed by television viewers.
“Humour has also found a more secured presence in some of RCTVs newly rolled out formats as there is no doubt of its positive and high general acceptance when entertaining and its positive impact in rating performance.”
One of the shows in Brujas. this is a suspenseful drama involving a man who wants to be surrounded by women. Therefore he establishes a company that enables women to be trained so that they can be employed as household help. Later on he gets married but dies that same night. Five women are suspects in his death which may not be an accident after all though he has a happy smile planted on his face.
Another show Love Of My Life deals with the relationship between a sales woman and her boss. Their love is as intense as it is persecuted. The man in question starts to face problems with his former girlfriend. As the saying goes ‘Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned’.
Micel, meanwhile, brings in the theme of a career oriented business woman. The title character decides to take over the running of her father’s company as she suspects that a conspiracy is being hatched against it. She believes that she will be able to protect what her father built while staying true to her own principles.
However, she keeps her identity a secret from the other workers as she wants to work her way to the top without being given special favours. The plot gets interesting when she is singled out for attention by three men.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… connection because this time, the game isn’t just about winning, it’s about who’s with you. Sony Pictures Networks India is gearing up to launch a new reality game show, Tum Ho Naa, expanding its unscripted slate with a format that promises both emotion and engagement.
The show will premiere soon on Sony Entertainment Television and stream on Sony LIV, with Rajeev Khandelwal stepping in as host. Known for his measured screen presence and selective choices, Khandelwal’s return to television adds a layer of familiarity and credibility to the upcoming format.
While specific details of the gameplay remain under wraps, the positioning suggests a reality format that leans as much on emotional resonance as it does on competition, an increasingly popular blend in Indian television, where audiences are gravitating towards content that offers both stakes and storytelling.
Khandelwal, reflecting on his return, noted that his choices have often been guided by instinct rather than convention, describing Tum Ho Naa as a project that feels “close to the heart”. His association also signals Sony’s continued focus on anchoring new formats with recognisable faces who bring both relatability and depth.
The launch comes at a time when broadcasters are doubling down on original non-fiction formats to drive appointment viewing, even as digital platforms expand parallel reach. By placing the show across both linear television and OTT, Sony appears to be aiming for a dual-audience strategy capturing traditional viewers while engaging digital-first consumers.
As the countdown to premiere begins, Tum Ho Naa positions itself not just as another game show, but as a reminder that sometimes, the biggest prize on screen isn’t the jackpot, it’s the journey shared along the way.
