GECs
This one’s the Gags Gang!
MUMBAI: One – a gritty drama around the coal mafia of Dhanbad has nothing to do with the other – a laughter riot cooked up by television’s funnies.
We’re talking about Zee TV’s first-of-its-kind ‘variety’ comedy show titled Gangs of Hasseypur which promises to tickle your funny bone and bears no resemblance whatsoever to its cerebral namesake – Anurag Kashyap’s critically acclaimed film, Gangs of Wasseypur.
As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com, Gangs of Hasseypur is slated for an April 26 premiere on Zee TV. So, at 8:00 pm every Saturday and Sunday, viewers will be treated to a mish-mash of hasya kavis making them laugh at everyday issues or stand-up comics unraveling the real faces behind the big names in cinema, sports and politics.
Be it the unending speculation over superstar Salman Khan’s bachelor (should we say virgin) status or something as everyday as rising prices, the show will see comedians like Raju Shrivastav and Suresh Menon leaving the audience in splits with their witty punches and comic timing. Actor-comic Bharti Singh will add her own brand of madness while divas Mandira Bedi and Tanishaa Mukherjee will step in as Hasseypur ki Haseenayein, upping the show’s glam quotient. Gorgeous and witty Ragini Khanna will host the show. Dabur Glucose-D will be the title sponsor.
Pankaj Saraswat of Laughter Challenge fame will helm this laugh-a-thon as creative director. He says that the show was conceptualized in just 15 days. With the shoot having begun not very long ago on April 14, four episodes have been canned already.
Asked if the jokes on issues ranging from inflation to the serial lack of trust in politicians will be taken in the right spirit, Saraswat says: “We are not attacking anyone personally. We are talking about things that are known to everyone. Everybody knows that Narendra Modi’s wife’s issue has come up suddenly. Everybody knows that Aam Aadmi Party chief got slapped. We don’t have any personal agenda and are not politically biased against anyone. It is more socio-political.”
Referring to a joke about “Neil Nitin Mukesh is menghai ke zamane me teen naam leke chal raha hai” in the show, Saraswat explains: “It is comedy; we are not making the show to hurt anyone’s sentiments. It is not below the belt. We have got a lot of different elements in the show. It is not just stand-up comedians coming, throwing jokes and going but it has got more meat to it like interactive sessions, panel discussions and much more.”
What was it like with the production team having been given just 15 days to put the show together? “We brainstormed on the idea internally and I gave Pankaj a call and threw a bomb saying let’s shoot in the next two weeks. He has his pool of comedians, he knows them, and he knows how to utilize their talents in the best way. And he did it and we would like to improve on what we have done and I am sure the audience is going to just love it,” answers Zee TV programming head, Namit Sharma.
Sharma was confident that the concept would be bang on in an election season in a country where there aren’t too many platforms to showcase comic talent. “If you look at the English comedy, they allow young talent to grow. We have not created enough platforms for comic talent to grow. So I am very keen to do that,” he says.
Going by industry sources, the show costs are anywhere between Rs 15 and Rs 20 lakh per episode.
A media expert opined that the channel has also got the slot timing right for this show. “The channel has made a safe move by not airing the show during a latter slot which has some of the best shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi, Mad In India and Comedy Nights with Kapil,” he says. “The show will get a thumbs up as far as viewership is concerned, because people who are bored of watching daily soaps have an option to switch to Zee for the new content.”
Despite the competition, Sharma believes that good content always work on television. “There are so many daily soaps that work across channels despite competition. On the same slot many shows work sometimes, so why non-fiction should be treated any differently? People like laughing; then why not?” he says. “It is really difficult to shoot such shows and I am nervous as hell about audience reaction. However, we are trying and we hope it works.”
GECs
ZEEL overhauls sales structure to chase growth across TV and digital platforms
New structure sharpens digital push as viewing habits fragment fast
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is reshuffling its sales playbook as it looks to keep pace with a fast-changing media landscape, where audiences are scattered, screens are multiplying and advertisers are following the data.
According to media reports, the rejig is anchored in the company’s push to build a more integrated, data-led monetisation engine, one that can straddle both traditional television and fast-growing digital platforms with equal ease.
At the heart of the move is a reworked sales architecture designed to deliver cross-platform solutions. With connected TV gaining ground and digital consumption surging, ZEEL is aligning its teams to move quicker, think broader and sell smarter.
The restructuring is being led by chief operating officer, advertisement revenue, Sandeep Mehrotra, at a time when the company says it is seeing tremendous growth. The idea is simple: match the right talent to the right opportunity in a market that is anything but static.
As part of the overhaul, several long-serving executives have been elevated to chief sales officer roles across regions and content clusters. Sanjoy Chatterjee will head the east market, while Gunjarav Nayak takes charge of the west along with high-margin verticals such as hmg, brand works, intellectual properties and digital sales. Rajnish Gupta will oversee bengaluru and chennai markets alongside the kannada and tamil clusters.
In other key moves, Divjyot Dhanda will lead hyderabad and kochi markets and manage zee tv, zee keralam and the telugu cluster. Roshan Vasu Kotian will supervise a diverse portfolio including Zee Marathi, &tv, Zee Punjabi, Zee Anmol, Big Magic and Zee Biskope.
The company is also strengthening its bench, appointing national sales heads across retail, regional clusters, digital and brand solutions. Ankur Kapila’s appointment to lead digital sales signals a sharper push into a segment that continues to outpace traditional formats.
Behind the scenes, dedicated strategy and operations roles have been carved out for both linear and digital businesses. Nitin Shetty, Rajkiran Shrivastav and Priya Nambiar will take on key responsibilities to ensure the new structure runs with precision.
The broader aim is clear. ZEEL wants a bigger slice of advertising budgets that are steadily drifting towards digital and connected TV ecosystems. By integrating its offerings, the company hopes to deepen client relationships while unlocking new revenue streams.
The new structure takes effect immediately, with Mehrotra continuing to report to chief executive officer Punit Goenka and steer the company’s advertising revenue strategy. Senior executive Laxmi Shetty will support the transition, with her revised role expected to be announced soon.
In a market where content is everywhere but attention is scarce, ZEEL’s latest move is less about rearranging the org chart and more about staying in the game.
