Kolkata headquartered film production company, Surinder Films, has acquired Addatimes, the first Bengali on-demand OTT Platform of the country

“We have been in the business of Bengali film production, distribution and content creation for both regional & national channels. In today’s context we found that the OTT Platforms have immense growth potential and it is the right time to invest on it. Thus, we decided to acquire Addatimes, the first Bengali and one of the well-known OTT platforms. Here, we would be creating, as well as acquiring content of varied genres keeping in mind the audience interest. We already have an interesting line up of big-ticket Bengali Movies & a host of Web Series’ which we would start streaming soon. We look forward to a creatively exciting journey ahead”, said Nispal Singh, Director, Surinder Films Pvt Ltd.

The first web series after acquisition to be streamed on Addatimes will be Amriter Sandhane - The Banaras Chapter, from14^th April, 2023, celebrating the occasion of Poila Boishak (Bengali New Year). This 8-episode series is a mythological thriller set in the holy city of Varanasi. The star cast of Amriter Sandhane - The Banaras Chapter includes Chandan Roy Sanyal, Sauraseni Maitra & Debasish Mondal amongst others and it is directed by Abhinandan Dutta. Following this there will be a rib-tickling series, Gentlemen, starring Joy Sengupta, Mir Afsar Ali, Rudranil Ghosh & Madhurima Basak in the lead, which is directed by Korak Murmu. Gentlemen will be steaming from May, 2023.

This apart, Addatimes would also digitally premiere some mega feature films like Kaberi Antardhan (on 26^th March, 2023) followed by Mitin Mashi, SagardwipeyJawker Dhan & Magic and many more in the coming months. New films like Love Marriage, Bhootpori, Ardhangini, Paakhi, Tarakar Mrityu & Tenida will be digitally premiered in Addatimes post their theatrical releases.

“We plan to release between 15 -18 original contents a year, to begin with. As far as the films are concerned, there will be more than one release per month," added Singh.

Today, I wished to share something with the readers about a new trend in the media/entertainment sector, but let me first confess I feel ashamed and embarrassed to write this as I also come from this fraternity. The trend I am referring to is the kind of content that has excessive vulgarity, nudity and obscenity.

When some of my friends told me about this, I was not ready to believe that the content dished out on a platform, for public consumption, could have fallen to this level. But they insisted and urged me to raise my voice against it. So, I decided to check it out myself. I came across a web series titled ‘Class’ and another called ‘Rana Naidu’, both on a premium OTT platform. I mustered enough willpower but I am sorry to report that I could not watch more than two episodes of each of them.

On TV and the big screen, the content is meant for entertainment. This content did not entertain me; it shocked me, it disturbed me.

When people complain of such excesses, some makers argue that they are merely showing a mirror to society. I beg to differ. What is shown in ‘Class’ and ‘Rana Naidu’ is not the true picture of our culture and society. Is each and every student of an elite school in big cities a drug addict? Is every boy or girl in such high-profile schools indulging in pervert sexual acts? If that were the case, I am sure at least some of the parents would have raised their voices and stopped sending their children to such schools. But that is not the case.

What such content does is not reflect social reality but actually the opposite – instigate our youth and society to go down this path by giving them ideas. Do we want today’s youth to take that path and create a generation of drug peddlers, sex maniacs and criminals? Or do we want to see them as doctors, administrators, scientists, thinkers and leaders of the future?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating strict censorship. I believe I am very liberal-minded and have been a strong advocate of the freedom of expression. But crossing the limits of what can be said and what can be shown on the screen is a shameless and blatant violation of the Freedom of Expression. The premium platform where ‘Class’ and ‘Rana Naidu’ is streaming is abusing the right to free expression.

Let us agree that nudity, vulgarity and obscenity cannot be sold in the name of fundamental rights. If you think so, then why stop at ‘Class’ and ban outright pornography? That too should be ok. If so, is it the case that some porn producers and peddlers have been prosecuted because their platform is not as big?

Let me reiterate that the issue here is nudity and not fundamental rights. Those who defend this vulgarity in the name of rights are actually destroying our social fabric and harming our culture. Selling obscene content in the name of freedom of expression is actually putting this freedom and this right in danger. They are forcing the authorities to consider censorship of OTT content. Then, we as an industry will have no argument against the government. In other words, these “advocates” of freedom of expression will be responsible for the censorship of OTT content, and we will be responsible for digging our own graves.

Alarm bells are ringing. I strongly believe we should wake up and put a stop to this trend. Enough is indeed enough.

Markand Adhikari is Chairman and Managing Director of SAB Network.

(The views expressed here are solely those of the authors and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com)

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has reserved its judgment in the Google versus CCI case, say media reports.

The appellate body has been hearing this case since February 15.

Last week, the CCI informed NCLAT that the tech major was not a 'dominant' but 'super dominant' undertaking.

Audible, a creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, has signed an exclusive deal for 10-audio dramas with Nikhil Mirchandani’s Hoop Entertainment.

Hoop Entertainment will produce 70 hours of original, multi-character, audio series content, across mythology, drama, history, true crime and horror genres, creating a “theatre of the mind” experience that will be exclusively distributed on Audible.

The 10 new shows produced by Hoop will be available free for all listeners, exclusively on Audible.

Shailesh Sawlani, VP and Country Manager for India at Audible, said, "We are incredibly excited to collaborate with Hoop Entertainment to bring captivating content to all listeners for free on Audible. We are constantly seeking new and innovative ways to provide our listeners with best-in-class content, and Hoop Entertainment's expertise in producing audio dramas across a variety of genres perfectly aligns with our vision. We are confident our shared passion for storytelling will help us to continue to deliver an immersive experience for our listeners."

Nikhil Mirchandani, Founder, Hoop Entertainment, said, “We're thrilled at the opportunity to produce a multitude of audio series across genres for Audible. The stories, narrative, performances, and sound design will create a ‘theatre-of-the-mind’ experience. Audio is the next entertainment frontier, and our audiences are ready for complex storytelling and personalized audio experiences. We thank Audible for trusting & enabling us to explore this medium to the fullest.”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has said that the company needs to eliminate about 9,000 more positions from AWS, PXT, Advertising and Twitch.

He made the announcement via a blog post.

The company has concluded its second phase of the operating plan, Jassy said.

"This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term," he wrote in the post.

e4m has collaborated with Lodestar UM, one of India’s leading media agencies and a part of the Mediabrands India network, to create “Generational Zeitgeist” – a six-part Podcast Series that peeks into the Indian Gen Zers’ mindset.

Based on multiple sources of learning including a three-part pan-India study with 1100+ GenZ respondents, Generational Zeitgeist covers a wide range of topics.

Each episode is a conversation between Aditi Mishra, CEO, Lodestar UM, and Kulanath Kaushik, one of the contributors to the study from Lodestar UM’s strategy team.

About the fourth episode

Aditi Mishra and Kulanath Kaushik discuss how has GenZ's media behaviour has changed over time.

“In today's digitally empowered media world, there is an endless choice of content and media, and the influx of influencers on social and video platforms has made it more democratic. Viewers have more power, and platforms like Discord and Patreon have harnessed the power of community,” said Mishra.

She added, “With so much content, choice, and engagement, time spent by GenZ audiences has increased. However, with this fragmentation, brands need to adapt to the dynamic media landscape and GenZ's changing habits.”

Technology has accelerated the speed of change, with innovative developments emerging every six months, such as the recent buzz around ChatGPT, Mishra opined. 

The two discussed 'Growth of Modern Brands' amongst the GenZ and how it is important for Brands to 'Enable Experiences', to have 'Dynamism & Agility', be 'Authentic & Transparent' and get the Brand's 'Core Promise Right'.

“The GenZs value authenticity and purpose-driven brands that deliver on their core promise, enabling them to sail through tough times. Brands that are adaptable, agile, and keep pace with the dynamic and fast-moving GenZs can create a pull,” says Mishra.

She further noted, “The pandemic presented an excellent opportunity for brands to demonstrate agility by pivoting to new services, as exemplified by Zomato/Swiggy's entry into grocery delivery and Amazon Prime Video's introduction of Watch Party. Thus, brands should empower GenZs to be part of their progression by being dynamic and agile.”

After working in digital marketing for over two decades, Vivek Bhargava, head of Dentsu Performance Group, moved on to the software space with his new venture ProfitWheel in 2021. 

ProfitWheel is a global consumer intelligence SaaS start-up, co-founded by Bhargava, Gautam Mehra and Aman Khanna. 

For Bhargava, making such switches is nothing new. He himself comes from a family that’s in the business of selling the musical instrument sitar. He decided to do something new and set up a digital marketing company in 1997, at a time when most people neither had the internet nor had heard of digital marketing. 

In less than two years’ time, ProfitWheel bagged several large enterprises as clients, including Fortune 500 companies and has been helping them take decisions on media buying, content creation, creative strategy, influencer selection, etcetera, globally with the help of actionable insights on their first-party data. 

In an interview with exchange4media, Bhargava shares his learnings from his early entrepreneurship days and experiences he gained at dentsu group and how it all helped him get quick success at the new venture. 

Calling Artificial Intelligence (AI) the “biggest emerging trend in SAAS,” Bhargava highlighted how it is the core of his platform that taps into a multi-modal AI integrated with ChatGPT, Bard and Cohere among others. “Generative AI is re-setting the entire world. With it, we have mapped 1.2 million interests of Facebook to 200,000 categories on YouTube further to 1,20,000 interests on Programmatic to further 17,000 interests on TikTok and 600 on Snap.”

He added, “We have also mapped audiences across the globe, so those with interested in cricket in India will be interested in formula one in the UAE, while a similar psychographic audience will have interest in ice hockey in Canada and soccer in the UK.”