Sony is not dying to topple Star Plus, says Sneha Rajani

Sony Entertainment Television which is number two on GRP ratings (226) obviously would want to overhaul the numero uno player Star Plus (287). And Sneha Rajani, business head of Sony Entertainment, dreams of achieving this through fiction alone. She spoke to the media on the sidelines of the launch of Kyaa Hua Tera Vaada, which is a story of a married couple starring Mona Singh and Pawan Shankar. “Our fiction shows have worked big time as a result of which we have jumped from number 4 to the current runners up position. And we believe this process started when we launched Bade Achhe Lagte Hain on 30 May 2011,” said Sneha. She went on to say, “Sony has never shied away from pushing the envelope as far as content goes. Who would have thought of a show where the lead protagonists would be 40 and 33 years (referring to Bade Achhe Lagte Hain) or a tale of young woman falling in love with a man double her age (referring to Kuch Toh Log Kahenge)?” While people are busy wondering why Saas Bina Sasural has been shifted to 9 pm slot from 10 pm, to accommodate Kyaa Hua Tera Vaada, Sneha thinks that the 10 pm time slot is best for the Balaji Telefilms’ show: “Some people were questioning the logic of moving a show which is doing well (2.6 TVR); but we believe that the new Balaji show is better suited at 10 pm as it has a more urban skewed audience and plus we sincerely believe that Saas concept is such that it will work at any time slot. ” Though there are expectations that Sony Entertainment must be hell bent on snatching the numero uno position from Star Plus, Sneha denies it: “We are not dying to become number one. We are happy in our zone and will not rush to make new shows only to get to the number one position.” Sneha, who is banking heavily on fiction to race ahead, said “we have no plans for non fiction in the near term.” Though reliable sources reveal that Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and KBC will return, but only post IPL. Furthermore,Sneha also denied the chance of the Salman Khan anchored Dus Ka Dum making a comeback. Talking for fiction shows, Sneha said that the channel has one more fiction show in the pipeline that will be aired in February. However she refused to speculate on it’s time slot. But if rumour mills are to be believed, this new show might mean an end to either Kuch Toh Log Kahenge or Dekha Ek Khwaab. The reason being that all the shows in the 9 to 11 pm slot are doing wonders for the GEC. And Kyaa Hua, which will very soon join the league, is expected to add more numbers for the channel. Hence the only choice might be between Kuch Toh Log Kahenge and Dekha Ek Khwaab (8 and 8.30 respectively). The latter has more chance to survive as it has a strong public buzz while Dekha Ek Khwaab any ways has a finite story which will end with the transformation of Manyata (Priyal Gor). Rajan Shahi, the producer of Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, denied receiving any such intimidation from the channel. Shristhi Arya, producer of Dekha Ek Khwaab on her part says she has checked with the channel authorities and they have denied any such moves. In fact, when she spoke about the shows that replaced KBC, Sneha mentioned only one series: “Parvarrish – Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi is doing around 2.8 TVR; and we expect it to grow to 3 TVR in the coming weeks.” She did not mention Dekha Ek Khwaab which according to our source is not doing well.