MUMBAI: The year 2021 has been quite a whirlwind of a year for everyone, including ALTBalaji. While everyone was confined within the walls of their house in this pandemic, India's homegrown leading platform ALTBalaji found a way to be consistent and kept its audiences entertained. Having launched 89+ Originals since its inception, ALTBalaji has been a pioneer in creating exclusive content. In the year 2021 alone, ALTBalaji launched 20 shows spanning multiple genres ensuring there is something to cater to everyone’s tastes. With mass engaging content to the most riveting shows, the platform has emerged as the fastest growing and most talked-about OTT platform in India, despite a pandemic that brought life to a standstill.
The platform continues to make news and set benchmarks with innovations in various spheres. Some of the most notable ones are the strategic brand partnerships they have formed during the year. The payment gateways like Amazon Pay and MobiKwik, to simplify transactions for the viewers, the influencer tie-ups to build conversation, and the various other partnerships with youth-oriented brands like Flyrobe, Growfitter, Ferns n Petals along with multiple other brand partnerships helped the platform’s fan base grow to a large extent. The OTT platform also brought its most acclaimed series Broken But Beautiful 3 to Alexa enabling users who can now listen to dialogues, the trailer, and other exclusive content from this successful show. Fans of the show can enjoy and soak in the immersive and gripping experience provided by the suspense thriller, with just a simple voice command to their favorite Echo device.
While its content alliance to co-create original content with ZEE5 & MX Player remained the talk of the town this year, ALTBalaji also launched some interesting and innovative initiatives like teaming up with Mission Green Mumbai to plant 100 trees and save the Aarey forest for their show Cartel which was also applauded by media, influencers, critics, and celebrities.
Celebrations were in full swing earlier during the year for ALTBalaji’s 4th successful year. Looking back and reminiscing on everything like ALTBalaji winning the Digital company of the year at ET Now Business Awards and India's Most Admired Brand 2020 at White Page International, the year has seen ALTBalaji add several feathers to its cap. Add to that, the shows on the platform received recognition and accolades at INKSPELL- India Content Leadership Awards 2020, Talent Track Awards, IWMBuzz, and ScreenXX awards. ALTBalaji won the top brand with a cult-like following at the Label Awards 2021. The award implies appreciation for the originality and the diversity with the top brands with a cult-like following and won Best Content IP of the year for Mentalhood. Also, in the SrceenXX awards, the third installment of ALTBalaji’s popular franchise Broken But Beautiful 3 won a Silver in Best Marketing for a Web Originals – Digital-only and a Bronze in the Best Use of Social Media by the Brand categories. The awards and recognition are the biggest testaments of the work ALTBalaji has consistently showcased throughout the year.
Out of its extensive list of shows, the highest-rated and most-watched series consist of Cartel, The Married Woman, Broken But Beautiful 3, Girgit, PuncchBeat Season 2, His Storyy, Main Hero Boll Raha Hu and many more. ALTBalaji’s recent action-thriller web series Cartel was rated at 8.2; Broken But Beautiful 3 at 8.7, and Main Hero Boll Raha Hu at 8.7 on IMDB. The romantic series Broken But Beautiful 3 has been picked up as a case study since the show achieved 180 million viewers with 220 million impressions through our marketing campaign. On the other hand, ALTBalaji has been a pioneer in starting the trend of original soundtracks in the web-series space. Original soundtracks like 'Teri Hogaiyaan 2' from Broken But Beautiful 3; 'Bematlab' from The Married Woman; 'Ye Dil' from His Storyy have garnered immense popularity in the audience.
To continue its ground-breaking streak, throughout the year ALTBalaji continued to encourage new talent whether it is through directing masterclasses with Writer's Lab, Director's Lab, or Producers Lab or giving a platform to talented actors and telling otherwise untold stories. Earlier this year, ALTBalajiintroduced new talent through its platform and created numerous opportunities to prove themselves, the most recent example being Mr Faisu and Ruhi Singh who made a grand debut with Bang Baang. ALTBalaji has built a legacy of creating iconic shows like Bang Baang, Crashh, The Married Woman, Cartel and many more with equally powerful sequels like Broken But Beautiful 3, Puncch Beat 2, Dev DD 2 among others which have been lauded by the audience.
The success of ALTBalaji seems to be growing every year along with the quality of its content, growing at an equally fast pace. An outstanding yet unconventional lineup of shows like The Test Case 2, Mentalhood Season 2, Apharan 2, Bois Locker Room, #Hashtagwarrs and various other brilliant shows are on their way, ALTBalaji will continue to entertain its viewers by launching almost 25-30 shows in the upcoming year.
Here is a list of some of the headline creating shows from the past year on the platform:
Bang Baang
'Bang Baang' is a visual spectacle for quintessential action cinema lovers and will keep the viewers glued to their seats. The web series involves mystery, suspense, dhamakedaar action, and youth drama amidst deep-lying secrets that unravel one by one. An action-packed series that will win your heart from the minute you set eyes on them.
Cast: Faisal Shaikh (Mr. Faisu), Ruhi Singh, Aayam Mehta, Aman Gandotra, Gurpreet Bedi
Helllo Jee
The story is about a group of women who find each other and lean on each other for support when life brings them down. They grow in strength when they unite and set up a phone dating operation business together to help realize their dreams. This unconventional and brave show is a lesson for everyone on acceptance and love for fellow human beings. These things are the bare minimum that one should do but somehow people seem to forget that, making ALTBalaji’s Helllo Jee a great reminder.
Cast: Nyra Banerjee, Mrinalini Tyagi, Akshaya Shetty, Kashish Rai, Dipali Sharma, Rahul Verma and many others.
Dev DD 2
Dev DD 2 is a different angle into the life of Devika Dharam Dwivedi. Heartbroken, lost, confused and a version one has never seen before, she bounces back, bigger, better, and stronger than ever, fighting off all kinds of evil in society, As a 20th-century girl, Devika doesn't choose to fit into the already designed societal mould. She instead tailor makes one for herself working towards making the world a better place in her own crazy, adorable way along with her loved ones.
Cast: Asheema Vardaan, Sanjay Suri, Nauheed Cyrusi, Aman Uppal, Rashmi Agdekar, Suneel Sinha and Deepika Amin Deshpande amongst others
LSD – Love, Scandal and Doctors
The series, which launched early in February, opens people's eyes to the fact that everyone can mistakes and misfortune. This happens through the portrayal of five medical interns and the rest of the KMRC hospital residents when one of the patients is murdered. The interns are also hell-bent on getting ahead of each other in their careers through any means possible. This leads to a lot of mistrust and lies among them.
Cast: Rahul Dev, Punit J Pathak, Ishaan A Khanna, Tanaya Sachdeva, Siddharth Menon, Srishti Ganguli Rindani, Ayush Shrivastava, Neha Hinge, Pulkit Makol and many others.
Crashh
Crashh revolves around the story four siblings whose parents died in a road accident. They are then taken into an on orphanage and later adopted by separate families. All except the oldest, who was never adopted and grew up to become a police officer. When the pain of separation is too much for him. He decides to go on a mission to find his siblings and encounters roadblocks and obstacles while he searches for them.
Cast: Zain Imam, Rohan Mehra, Aditi Sharma, Kunj Anand and Anushka Sen
The Married Woman
This urban relationship drama is the pride of the nation, still trending long after its release. The story centers around two beautiful women Astha and Peeplika. Astha is a beautiful person, but the full force of who she is, is chained because of society's pressures until she meets Aijaz and Peeplika, who gives her an entirely different perspective on life. Bing-watch the 11 episodes now!
Cast: Ridhi Dogra, Monica Dogra, Suhaas Ahuja and Imaad Shah
Bekaaboo – Season 2
ALTBalaji’s psycho-thriller Bekaaboo 2, is a story of revenge and obsession. Anaysha, the protagonist is a bestselling author whose overnight rise to stardom changes her drastically and her new attitude earns her enemies all over the place. There are times when she is the hunter, destroying everyone’s lives and other times she is the hunted.
Cast: Subha Rajput, Taher Shabbir, Priya Banerjee, Poulomi Das, Taha Shah Badussha, Tusharr Khanna, Smaran Sahu and many others
Mai Hero Boll Raha Hu
Helmed by Siddhartha Luther and written by Suparn S. Varma, this 13-part series is an engaging gang war loosely based on real-life incidents, especially a certain gangster who would indulge in extortion of the film fraternity during the 90s. It's a gangster's story who wants to rule Mumbai, exploit his Bollywood connection, is trapped in a love triangle and an inevitable gang war. That being said, you must've guessed that the series has the ultimate Bollywood masala that we Indian's live for. And if you have not seen Bollywood crime movies or want to discover the gangster genre, then 'Mai Hero Boll Raha Hu' could be the perfect starter for you.
Cast: Parth Samthaan, Patralekhaa, Arslan Goni
His Storyy
His Storyy is based on Kunal and Sakshi's successful marriage for 20 years with two beautiful children. Sakshi's world is torn apart when she learns the truth about Kunal cheating on her with another man, Preet. Eventually, this leads to their marriage hitting the rocks. His Storyy is a journey of two people, Kunal and Sakshi, trying to rediscover their ties to each other in the face of a crushing revelation.
Cast: Satyadeep Misra, Priyamani Raj, Mrinal Dutt
Broken But Beautiful 3
Broken But Beautiful 3’ is the broken love story of Agastya & Rumi. Agastya Rao, who is an aspiring director, falls in love with Rumi Desai, his muse. The series showcases the ups and downs in their relationship where the obsession never ends but rather shifts. And as they say, it is more difficult to fall out of love than in love, and this very thought is what makes the story so very relatable
Cast: Sidharth Shukla, Sonia Rathee, Ehan Bhat, Saloni Khanna, Taniya Kalrra
Puncch Beat Season 2
Puncch Beat 2 is the sequel to the hit youth boxing drama Puncch Beat that released in 2019. The ALTBalaji show centers on college, teen drama and also a murder mystery in the second season.
Cast: Priyank Sharma, Siddharth Sharma, Khushi Joshi, Harshita Gaur, Samyuktha Hegde, Kajol Tyagi, Nikhil Bhambri, Samir Soni, Niki Aneja Walia, and others.
Cartel
Cartel is ALTBalaji’s latest action-drama which has become a massive success. With 137 actors, the show has quickly become a fan favorite and continues to receive love from both fans as well as critics. Set in present-day Mumbai, the show is based around the Angre family, whose fate changes after an unexpected attack on their house takes place.
Cast: Rithvik Dhanjani, Tanuj Virwani, Jitendra Joshi, Supriya Pathak, Pranati Rai Prakash, Divya Agarwal, Girija Oak Godbole, Amey Wagh, Monica Dogra, Tannishtha Chatterjee, amongst others
Girgit
The story is set in Himachal Pradesh, with Ranbir Khetan being the protagonist. What happens when Ranbir (Nakul Roshan Sahdev) gets embroiled in the murder case of his beloved wife Jahnvi Khetan? While Ranbir tries to prove his innocence as he is set to marry another girl (Ashmita Jaggi), a foul-mouthed cop Rathod (Samir Vermani), is hell-bent on proving him guilty. In the midst of these, two con girls (Taniya Kalrra and Trupti Khamkar) get involved in Ranbir’s life. How a concoction of human emotions spills out in this crooked story, is the basic premise and idea behind Girgit.
Cast: Nakul Roshan Sahdev, Taniya Kalra, Trupti Khamkar, Shahwar Ali, Samar Vermani, Ashmita Jaggi, Aleksandar Ilic, and others.
Pavitra Rishta…It’s never too late
Pavitra Rishta is the story of star-crossed lovers Manav and Archana, who try to sustain their love amid their middle-class families. It's a match made in heaven, except for one thing. Manav's mother tells Archana's kin that he is a manager at a garage while in reality, he is working as a mechanic. And this one lie brings their entire universe down. How the two sustain their love amid their middle-class family is the soul of Pavitra Rishta. Will Manav and Archana’s love triumph over all the lies? Will their love rekindle the spark that they have always wished for?
Cast: Shaheer Sheikh, Ankita Lokhande, Pooja Bhamrrah, Asheema Vardhan, Piyush Ranade, Randeep Rai and Usha Nadkarni
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