24 will be the game changer for Indian television - Raj Nayak, CEO of Colors

Colors is on a high, as the super-success of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Comedy Nights with Kapil has got them roaring in terms of numbers. And now the flagship channel of Viacom 18 wants to push ahead the advantage with Bigg Boss 7 and 24. Raj Nayak, the CEO of Colors in his wide-ranging talk during the launch press conference of 24 talked of the amazing journey and path ahead. “Like last season the recently concluded season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa was a great success. The challenge that lies before us is to make it even better next year. We have again proved the general consensus wrong that song and dance routine is passé. Sony had the property, they let it go and we took it for we believed in the concept. If a dance show is handled properly with high production values, it will work. What is also equally important is the proper pitching, positioning and marketing. The biggest USP of Jhalak is that we have managed to give entertainment along with high quality dance.” Moving to 24, which is an expensive show, Raj said, “We have gone in with our eyes open. We know that we will not break even, we might even make losses. But we have the possibility of eight more seasons to recoup our losses. Also there is a chance that if the show opens very well, we might recover a significant portion of our investments as well.” “I genuinely believe that 24 will be the game changer for Indian television. Its budget is 20 times more than the cost of normal fiction shows. So the challenge is to recover the money. If this Anil Kapoor produced show rocks, it will raise the budgets for the entire genre.” About Bigg Boss Raj averred, “We have made the format a more family show (like last season) keeping its voyeuristic aspect and cat fight elements intact. Internationally Big Brother has lots of nudity, but that is not possible here given the laws of the land and the sensibilities of the audience. Colors is a family channel and we will always remain that.” To the question of the profile of the contestant mix having only TV and film stars, the channel honcho explained, “The mix has been chosen very deliberately. We have more contestants. There will also be wildcards. All this has been done keeping in mind the heaven and hell theme.” “Among all properties, Bigg Boss is a cult show. People wait for it as they love the characters, hate them and even abuse them. The media gets in a tizzy reporting about who might make the final cut. I have heard of actors paying money to be written that they were approached. We have a nice laugh reading about such people who lie to get into news.” “There are also people who don’t watch Bigg Boss. I tell everybody to watch it for five days and I promise you will get hooked on it from the sixth. If not I will give you a treat.” Raj defended his programming team decision of moving Comedy Nights with Kapil from its current bi-weekly format to once a week to accommodate 24. “Yes people might call us foolish, but then we need to bring in fresh shows, we have a problem of plenty you see. Plus Kapil Sharma is working very hard. Firstly, he has a good run in Jhalak and now it continues with his own show. Comedy needs time as you need to work on your scripts. This break will give him a respite to come back with a bang. We will revert to the original bi-weekly format after 24 is over.” He also accepted that the Jhalak tuning also helped to create the big numbers for Comedy Nights with Kapil. “We used Kapil in Jhalak to make him familiar; we made him larger than life. This move made it easy for viewers to shift from Jhalak to Comedy Nights with Kapil. It created a sort of connect with him. And eventually if the content is good, audiences do come back.” In closing Raj does not think that the new time of Comedy Nights will see a drop in numbers. “We believe that anything in short supply is always wanted more.”