Category: Entertainment

Aditi Rao Hydari to make her debut at Festival de Cannes with vivo India

New Delhi, May 2022: A true-blue superstar in her own right, Aditi Rao Hydari will walk the Red Carpet at the 75th edition of the Festival de Cannes with vivo India. An undisputed creative livewire, a singer, actor and a dancer par excellence, Aditi Rao Hydari will represent the innovative global smartphone brand vivo India in a one-of-a-kind association at Cannes.

vivo India, will partner with Aditi Rao Hydari to bring to life their cinematic vision through their #Mylifeisamovie campaign. The brand will bring to light this idea by being a part of the globally recognized film festival happening from 17th May-28th May 2022.

Speaking on her partnership with vivo, actress Aditi Rao Hydari said, “Vivo India represents innovation and creativity, and it is something I resonate with as an actress. I am excited and thrilled to walk the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival to represent the brand and India on the global stage. As an artist myself, being a part of a prestigious institution that celebrates cinema is an exhilarating feeling.”

“At vivo, everything we do stems from a place of joy and optimism. And the smartphone plays a pivotal role in capturing this joy and making it last forever. It is a significant moment for both vivo and Aditi Rao Hydari as we make our debut at Cannes 2022. We look forward to capturing her maiden journey to Cannes 2022 on our flagship X80 series’ cinematic style video mode and make it a moment to remember said Yogendra Sriramula, Director Brand Strategy, vivo India. 

A joint effort between Fetch India — a new-age digital-first Indian agency to curate unique experiences at Cannes and Mixed Route Juice a creative agency creating unique digital experiences for vivo India.

This Friday, get ready to rock with Anand Bhaskar Collective on Gaana Live

This Friday evening, get ready to crank up the volume on your phone as Gaana, India’s favourite music app, is back with another spectacular and exclusive Gaana Live event featuring the staple diet for independent rock and Hindi-rock consumers in the country, Anand Bhaskar Collective! The indie band, known for its high octane performances of rock and Carnatic-infused music, is set to thrill fans with tracks such as Main Hoon Zameen and Faasle. Enjoy a power-packed Gaana Live performance, the performance is sure to give you an adrenaline rush.

Gaana’s continuous endeavor is to bring audiences closer to artists and Gaana Live has successfully created a bridge for fans to listen to live performances of their favourite musicians from anywhere. So hop on to the Gaana app and witness the blending of violin notes and electric guitar riffs as the week draw to a rocking close! Click on the link below to live stream the event.

Date: 6th May, 2022

Time: 8:00 p.m.

Place: Gaana App

Watch Rajneesh & Indu turn detectives on their Wedding night in WATCHO’s new original – “Bauchaar-e-Ishq”

New Delhi, 05 May 2022: What happens when an unwilling partner (one of the partners in the live-in relationship) is compelled to marry her boyfriend because the families were adamant? She would be judged for her choices and even mocked for her naivety. But quite certainly, under no circumstance can it be imagined that someone will prank her and her partner by placing a used condom on their bed and ruin the wedding night altogether. However, WATCHO is no stranger to strange plots with tickling comic timings. Dish TV’s in-house OTT platform has this time released a playful whodunnit “Bauchaar-e-Ishq”, set in a span of one night filled with twists & turns, weird revelations, and hilarious misunderstandings.

Rajneesh and Indu are a young couple in UP, hailing from neighbouring cities of Kanpur and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Their romance started back in their college days and withstood all hurdles to make it to their present-day lives. When their orthodox families learned of their live-in relationship, drama ensues and they are compelled to marry. Indu was against the wedding since she did not want to have kids and was condemned by the families for her choice. She was even condemned especially for expressing her thoughts on sex being an appropriate deed before marriage. On her wedding night, she gets enraged on discovering a used condom put over their bed and presumes that it was done on purpose by their families. At her will, the couple spends the entire night probing several suspects, only to unravel people’s myopic outlook on sex and the taboo associated with it, followed by a significant plot twist with meaningful messaging.

Through the protagonists, the writer has asked sincere and serious questions about love, marriage, sex, and family. Through the narrative, the series provides answers to a few of the difficult emotional tangles that common people face in their daily lives. It is a roller coaster ride of laughter, emotion, and drama, and by the end of it, the viewers get to learn about their very nature and immature momentary takes on sensitive issues. The show carries some interesting dialogue exchanges amongst family members adding spice to the entire plot which is a slice of life adding humor to the situation making it a fun-filled ride to watch.

Written by Ishan Bajpai, Anshuman Sinha, and Trupti Kangane, under the impactful production of Percent Purple, the show also traverses upon the intimate feelings of a couple and how personal subjects like intimacy and sex are subjected to societal judgments even today. The star cast includes Ankit Sharma and Arsha Goswami who have played the protagonists – Rajneesh Sinha and Indu Bharadwaj.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Sukhpreet Singh, Corporate Head – Marketing, DishTV & WATCHO, Dish TV India Ltd. said, “Through Bauchaar-e-Ishq, we have produced yet another entertaining series for our viewers. Shot in Bhopal, the rush and the natural ambiance of the city feels strangely synonymous with the busy lanes of Lucknow and Kanpur. Being our debut in the whodunnit genre, our team got to encounter some of the catchiest cinematic moments during the shoot. The entire cast does justice to their respective characters through a blunt and plain-spoken portrayal of a north Indian inhabitant that speaks in a sarcastic tone with weird innuendos. We intend to focus on purposeful humor and modern but rooted family themes for our target viewers who watch our content as an escape from their occasional blues.”

Bringing in a unique assortment of snackable content cutting across all genres, WATCHO offers many original shows including web series like Happy, Gupta Niwas, Jaunpur, Papa Ka Scooter, Aghaat, Cheaters – The Vacation, Sarhad, Mystery Dad, JaalSaazi, Dark Destinations, It’s My Pleasure, 4 Thieves, Love Crisis, Ardhsatya, Chhoriyan, and Rakhta Chandana. There are also original influencer shows like Look I Can Cook and Bikhare hain Alfaaz. Available across screens (Android & iOS devices, Dish SMRT devices, D2H Magic devices, and Fire TV Stick) and at www.WATCHO.com, WATCHO presently provides over 35 plus original shows, 300 plus exclusive plays, and 100 plus live channels in Hindi, Kannada, and Telugu.

Bhavik Rathod and Prajakta Savarkar Shinde, winners of the 4th edition of Khazana Artist Aloud Talent Hunt to launch their single – Le Chala Jaan

India, May 2022: Bhavik Rathod (Pune) and Prajakta Savarkar Shinde (Jabalpur), winners of the 4th edition of Khazana Artist Aloud Talent Hunt, India’s first and only talent hunt for Ghazal singers are all set to launch their single – Le Chala Jaan on April 28. Composed by renowned ghazal singer and composer, Sudeep Banerji and written by famous Urdu poet Dagh Dehlavi, the soulful ghazal perfectly emotes the feeling one goes through when they lose someone special. With Bhavik and Prajakta proving to be the most versatile after multiple rounds of judging in the 4th edition, held virtually last year, members of the jury and Artist Aloud offer the duo a platform to showcase their talent by launching this single, thereby charming ghazal lovers all across the world.

As Le Chala Jaan sees Bhavik and Prajakta making their presence felt in the world of ghazals, budding ghazal singers would look to emulate their feat/success at the upcoming 5th edition of Khazana Artist Aloud that begins May 4. Celebrating the art of ghazals, the talent hunt by Hungama Artist Aloud, a platform that supports and promotes independent content, and Khazana – an annual fundraising concert, that celebrates the art of ghazals, will feature singers from across the world. They will be judged by ghazal legends such as Pankaj Udhas, Talat Aziz, Anup Jalota, Rekha Bhardwaj, and Sudeep Banerji.

In order to participate in the fifth edition of the talent hunt, aspiring singers will need to upload videos of them singing ghazals on https://www.artistaloud.com/khazana2022/ between 4th May 2022 to 31st May 2022. Based on the entries, 20 candidates will be shortlisted and will be asked to upload a fresh audition clip on https://www.artistaloud.com/khazana2022/

Hereafter, the jury will announce two winners who will get a chance to perform at ‘Khazana – A Festival of Ghazals’ later this year, alongside some of the most prolific Ghazal singers in India.

Speaking about the talent hunt, Soumini Sridhara Paul, Senior Vice President, Hungama Artist Aloud said, “Sung with all their heart, Bhavik and Prajakta, with Le Chala Jaan have proved exactly why they’re deserved to win the last edition of the talent hunt. With last year’s edition being held virtually, we, at Artist Aloud, and members of the jury aimed to encourage these two singers by giving them a platform to let the world of ghazal know just how good they are. I congratulate the duo and wish them all the very best for the future. Having received an overwhelming number of talented ghazal singers, like Bhavik and Prajakta, in the previous edition, we look forward to the upcoming 5th edition beingimmensely successful. We’re confident that it will, like always, see ghazal lovers across the globe come forward and inspire an entire community as they showcase their talent and love for Ghazals.”

Sharing his thoughts about the talent hunt, Pankaj Udhas said, “My heartfelt congratulations to Bhavik and Prajakta for winning the competition as well as giving the world of ghazals such a beautiful song like Le Chala Jaan. It’s my pleasure to be a part of Khazana Artist Aloud Talent Hunt for its 5th edition. With each passing year, the number, and the quality of talent on display, keeps getting better. As India’s first and only talent hunt for Ghazal singers, we once again look to enable budding ghazal singers from around the world to reach their true potential.”

Khazana – A Festival of Ghazals was founded by legendary ghazal singer and President, Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust, Pankaj Udhas, and Y.K. Sapru, Chairman and CEO, Founder Director, Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) with the support of ghazal maestros, Talat Aziz and Anup Jalota.

11th Comic Con India: 2022

With double the fun and excitement, Comic Con India (CCI) is back and kickstarting its 11th year as India’s greatest pop-culture experience. After a wait of over 2 years and at the request of fans, the dates for Bengaluru and Delhi have been announced. The best weekend of the year will be back with the best of comics, merch, toys, cosplay, tv, movies and gaming.

Passes for Bengaluru and Delhi Comic Con India 2022 will be soon available on the Comic Con Website.

Bengaluru Event Details: 

Date: 19th November to 20th November 2022

Time: 11 am – 8 pm

Location: KTPO Trade Center, Whitefield, Bengaluru

New Delhi Event Details:

Date: 9th December to 11th December 2022

Time: 11 am – 8 pm

Location: NSIC Exhibition Ground, Okhla Phase III, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi

IIMC Film Festival’ to begin from May 4

New Delhi, May 2022: The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), in collaboration with the Directorate of Film Festivals, Government of India, is organising a three-day Film Festival and National Short Film Making Competition from May 4 to 6, 2022 as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. The National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti is also associated with the event.

The first two days of the film festival‘IIMC Film Festival-2022’ will be dedicated to film screenings and the final day would witness the felicitation of winners in a formal ceremony.The festival will have several technical and interactive sessions where the students of IIMC would address their queries to luminaries from the world of films. Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore,honoured withPadma Bhushan, would grace the festival as Guest of Honour. Producer Director and IIMC alumnus Vivek Agnihotri along with his wife Pallavi Joshi would interact with the students. Actors Producers Aashiesh Sharma and Archana T Sharma would visit the festival with their film Khejri and also will interact with the students.

Renowned wildlife filmmaker S. Nallamuthu’s film ‘Machli’ will be screened at the festival. Prominent cinematographer ModhuraPalit, who was the first Indian to win Pierre AngenieuxExcelLens Promising Cinematographer Award at Cannes in 2019, would also interact with the students. Palit’s film, ‘Aator’ would be screened on the opening day. Filmmaker Rajiv Prakash, whose film ‘Ved’, has garnered huge acclaim, would showcase his movie and also will interact with the students.

English Journalism Course Director Prof. Sangeeta Pranvendra, who is also convener of the Film Festival informed that the festival secretariat has witnessed enthusiastic response from students all across the country for the Competition based on the theme ‘Spirit of India’. Results of the competitions would be announced on May 6, 2022, the last day of the festival.

She pointed out that a total of 15 films would be screened during the two days of the festival. Six acclaimed movies from the Films Division would also be screened. Over the three days, the Film Festival will encompass film screenings, film discussions, quizzes on the theme Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and cinema and much more. ‘The Dap’s Kitchen’ is the co-sponsored of the festival.

Industry experts and artists look forward to the launch of ‘Gaana for Artists’ set to give real-time insight to audience preferences like never before

New Delhi, May 2022: Gaana, India’s favourite music app, has just launched Gaana for Artists to help artists understand their audiences & performance of content better. The app would enable artists to track audience data in real-time from Gaana’s 180 million-strong user base across the country.

‘Gaana for Artists’ is the brand’s undertaking to enrich the engagement of artists and bring transparency in audience data as artists can also view which of their songs are being played on Gaana and and the cumulative streams during a particular time period.

Gaana for Artists will allow music creators to track data from the top 8 cities where their music is most streamed from. The other primary features of Gaana for Artists include data on real-time performance of latest releases, overall top-performing songs, top playlists featuring songs and many more comprehensive metrics of analyzing preferences of audience.

Gaana, always being ahead in innovation with thought leadership, is bringing all music experiences together on the platform exclusive for its audience with Gaana Live which livestreams buzzing hot events or Happy Hours with interesting content with the most popular artists.

With innovations like this Gaana is taking forward its deep commitment to create superior products for the entire music community and enhancing the listening experience for its users at the same time. Such initiatives are part of Gaana’s continuous efforts to create innovative features & experiences which will benefit the creators and the audience.

Commenting on the launch of the app, Sandeep Lodha, CEO of Gaana, said, “The idea of Gaana for Artists germinated from the thought to enable Indian music artists & emerging talent with data on audience preferences a click away from their phones. This is going to be a revolutionary step in the music industry as artists can now access these insights in real-time and do not need to wait for weekly or monthly charts to gauge how their music is performing. Due to the PAN-India reach and market share of Gaana, the available data is going to be comprehensive.”

Renowned Bollywood composer Salim Merchant of the Salim-Sulaiman fame, said, “This new app from Gaana is going to address a big gap in the music industry with respect to audience data and I am very excited to use it and gather real-time credible insights on how my songs are performing across the country. The data from Gaana for Artists is going to be of immense help for established artists and also for upcoming singers and composers who will be able to understand audience behavior immediately after releasing a track. Gaana has done a great service to the Indian music artists’ community by launching this app.”

Commenting on the features, acclaimed Haryanavi singer Renuka Panwar, said, “With the industry being so dynamic, it is very critical for us to get real time performance of our latest releases all in one go at one place. Gaana for Artists app does exactly that and is a great futuristic step for all artists in the industry, be it budding or established artists. We create for the love of our audiences and it is an opportunity for us to see real time insights of their response and see how our songs performed in the last day, week, month and year.”

On the homepage of the app, users will be able to see an overview of how their songs are performing overall with insights on top playlists and top cities, among others. The music section of the app will provide a complete in-depth analysis of a song and the number of streams for each, including the cities where they are being streamed. This tab also has a quality parameter graph which gives a bifurcated analysis of the streams in terms of minutes played. Very soon the app will also enable artists to connect directly with their fans, create live sessions, sell merchandise, promote their songs and showcase their unheard tracks.

Popular indie musician Anumita Nadesan was ecstatic about the app and had this to say: “This is crazy and the musician in me is very excited about Gaana for Artists app. What I love most is the sharp and clear insights we get out of this. Be it the top playlist that is featuring my songs or the skip rate of songs, directly from the audience which is rarely available to us. As an artist, this adds value to our vision and work as well and Gaana is doing great work to build this holistic music community for artists and audiences together.”

Gaana for Artists is now available as a progressive web app and can be accessed via desktop and mobile by users.