The only strategy for Zee is to keep on experimenting: Deepak Rajadhyaksha

Zee TV is all set to beef up its prime time offering with a new fiction show – ’Aisi Deewangi ... Dekhi Nahi Kahin’. Premiering on May 22, 2017, the show will replace family drama ‘Sanyukt’ and will air Monday to Friday at 7.30 pm. 

Touted as an action-packed love story of two young passionate souls, ’Aisi Deewangi ... Dekhi Nahi Kahin’ is based in the hinterlands of Gujarat. The story focuses on Tejaswani and Prem, but the epicenter of all the drama is Dharam Singh Rathod, Prem’s father and a dreaded don of yesteryears. Tejaswani and Prem are poles apart in personality and come from diverse family backgrounds. With Tejaswini’s father being an honest, upright, martyred cop, nothing between her and Prem could even be faintly similar. It is circumstances that result in them fiercely locking horns. 

Veteran Gujarati theatre and film actor Rasik Dave is essaying the character of Dharam Singh Rathod, who doesn’t instill fear in people but still commands respect. After a series of auditions, debutante Jyoti Sharma has been cast as Tejawani, while Pranav Misshra will be seen making his debut as Prem. 

Calling the show “our single-screen mass entertainer on television”, Deepak Rajadhyaksha, Deputy Business Head, Zee TV, said, “It is a rollercoaster of fiery emotions, friction, power-play, love, deceit, manipulation, revenge and much more. It explores love against all odds, love between the most unlikely. The show has all the essential elements of a complete entertainer with universal appeal, cutting across barriers of age, gender or class. We have a robust, innovative 360-degree marketing campaign to ensure optimum buzz around the show in its launch phase.” 

Speaking to Adgully at the launch event for ‘Aisi Deewangi ... Dekhi Nahi Kahin’ in Vadodara, Deepak Rajadhyaksha shared more on the show’s concept, its TG, marketing strategy for the show, Zee’s DNA and more. Excerpts: 

How will the new show complete Zee’s bouquet of shows?
Zee TV did not have any dramatic love story after our last show, ‘Tashn-E-Ishq’. ‘Aisi Deewangi…’ will fill that void for our audience, which is not just any ordinary love story but a passionate, compassionate and dramatic love story, and that genre was missing in Zee’s cluster of shows. The story is about the madness (Deewangi) of all the characters and not just the protagonists. As the story evolves, each character becomes interesting and the transformation of the characters is an interesting thing to watch out for. 

With this show, Zee is venturing into the early prime time slot…
Prime time now starts at as early as 5.30-6 pm, but Zee TV was weak in that area. With ‘Aisi Deewangi…’, the channel will enter the early prime time band and plans to built likability. Zee TV is also looking at creating more new content in the early prime time slot. 

Who is the show targeted at?
There is no fixed TG for ‘Aisi Deewangi…’, since this is a family-oriented show. The show is not only targetted at youth, but also at the older generation since the character of Dharam Singh Rathod, who plays the father of the lead actor, is an influential character because of whom the story keeps evolving. The show talks about family values, love and is a dramatic love story, which addresses the entire state of family. 

What made Zee choose Gujarat as the location for this show?
We chose Gujarat because there aren’t any major shows set out of this state. Gujarat itself has a unique culture, which had been shown in some earlier shows but we don’t see that anymore on television. Since good days (Acche Din) have begun from this vibrant state which has led to good days in the entire country, we thought why not come back to Gujarat, take the backdrop of this beautiful and vibrant state to develop the show’s characters. 

What will be the marketing strategy for the show?
The show is supported by a high-decibel marketing campaign that will bring alive the concept through a thought mnemonic of ‘Deewangi meter’ across mediums – print, radio and outdoor. Digitally, the channel has collaborated with user-generated content website AkkarBakkar.com to showcase eight real life stories of love against all odds. On radio, RJs will engage the listeners with real-life, absolutely fun and uncanny ‘deewangi’ stories, while key markets will see interactive and distinct outdoor hoardings. 

Will the show be a finite one?
As of now, we are looking at this show for a year and a half or two years. However, if the show is well received, we will continue with it further, but will not drag it with unnecessary twists and turns. 

How did you finalise the cast for this show?
The cast for the show is a mix of experienced actors and fresh actors. For our lead characters, we had workshops to groom them and ensure that they are into the characters that they play. We also wanted Rasik ji to be a part of the show, so we waited for him for a long time and persuaded him to come on-board. 

Coming to Zee TV, how has the content on the channel evolved over the years?
Content for Zee is more realistic and sharp now as it has evolved over the years. Today, the content is more specialized, not only in terms of our target group but also in terms of selecting the story plots for the shows. There is a lot of competition today and each channel will have to be sustained with their own DNA and identity. Every channel is trying to understand their DNA and maintain that in terms of various shows that they launch, be it fiction or non-fiction, there are a lot of experiments. We have taken some risks consciously and we are working through all those risks to make them believable, relatable and aspirational for our viewers. 

What is Zee’s DNA?
Over the years, people have come to consider Zee TV as one of their family members; they relate with the channel and expect the characters to be aspirational, who will matter in their own lives, be empathetic and give glimpses on how to live life in a far better way. That is Zee TV’s DNA, which is in its 25th year. We have never worked like other channels. Regardless of whether we are at No. 2 or No. 3 or No. 5, our content has always been realistic and that is what our viewers expect of us. 

How does the channel plan on retaining the millennial and digital savvy viewers?
We intend to do that with shows that are universal in their value proposition, where the entire family comes together to watch them. Yes, there is the issue of time slots and availability of the show at a particular time slot, but digital platforms are helping us there. That has been a challenge in television and will continue to be a challenge in the coming years, but we have observed that with shows like ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs’, people are coming together and even the youth is watching the show. Though it is prime time show on weekends, the youth are watching it whenever they are at home. We are also providing them the same content on digital platforms and are also creating some special content for digital. 

Does Zee plan to venture into other genres like comedy, action, etc.?
The channel is experimenting a lot and you will see that in a couple of months. We are also experimenting within our framework to cater our own viewers. 

What does the road ahead look like?
The only strategy for Zee is to keep on experimenting, keep on innovating, build more credibility and the viewability factor in the minds and hearts of our viewers.

Also read: 
Relatable & aspirational shows spearhead Zee's content: Deepak Rajadhyaksha
https://www.adgully.com/relatable-aspirational-shows-spearhead-zee-s-content-deepak-rajadhyaksha-71070.html