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MUMBAI:
In order to add variety and spice to its lineup, English movie
channel HBO will air the show Mumbai Calling every
Saturday at 8:30 pm from 9 November.
The seven-episode show deals with a call centre in Mumbai
and looks at the business of outsourcing in a humorous manner.
The show stars Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nitin Ganatra and Daisy Beaumont.
HBO South Asia country manager Shruti Bajpai says that the
show will be easy for Indian viewers to relate to, is witty
and well written. “Ganatra’s character is the whacky
manager of the Tecknobable call center. Bhaskar’s character
is a London born accountant who is sent to Mumbai to run the
center. Beaumont, meanwhile, has been sent to streamline systems
and operations. She is supposed to be here for only a short
period but ends up staying longer. The interaction between
the characters throws up a lot of laugh out loud humour."
HBO
has launched a show every month this year, Bajpai adds. The
fourth season of Entourage kicks off later this month. The
HBO film Recount, which deals with the bungled 2000 election,
airs tonight to coincide with the US Elections. Next month,
the channel will air The Notorious Bettie Page.
Bajpai notes that one of its films that will air this month
is A Mighty Heart, which was shot in Pune and stars Anjelina
Jolie as Marianne Pearl whose husband Daniel Pearl was a journalist
who was killed.
In
terms of marketing Mumbai Calling, HBO is doing a campaign
that involves a lexicology of the A-Z alphabet. So A is for
Appu, B is for Bidu etc. Spots will air on channels as well
as on radio. The radio spots will see an Indian call centre
worker trying to show an Englishman how to pronounce certain
Indian words. There will also be ads in newspapers and the
campaign will be focussed on the Metros.
Advertisers
on the show include Tata Sky, Mastercard, Samsung and Birla
Sunlife. The show will also have English actors like Richard
E Grant and Anthony Stewart Head making appearances. Indian
actors like Rajesh Khera, Namit Das and Puja Sarup will also
star.
Bajpai
adds that what separates HBO is its varied offerings. “While
blockbusters are our bread and butter we go beyond that. For
instance we did an initiative HBO Makes A Difference.
Here films that deal with important social and economic issues
like Darfur Now and An inconvenient Truth aired. This year
we created a family block on Sunday at 11 am. We also created
Wicked Hour for late night action film buffs. To conclude
the year, HBO will have a blockbuster marathon next month
where the best and biggest films that we have aired will be
on display like Ghost rider and Superman Returns.”
She
adds that HBO as of now does not plan to launch an ad-free
channel on digital platforms. “ Digital has to reach
a critical mass where it makes business sense to do so. DTH
platforms charge a carriage fee and we have to see what the
gestation period is before we can make money.”
On the advertising front, Bajpai expects a 15 per cent growth
this year.
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