MUMBAI: Hindi movie channel Zee Cinema has intensified its efforts to promote one of its key weekend properties Shaniwaar Ki Raat Amitabh Ke Saath. A clear indication in this direction is a series of brand films the channel has conceived around the Amitabh movie series, among which two have already been released.
As already reported by indiantelevision.com, Zee Cinema re-launched the movie series with some fresh acquisitions on 6 August. Thus, Shaiwaar Ki Raat..., placed in the Saturday 8 pm slot, has been given a thrust with the caption His Golden Years. Apart from the brand film series, the channel is also banking on the Superfan contest, which is meant to find out the best Amitabh fan.
Brand Films: 'Bholu Musladhar' and 'Chikoo Chakram'
Both the films present a gamut of emotions with a clear undertone of humour. The films showcase two die-hard Amitabh fans from two diverse age groups and show how transformation happens to their original selves when clock strikes 8 every Saturday night. Bholu Musladhar & Chikoo Chakram symbolise the effect of the big B and his films and the transformation they can cause.
Namrata Rungta of Storytellers, who has directed both the films, says the idea was to show how ordinary characters -- avid fans of Amitabh and underdogs in real lives -- suddenly undergo a transformation and dominate the surroundings when they sit down to watch the Amitabh series.
"While Bolu Musladhar is a hen-pecked husband, Chikoo Chakram is a spoilt kid who goofs up on everything. While the former is being persistently bullied by his wife, the boy badly needs a superman to help him out of his troubles. With this combination, we are targeting two separate age groups. The climax, which offers a perfect mix of heroism and humour, is an attempt to cash in on the viewers' passion for Amitabh Bachchan," says Rungta.
How the 8 pm phenomenon unfolds!
The brand films, with the transformation theme, also attempts to promote the Superfan contest the channel unveiled recently. Superfan is Zee Cinema's search for Amitabh's biggest fan. The shortlisted candidates feature in reality capsule series the channel telecasts during the breaks of the Amitabh movie series.
The channel offered some examples of Bachchan superfans: "We have Sanjay Patodia who is the state secretary of the Amitabh Fan Club Association Kolkata. Patodia literally worships Bachchan and believes that there is no one who is better than the Big B. Another fan is Atul Bhatt from Pune who holds the Limca book of records for the largest amount of Amitabh related articles. Pawan Sharma from Delhi is another ardent fan who has all the audiocassettes of Amitabh films right from Saat Hindustani onwards."
With the Superfan contest, Zee Cinema also attempts to make the best use of breaks in a novel way. Inspired by the success of break programming which it introduced for Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, the channel has been using the breaks of the Amitabh series as a perfect platform to telecast the Superfan series. At the end of every episode, viewers are asked to SMS the name of person who they think is the best Amitabh fan.
The final winner will be selected at the end of the 12th episode.
