Fortune favours the brave. Luck shines and smiles on those who stay put on the chosen path, braving odds and treading patiently and gallantly.
The words find meaning and shape in Danish Khan’s efforts, post him holding reins at Sony Entertainment Television.
Danish is not a quintessential extrovertish boss man. He exudes subtle dynamism, eyes deep with intelligence and experience. An industry veteran, Danish formulates and executes programming strategy with nuanced precision.
The content miasma has been hovering over Sony since quite some time now. Enter Danish, the haze hasn’t got hazardous but beatific.
In his 11 months journey, with his brazen belligerent decisions, Danish upper cut his critics, thumping his authority among television audiences and creating a shiny mark in the ecosystem.
Round one, definitely goes to the man on a mission.
Sony is on a high. The Kapil Sharma Show opened doors for sunlight, followed by blossoming of one good project after another. Super Dancer displayed production brilliance and now with Indian Idol 9, the grass is greener on all sides.
Fiction space still has mild blots but with Danish at the helm, expect fruits from even barren lands.
At the launch press conference of Indian Idol 9, Tellychakkar.com spoke to Danish and the man astonished us with his palpable confidence and positivity. Quite an inspiration, we must say. Excerpts:
Excited on the launch of Indian Idol?
We have created a dedicated time of 8 p.m. on weekends that will continue to bring unseen talent to our viewers. Super Dancer saw some amazing dancers and now with Indian Idol we intend to take this legacy ahead. The original trio of judges is a lethal combination (Sonu Nigan, Anu Malik and Farah Khan) in the world of music and their chemistry coupled with outstanding singers will surely create magic on screens,”
Tell us more about the challenges from the time you took charge of Sony TV?
Trust me, the 11 months have been exciting. The GRPs of the channel was not high and the programming line up was also not robust but thankfully we have moved ahead in leaps and bounds. The viewership is comparatively equal to other channels. With its impressive weekend shows, the channel climbed up to number one on the weekends. As for weekdays, Sony TV has managed to get characters like Dev-Ishwari (Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi) and Maya (Beyhadh) that have left a mark in audience’s mind. We are now working on tightening up of our weekday shows to get an overall success tale. We have four-five shows in the pipeline and in six months time, starting next year we promise to get Sony TV to a higher spot.
As a leader, how difficult was it to get the ‘perfect team’ on board?
I have been part of the industry for 17 years and people, who I am working and even not working, are friends. Across channels we have good people, and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The most important achievement in these 11 months has been building a strong team. And today, we are proud to have an organisation that is filled with positivity and happiness. We enjoy coming to office and the energetic ideas that the team fires leads to the accomplishment of our projects.
As of now, weekend programming is the winner, so what’s next planned for viewers?
We are working on dedicating an hour more for weekend shows and creating an assorted line up. We want to offer our audience variety and a lot to choose from. We are expanding our development portfolios and have more that 20 ideas that we are working on (in different stages).
What according to you helped Sony race ahead?
We believe in working with the best of talent, on and off screen. Internally the team that has been recruited is the finest in the industry; lending a strong support system. For shows, we have the top actors, producers and technicians working. Biggies like Kapil Sharma (TKSS), Sonu Nigam-Farah Khan-Anu Malik (Indian Idol), Geeta Kapur, Shilpa Shetty and Anurag Basu (Super Dancer) give Sony credibility.
As you mention Kapil, do you think acquiring the show helped Sony scale up?
Kapil is an amazing success story not just for the channel but also the actors and writers involved. They not only reinvented themselves but brought along an original set of humour and performances. One success snowballed into another; from Kapil we worked towards Super Dancer and then the revival of CID and Crime Patrol. Now, we have Beyhadh and if we get Peshwa Bajirao right, it would lead to another joyous story. TV is a habit that builds with time and we hope we manage to get audience hooked to us through our differential stories and characters.
All a rosy picture till now, but we are yet to see top line producers make shows for Sony, namely Ekta Kapoor and Rashmi Sharma?
(Laughs) Well, we are working with every producer and it all boils down to which concept gets developed faster. It really makes us happy to be working with all producers, some are on-air, others in talks and some in conceptual stage.
Fair enough. Lot has been written about CID’s future. Is it going off air?
CID is an important pillar for Sony TV and it is really doing well for us. It is definitely not going anywhere. It’s been 18 years and revamping its look, feel and presentation of stories will only polish its quality.
Sony TV had the best of reality shows like Jhalak and Bigg Boss, which moved to other channels and are working for them. Your comments on the same...
Let me answer that. Super Dancer, one of the best reality shows for us, was conceptualised by the Sony creative team headed by Ashish Golwalkar (Non fiction head at Sony). So it is an in-house format. Others like Kaun Banega Crorepati and Dus Ka Dum are locked with us as part of the Sony Company. Indian Idol on the other hand has been with us for a very long time. We have the best of the lot and in 18-24 months we will be working on all these formats quite actively.
And finally what are the next shows that will launch on the channel?
The immediate release is Peshwa Bajirao (Sphereorigins) and next we have Moh Moh Ke Dhaage (Saba Mumtaz Productions).
Good wishes, Danish!!!
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