MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment, engaged in the distribution of content for satellite channels, physical formats and emerging technologies like the Mobile, Internet, Broadband, IPTV and DTH among others, has released the Blu-Ray and home video of Sujoy Ghosh?s Kahaani.

The film has an unusual story line of a pregnant woman, who flies from London to Kolkata, in search of her missing husband. A mysterious story line and a stupendous performance by Vidya Balan makes the movie a must watch for the audience. The success of Kahaani proves that good content is always appreciated and does not need the support of stars to make a success.

Said Shemaroo Entertainment Director Hiren Gada, "Kahaani is our third film after Ishqiya and The Dirty Picture, all featuring Vidya Balan in the main lead. It is needless to say that all her movies have not only been appreciated by the audience but are also critically acclaimed. We are pleased to bring her films to our audience on home video. In fact the DVD of the film will be a prized possession in one?s DVD collection."

Notably, the DVD of Kahaani costs Rs 399, VCD Rs 115 and Blu-Ray Rs 799.

MUMBAI: Godrej Appliances has launched a social campaign to sensitise people about energy conservation and take steps to apply the same. The campaign will be carried out in three phases, the first of which was initiated April. The home appliance brand associated with an NGO named Children?s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) and the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.

The campaign is named One Watt Campaign and takes the tagline ?Lets save a billion watts?. The aim is to save one billion watts over the next 12 months. Kicking off phase one on 17 April from Chandigarh the One Watt Project had vans touring across the country reaching out to approx 20 cities such as Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai amongst others and plans to touch a total of 32 cities by 5 June.

The One Watt van, apart from recording real time pledges, will also display the various ways in which people can pledge towards a greener world. Some of the most energy efficient and green appliances from the Godrej Eon range will also be displayed.

As part of phase two which starts this month, the company will carry out a school awareness programme where Godrej Appliances will reach out to more than 1000 schools and colleges, to create consciousness amongst the younger generation about the importance of conserving energy. This phase will go on till September.

Kings XI Punjab captain and coach Adam Gilchrist signed the first pledge followed by Godrej Appliances COO George Menezes and CMCA executive trustee Priya Krishnamurthy.

During phase three, a corporate awareness programmes will be carried out from November 2012 to February 2013 which will urge corporates to come together and pledge for savings of watts by altering some of the ways in which they use electrical gadgets both in office and home.

Menezes said, ?One Watt Project ? ?Lets Save A Billion Watts? campaign is focused on spreading awareness about energy conservation and getting consumers to participate in the effort. Our endeavor is to save a billion watts through this year long program with the belief that if every Indian even saves one watt each, being a country of billion plus population, we will be able to save a billion watts.?

Krishnamurthy said, ?We are honoured to be associated with them for this endeavour and we will do our bit to take this message to the masses through the younger generation of today, who are more conscious and concerned than our generation, because this is the world they are going to inherit.?

Kings XI Punjab CEO Col. Arvinder Singh said, ?We are happy to be associated with Godrej Appliances for such a noble cause as it marks our step towards a greener society and environment. We would like to appeal to all our fans to contribute towards One Watt campaign for making our society and environment green and healthy.?

Gilchrist said, ?With Godrej we do not see this as sponsorship but as partnership. Young being the word, youth of today are the future and we have to make sure that the environment and planet they live in is as healthy, if not, healthier state that we have been fortunate enough to live in. We really look forward to doing our part today and in the future and hope everyone out there participates in this program.?

MUMBAI: Chirag Shah has joined the mobile ad network of Smile Vun Group (SVG), Seventynine as a co-founder. He, along with existing co-founder Deven Dharamdasani would be setting and scaling up Seventynine?s mobile business.

Seventynine is the mobile ad network of SVG Group, a joint venture between Manish Vij?s Vun Network and Harish Bahl?s Smile Group. SVG?s other ventures in the digital media space include Tyroo.

Shah joins in from Zapak Digital Entertainment where he was working as the chief revenue officer.

SVG founder Manish Vij said, "Seventynine currently stands at an interesting juncture and is growing at a phenomenal rate. Chirag?s extensive experience in the digital space would help us further streamline and expand the business."

Shah said, "Association with Seventynine is a great platform for me professionally as well as personally. Mobile advertising is reforming the digital marketing space; it is a lot more targeted and strategic.

Industry data shows that India is leading the mobile ad impression market in APAC in terms of users as well as ad spends. Association with Seventynine is the ideal opportunity to drive trends in the mobile ad space along with fulfilling my entrepreneurial aspirations."

Shah comes in with over 12 years of experience. He has worked with companies such as HT Media, where he headed sales for Hindustantimes.com and NRIworld.com, an online media company, as the head of sales and marketing.

Mumbai: COLORS? flagship show Balika Vadhu celebrates its 1000th episode today and takes pride in celebrating this success in a grand way, adding more excitement to the storyline ahead! With Balika Vadhu touching the 1000 episode mark, India?s favourite show and the country?s most loved daughter ?Anandi?s? life takes a positive turn towards a much awaited beginning. The grand episode will see the introduction of Siddharth Shukla essaying the role of a collector and as Anandi?s new beendh. COLORS marks this milestone and celebratory moment by recognising a real life Anandi ? Lakshmi Sangara of Jodhpur who had the courage to annul her child marriage.

This is an effort from the channel to extend the platform to real stories of real people winning over the dark evils of society and encourage viewers to participate in the move.

Since its launch in 2008, Anandi has become a household name and looked up at as a catalyst of change. At an early age of 8, Anandi?s innocent smile and simple questions took the whole nation by a storm and soon her life was followed by many. The show became a national discussion when it highlighted the repercussions of ?child marriage? besides touching upon several thought provoking and sensitive issues such as adult literacy and women empowerment. In the journey so far, we saw our beloved Anandi cross over some difficult times ? Jagya?s betrayal and breakdown of her marriage. Now, 4 years later, Balika Vadhu has reached its zenith and it?s time for Anandi to make a new beginning leaving behind the bitter past and find her solace in her new beendh, Shiv. He comes from an army background and is a man of authority. He is an energetic yet impatient, good-looking and a self made man of today.

Speaking about crossing the 1000 episode milestone, Raj Nayak, CEO, COLORS said, ?It?s a historic day today as we cross the 1000 episode milestone of our flagship show ? Balika Vadhu. This path breaking property has been instrumental in making COLORS the successful brand that it is today. Balika Vadhu is not just a show, but a brand, that resonates with audiences for its unique storyline and characterization. And Anandi?s journey has made her an iconic character empowering women across the country. We are hoping to have transformed a few lives through this effort and are raring to take this to the next level.?

Talking about the new phase in Anandi?s life, Pratyusha Banerjee said, ?The show has been created with a single motive of ensuring that the audiences take back some learning every time. Celebrating the 1000 episode is huge proof that the audiences love Balika Vadhu and will stay with us in our journey ahead. I am very excited to turn a new leaf in Anandi?s life and I hope I am able to inspire many more women to be strong and stand for themselves.?

Talking about his character, Siddharth Shukla said, ?I am very delighted to be a part of Balika Vadhu. The show from the start has been able to uphold an interesting storyline and introduce strong characters that anyone would jump to be part of. I feel lucky to be offered to play Anandi?s new beendh ? Shiv, at a stage when the show has created a history by completing 1000 episodes. And I hope I am able to do justice to the role and play Shiv with the same sincerity as I know Anandi?s beendh is being closely watched by the entire nation.?

Speaking on the occasion, Sunjoy Wadhwa, Producer Sphere Origins said, ?With Balika Vadhu we wanted to reach out to the thousands of young girls who were silently suffering due to social practices. The 1000th episode of Balika Vadhu is a testimony to the fact that our message has reached out successfully to our audiences. The show is our best effort and today we are happy to see many Anandi?s being able to change lives and fight back old systems. ?

New Delhi: TimesDeal.com, the group buying portal of The Times of India Group, set a new record with 70,000 mobile recharge deals in a day. With this, the portal outdid its own feat of 50,000 orders in a day that it had earlier established on December 01, 2011. TimesDeal.com offered users a special mobile recharge deal on 9th May, 2012 that allowed users to pay just Rs 50 and get a mobile recharge voucher from Paytm worth Rs 100. The deal was a hit with users as it doubled the value of their money .

The deal sold 70,000 orders in a single day, a new record in terms of number of online orders in the e-commerce space in India. Timesdeal saw a huge traffic surge, with more than 3,00,000 unique visitors reported for that day. The rush was huge and demand was so intense that the number could have easily surpassed 70,000 if the portal did not have to shut the deal for the day.

Regarding the deal, Mr Rishi Khiani, CEO of Times Internet Ltd said, ?Offering maximum value for money to customers is core to the deals business. Therefore, the primary focus of TimesDeal has always been to offer users such relevant high value-for-money deals. The repeated overwhelming response bears testimony to this.?

Paytm.com, a subsidiary of One97 Communications, is the partner in the deal. It?s a leading online recharge company for mobile, DTH and Data card recharge. The offer generated an overwhelming response for both Paytm and Timesdeal on the day of the offer.

?The offer certainly gave Paytm a strong visibility, but more than that we are happy that the Paytm experience has emerged as a winner in this.? says Harinder Thakhar, the Paytm CEO, adding, ?The reach of TimesDeal combined with Paytm?s perfect mass-appeal product, enabled us to strike this biggest online mobile recharge deal ever! What next? Well, how about 5 Lakh orders next time?.?

MUMBAI: Seeking to tap a growing demand for trained personnel in India?s vast entertainment industry besides meeting its own needs, Balaji Telefilms has set up an academy in Mumbai under the banner of Institute of Creative Excellence (ICE).

ICE offers a range of full time, part time career and modular programs like Acting, Direction, Modeling, Editing, Production, Scriptwriting, Sound Recording, Animation and VFX

The academy will train students aspiring for a career in TV and film entertainment industries. They will provide world-class quality education to the aspirants for entire gamut of Media & Entertainment industry related courses, covering all major specializations like acting, cinematography, direction, editing, production, scriptwriting, sound, modeling and VFX.

At ICE, special emphasis will be laid upon the course curriculum which has been designed by the Industry experts having more than a decade?s experience in their respective fields thereby making it more impactful and practical. Students also have the flexibility of learning as per their convenience.

The courses at ICE are imparted through a blended learning methodology which is a combination of ILT (Instructor led training) +CBT (Computer based training) + WBT (Web based training). There is no semester system

Course fees for the career programs range from Rs 1 to Rs 3 lakhs depending on the type and duration of programme. Kids program ranges from Rs 4000 to Rs 15,000 depending on the type & duration of program

The Mumbai training facility is set amidst thirteen Balaji studios where some of their most popular serials & films are shot providing the students with a unique opportunity to garner exposure to live environment and benefit from interface with renowned industry professionals.