MUMBAI: Bollywood news and entertainment channel Zoom is launching a new show titled ‘Bollywood Storytellers‘ on 24 September. The show will air every Monday at 8 pm.

‘Bollywood Storytellers‘ will showcase the industry‘s "hot-shot" gen-next filmmakers who have set new rules of Bollywood storytelling, the channel said.

Featuring filmmakers like Rohit Shetty, Imtiaz Ali, Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, the show takes a peek into the directors‘ motifs, signature styles, trials and moments of glory.

ET Now, Times Now and Zoom CEO Avinash Kaul said, "Youth is the biggest audience segment for Bollywood and, much like Zoom, these young directors have got their finger on the pulse of the youth. Bollywood Storytellers will give our audience an intimate understanding of what makes these stellar filmmakers tick. Their stories are not just interesting but also inspirational for our young viewers."

From Imtiaz Ali‘s new age romances to Rohit Shetty‘s action-comedies, from Farah Khan‘s revamp of the quintessential masala Bollywood films to Dibakar Banerjee‘s edgy storytelling, Zoom will give Bollywood enthusiasts a chance to learn all about these filmmakers.

NEW DELHI : Hindi movie channel Max has launched an half-hour original format content, ‘Dirty Khabar‘.

Earlier, the channel had aired ‘Extraaa Shots Challenge‘, a quiz show with Divya Dutta as the host that used to air every week on Sundays for half-an-hour.

‘Dirty Khabar ? parde ka pichhwada‘ is a quirky look at Bollywood that aims at bringing news about filmdom in a light and humorous manner.

Produced by Optimystix, the weekly show airs every Saturday at 8 pm. It is presented by Relispray and powered by Crystal in association with Fogg Body Spray.

The show, set in a form of a newsroom studio, is hosted by the RJ Mantra and Karishma Tanna.

Stressing that it is a light-hearted take on Bollywood, Max senior EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas said, "Dirty Khabar is a step to create something innovative keeping in mind the Bollywood perspective. The show intends to tap and unearth the humor quotient and increase the appetite for good entertainment across all age groups. The talented pool of actors and comedians are worth watching, and we are sure they will have our audience in splits."

Dirty Khabar intends to tap and unearth the humour quotient and increase the appetite for good entertainment across all age groups.

Optimystix creative director Nikul Desai said that the show will initially be telecast in 26 episodes but this may be increased later. He also said that if the show popularises, it would be aired twice a week - on Saturdays and Sundays.

The mimicry artistes on the show include VIP, Kapil, Raja, Priya Raina, Vikalp, Mubin, Howard Rosemeyer, Jaswant ­­­­­and Sudesh Lahiri.

The half-hour show will have a series of Bollywood topics covered in a burlesque manner. Right from giving the latest B-Town gossip with a tangy twist, to providing the ‘andar ki khabar‘ in paparazzi style, to hilarious gags, Dirty Khabar is aimed at guaranteeing frenzy of laughter.

The show will have a parody of segments opening with the news bulletin headlines shared by host Mantra and Tanna in a "fast-paced goofy" manner, followed by a quirky interview and Q&A section where Mantra would be doing a spoofy interview with a topical B-town celebrity, enacted by the comedians. Another segment is the ‘end ke baad‘, an imaginative cooked up story of what could have happened after the ‘m‘ credits of the movie have rolled out.

MUMBAI: UTV Stars, the Bollywood lifestyle channel from Disney UTV stable, is looking at operational break-even this fiscal, according to a senior executive.

The channel, just over a year old, is banking on growth from ad sales, syndication and subscription coupled with strict cost controls to achieve this target.

"We expect to break even in FY?13," Disney UTV Executive Director, Youth Channels ? Media Networks Nikhil Gandhi tells Indiantelevision during an interview.

The Walt Disney Company, which owns Disney UTV, follows the financial cycle ended 30 September.

"The kind of cost control that we have got and hopefully if the markets start looking well, then we should be there," he adds.

UTV Stars competes with Times Television Network?s Zoom and BAG Films? E 24 in the Bollywood lifestyle space targeted primarily at the youth SEC AB 15-24.

E24 had informed that it had achieved operational break even in FY?12 posting a cash profit of Rs 13 million.

According to Gandhi, UTV Stars wants to reduce its dependence on ad revenues going forward. The plan is to grow the distribution and syndication revenue streams among others.

"Currently, ad sales is at about 60-75 per cent (of our total revenue) but going forward we would like to bring it down to 50-55 per cent. With digitisation, we are hopeful that this will change," Gandhi avers.

UTV Stars? business model includes advertising, distribution, syndication, video on demand and on-ground events.

The channel is distributed in countries like Australia, UK, Malaysia, Pakistan and Nepal to tap into the Indian diaspora.

UTV Stars syndicates in-flight entertainment content to airlines in India as well as abroad, according to Gandhi.

The channel?s content mix comprises Bollywood news and the entertainment shows in addition to music and movies.

"We have Bollywood music and movies but our large prime time play comprises news and shows. In the non-prime hours, we play music because the TG loves it and also because Bollywood music lends itself well with the channel," he explains.

Currently, UTV Stars produces three and half hours of original content every day which includes shows like Live My Life, Up, Close and Personal with PZ, Superstar Santa and Lux The Chosen One.

Apart from television, the broadcaster has built an online presence. "We have been able to create buzz on the web with half a million fans on Facebook. We are also the largest content provider for Bollywood on YouTube with 30 million views," Gandhi says.

The entire UTV Group (Disney UTV) content is powered by UTV Stars on YouTube. "We power the UTV group content engine on YouTube per se including UTV Motion Pictures; also we have got 10,000 hours of content that we had shot last year. So I think that gives us an edge," he asserts.

Mumbai: MTV is launching a new show titled ?MTV Rush? on 15 July. The 13-part series will air every Sunday at 7 pm.

Produced by Milind Soman?s Face Entertainment in association with Bijoy Nambiar?s Getaway films, the show?s title sponsor is Vodafone. It is created by Nambiar (director of ?Shaitan?).

The story revolves around 12 characters and the one common string - a college festival. The film will roll out in 13 episodes and every episode will focus on one character. The series will see cameo appearance by popular faces like Pratik Babar, Shruti Hassan and Javed Jaffrey.

The show will provide a dose of entertainment, drama, action and some nail biting moments.

MTV India EVP and business head Aditya Swamy said, ?MTV Rush is a fresh concept and will be relayed as a 13 part series. We are very lucky to have one of Bollywood?s new age and very talented Directors, Bejoy Nambiar associated with the series. One must see the movie to believe how he can weave 12 different stories into one smashing narrative.?

Nambiar said, ?Rush to me is a visual trip that significantly portrays the lives of 12 characters over a period of 48 hours. Set against the backdrop of a college fest, the concept goes beyond just stories, it is the rush of life changing incidents, harsh realities and crazy moments...it?s not just a show, it?s going to be the trip of your life.?

Vodafone India senior VP brand communication and insights Anuradha Agarwal said, ?Vodafone MTV Rush promises to be a one of its kind show on Indian television and we are happy to partner the brand new concept.?