MUMBAI: Endemol India?s big-ticket reality show Bigg Boss is set to enter the regional space with ETV Kannada bagging the format rights to produce it in Kannada.

This shows a growing trend of big shows travelling to regional-language markets. Star India, for example, has shown Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) across many of its regional channels.

With Southern superstar Sudeep as the host of the show, the Kannada version will see its local newsmakers and celebrities from all walks of life entering the Bigg Boss House.

Bigg Boss Kannada will be aired on ETV Kannada in March.

ETV Kannada Programming Head Parameshwar Gundkal said, "Television content is all about story telling. It deals with emotions and drama of everyday life. Bigg Boss deals with this fact in by far, the biggest way. This is the best show available for the viewers to get up close and personal with their favorite celebrities."

Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar further elaborated saying, "Bigg Boss has connected extremely well with Indian audiences because it showcases reality in its truest, unadulterated form. Season after season, it has been the talk of town and to maintain the same amount of fanfare in its Kannada version, we have incorporated a gamut of innovations and new ideas based on our observations and learning from the Bigg Brother Format world over."

The group of celebrities who will be living together for 14 weeks will bring out the best and worst in each other as they struggle to keep their calm and survive in the Bigg Boss house confines. The Bigg Boss house will not have any kind of entertainment or sources of communication with the outside world.

With cameras tracking their every move 24x7, the contestants will have to do without basics that they hold dear like a television, books, internet or their phones.

MUMBAI: The television and movie content companies are combining in India as a way to scale up their businesses. Eros International Media, the leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, and Endemol India, producers of some of the most spectacular television content, have entered into a strategic alliance to co-produce three feature films as well as original programming for television.

The deal will allow Endemol to penetrate into the mainstream Bollywood market while Eros gets an opportunity to enter into the television content business. While Endemol is widely known for its versatile TV formats across genres, Eros has a vast film library.

Says Eros International Media Executive Director Jyoti Deshpande, "We both are IP driven companies and Eros having been market leaders in the filmed entertainment arena, while film co-production has its natural synergies, we will also create original high quality compelling television content as digitization takes Indian television into the premium subscription phase. The alliance is founded on the coming together of our respective core competencies in film and television."

As a part of the three film deal, Eros and Endemol will be co-producing an action comedy which will be a remake of a South Indian blockbuster, an original romantic comedy and a comic caper.

The collaboration has earmarked Rs 1 billion to fund these three productions. Targeted at Bollywood enthusiasts across genres, the first film to be made will be a romantic comedy, which will go on floors later this year.

Says Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar, "After successfully producing content for some of the biggest format shows in the country, we are expanding our portfolio to films and are delighted to partner with leaders in this space. Through this association, we look forward to making a mark on the big screen as well."

Television formats and original programming for television is another area that Eros and Endemol plan to collaborate on. Many of Eros owned filmed Intellectual Property Rights will be considered for adaptation for the television format and vice versa for Endemol owned IP.

The production house, which holds IP rights for various scripted and non-scripted formats, had entered the film production business last year taking the re-make rights for Sujoy Ghosh?s Kahaani.

Endemol India had last year sold 49 per cent stake in the company to Peter Chernin?s CA Media. The strategic investment was raised with the intention of acquiring small production houses and producing films in multiple languages.

Eros recently entered into a deal with HBO for creation of a premium television channel housing English and Hindi movies. "Eros gets associated with two strong brands like HBO and Endemol. But how much of a revenue jump it gets remains to be seen. Endemol, on the other hand, gets a foothold into the Bollywood market. But it is not an exclusive alliance and the confirmed commitment at this stage is for three co-produced movies," says a media analyst.

MUMBAI: Colors is launching a comedy reality show titled ?Nautanki- the Comedy Theatre? on 2 February.

Replacing Bigg Boss 6 during weekends, the show will air every Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm.

The bi-weekly produced by Endemol India will have a new theme in every episode. The channel claims that the show is a confluence of theatre, film and television.

The show features Neha Dhupia and Tusshar Kapoor in search of the main lead along with their ensemble cast of four primary characters. These primary ?nautankebaaz? are Gurpreet Ghuggi, Rashami Desai-Sandhu, Kamya Punjabi and child comedian Saloni Daini.

The story line moves forward in every episode with these artists playing different characters trapped in various situations along with special cameos by different celebrity guests in every episode.

Colors non-fiction head Mainsha Sharma said, "We are exploring an entirely new concept on television with Nautanki using comedy-theatre format of live acts and a special four-turntable construction with changing props that helps the acts to move fluidly between locations. As the pandemonium unfolds, the show will bring to the fore amusing issues of daily life that viewers will find connect with, making it for an entertaining weekend. The uniqueness of the concept lies in the continuous story line that will move forward in every episode."

"With Nautanki we wanted to continue with the fun and crasiness that Bigg Boss held in the slot. You will see a lot of comedy with drama along with some of television?s most popular faces and Bigg Boss housemates in Nautanki as well," Sharma added.

Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar said, "As a constant endeavor to evolve and present something different to the viewers, we conceptualised Nautanki : The Comedy Theatre - a first of its kind Broadway-style comedy format for television. Comedy as a genre is widely accepted and we wanted to take it a step ahead by amalgamating films, television and theatre to create a light-hearted series that one looks forward to every weekend. We are certain that this weekend show will have the audiences in splits."

MUMBAI: Television production house Endemol India has elevated Sameer Gogate to business head of Films division.

Based out of Mumbai, Gogate will play a pivotal role in shaping Endemol?s entry into mainstream Bollywood and the southern film industry.

Gogate had recently returned to Endemol as VP- commercial and strategy.

Endemol India had recently announced the remake of Vidya Balan starrer ?Kahaani? in Tamil and Telugu by director Sekhar Kammula. Going forward, Endemol India will be producing three to four films every year with an equal mix of scripts for regional as well as mainstream Bollywood audiences.

Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar said, ?We are delighted to have Sameer Gogate in this new role. At the onset of expanding our portfolio, experienced professionals like him will only prove to be an asset in spearheading our ambitious plans of establishing the films division.?

Gogate said, ?The company is at the cusp of creating a new ecosystem for films across genres and languages. I look forward to taking Endemol India into this exciting new phase as we take our strides into the business of cinema.?

Sameer was previously associated with Viacom18 Motion Pictures as director - commercial and strategy, where he was instrumental in putting together a new slate of films like Kahaani. He also managed the syndication business and strategic planning for the company.