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MUMBAI: Colors has unveiled ‘Chakravartin
Ashoka Samrat’, which will be the channel’s
biggest show of the year.
Launching on 2 February, the mega historical
will occupy the 9 pm slot on the channel
from Monday to Friday. It will be a first-of-
its-kind move for the channel where a
historical will occupy the one-hour highly
competitive primetime slot.
Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “We need one
hour to tell the story and develop the show
for our viewers. We are trendsetters and
want to break the conventions. If the
content is good, it takes time to build and
we feel one hour is perfect for us to tell a
story in the perfect way.”
Aiming to keep it as a finite series, the
channel has scheduled it for around six
months.
Colors had earlier dabbled in the genre with
‘Veer Shivaji’ which was soon pulled off air.
This earlier show was produced by Contiloe
Productions, which is also the production
house of ‘Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat’.
“At that time when ‘Veer Shivaji’ was doing
2.5 in ratings, we pulled it off air. In
hindsight we felt we shouldn’t have taken it
off. Other shows were rating higher and we
made a decision to replace ‘Veer Shivaji’.
When we look back, we realise we should
have had some patience and continued with
the show,” Nayak said.
He added that the channel has been thinking
if they should choose mythologies and
history. “We have now found a subject that
is interesting. Our research also revealed
that no one has really tried this,” Nayak
mentioned.
Wanting to give it a grand scale, the channel
took nearly 1.5 years to develop this show.
Contiloe CEO Abhimanyu Singh said, “The
challenge for us is to make it authentic and
yet relatable for today’s viewers. Schedules
have been synchronised and camera time
has been maximised to ensure timely
delivery of such a large-scale production.”
‘Chakravartin Ashoka’ will chronicle the life
of the boy who went on to become the
greatest emperor and charted the course of
Indian history. It is the story of a boy who
fought for his mother who was denied her
rightful place in his father’s kingdom. He
set out to change it all, to ensure that her
honour was reinstated.
The show has been shot extensively in
various locations across the country. The
intricate designs on the mammoth set at ND
Studios, Karjat have been put together by
set designers Omung Kumar and Nitin Desai.
The Mauryan era will be brought alive
through the use of VFX.
It will showcase how young the journey of
Ashoka (Siddharth Nigam) was set in motion
when Chanakya (Manoj Joshi) set out to
look for Bindusara (Sameer Dharmadhikari)
to take over the throne and protect Magadh
from the Greek Army General Seleucus
Nicator (Tej Sapru), his daughter Helena
(Suzanne Bernert) and her son Justin
(Sumit Kaul). In an attempt to look for the
rightful heir to Bindusara, Chanakya traced
Dharma (Pallavi Subhash), Bindusara’s wife
and Ashoka in the forest and brought them
to Magadh. But Ashoka came to Magadh
with a sense of vengeance.
Singh added that although the show will
feature Ashoka’s life journey along with
other facts, there will also be a bit of
dramatisation in the storyline. “There are
always dots in history which we have to fill
with responsibility. So there will be
dramatisation but in a responsible sense.”
Marketing
Believing the show will resonate well with
urban and rural India alike, the channel has
devised several unconventional marketing
tactics. It has already roped in ‘Ghadi’
detergent as the title sponsor and is on the
lookout for at least four more sponsors. The
channel is asking Rs 1.50–1.80 lakh for a
10-second slot.
To amplify the message ‘Yeh Woh Raja Hai
Jiska Sikka Aaj Bhi Chalta Hai’, Mumbai
Metro tokens are being converted to coins
from Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire for the
duration of one week.
Besides, a special school contact
programme will be executed in about 200
schools in 50 towns in Tier II markets where
students will learn of Ashoka and his life in
an interactive way.
With the channel also launching its action
reality show ‘Khatron ke Khiladi’(KKK) on 7
February, it marketed both the shows
together at ‘jatras’ where it organised a
‘Maut ka Kua’ for KKK and an archery corner
for people to engage with the other show.
KKK will air at 9 pm on weekends.
In a move to further engage with viewers,
Colors has designed a 3D adventure-based
shooter game called ‘Ashoka: The Warrior’.
It will give users a chance to step into
Ashoka’s shoes and fight enemies with
bows and arrows. A third-person direct-play
game, it has a special diagonal view where
the enemies will be shown from Ashoka’s
line of vision while highlighting his
silhouette in the periphery as well. Medieval
war and battle feel music has been added
as background score to enhance the gaming
experience.
Developed by Vroovy (a JV between
Hungama and Gameshastra), the game was
launched today for Android and iOS devices.
While players can earn titles like ‘Archer’,
‘Sword Martial’ and more, they can also
share their gaming experience through a
leadership board and on social media
platforms.
The campaign will further engage viewers
through cable and television, print, DTH and
OOH at multiple touch-points.
'Chakravartin Ashoka' to be Colors' magnum opus in 2015 | TelevisionPost.com
Ashoka Samrat’, which will be the channel’s
biggest show of the year.
Launching on 2 February, the mega historical
will occupy the 9 pm slot on the channel
from Monday to Friday. It will be a first-of-
its-kind move for the channel where a
historical will occupy the one-hour highly
competitive primetime slot.
Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “We need one
hour to tell the story and develop the show
for our viewers. We are trendsetters and
want to break the conventions. If the
content is good, it takes time to build and
we feel one hour is perfect for us to tell a
story in the perfect way.”
Aiming to keep it as a finite series, the
channel has scheduled it for around six
months.
Colors had earlier dabbled in the genre with
‘Veer Shivaji’ which was soon pulled off air.
This earlier show was produced by Contiloe
Productions, which is also the production
house of ‘Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat’.
“At that time when ‘Veer Shivaji’ was doing
2.5 in ratings, we pulled it off air. In
hindsight we felt we shouldn’t have taken it
off. Other shows were rating higher and we
made a decision to replace ‘Veer Shivaji’.
When we look back, we realise we should
have had some patience and continued with
the show,” Nayak said.
He added that the channel has been thinking
if they should choose mythologies and
history. “We have now found a subject that
is interesting. Our research also revealed
that no one has really tried this,” Nayak
mentioned.
Wanting to give it a grand scale, the channel
took nearly 1.5 years to develop this show.
Contiloe CEO Abhimanyu Singh said, “The
challenge for us is to make it authentic and
yet relatable for today’s viewers. Schedules
have been synchronised and camera time
has been maximised to ensure timely
delivery of such a large-scale production.”
‘Chakravartin Ashoka’ will chronicle the life
of the boy who went on to become the
greatest emperor and charted the course of
Indian history. It is the story of a boy who
fought for his mother who was denied her
rightful place in his father’s kingdom. He
set out to change it all, to ensure that her
honour was reinstated.
The show has been shot extensively in
various locations across the country. The
intricate designs on the mammoth set at ND
Studios, Karjat have been put together by
set designers Omung Kumar and Nitin Desai.
The Mauryan era will be brought alive
through the use of VFX.
It will showcase how young the journey of
Ashoka (Siddharth Nigam) was set in motion
when Chanakya (Manoj Joshi) set out to
look for Bindusara (Sameer Dharmadhikari)
to take over the throne and protect Magadh
from the Greek Army General Seleucus
Nicator (Tej Sapru), his daughter Helena
(Suzanne Bernert) and her son Justin
(Sumit Kaul). In an attempt to look for the
rightful heir to Bindusara, Chanakya traced
Dharma (Pallavi Subhash), Bindusara’s wife
and Ashoka in the forest and brought them
to Magadh. But Ashoka came to Magadh
with a sense of vengeance.
Singh added that although the show will
feature Ashoka’s life journey along with
other facts, there will also be a bit of
dramatisation in the storyline. “There are
always dots in history which we have to fill
with responsibility. So there will be
dramatisation but in a responsible sense.”
Marketing
Believing the show will resonate well with
urban and rural India alike, the channel has
devised several unconventional marketing
tactics. It has already roped in ‘Ghadi’
detergent as the title sponsor and is on the
lookout for at least four more sponsors. The
channel is asking Rs 1.50–1.80 lakh for a
10-second slot.
To amplify the message ‘Yeh Woh Raja Hai
Jiska Sikka Aaj Bhi Chalta Hai’, Mumbai
Metro tokens are being converted to coins
from Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire for the
duration of one week.
Besides, a special school contact
programme will be executed in about 200
schools in 50 towns in Tier II markets where
students will learn of Ashoka and his life in
an interactive way.
With the channel also launching its action
reality show ‘Khatron ke Khiladi’(KKK) on 7
February, it marketed both the shows
together at ‘jatras’ where it organised a
‘Maut ka Kua’ for KKK and an archery corner
for people to engage with the other show.
KKK will air at 9 pm on weekends.
In a move to further engage with viewers,
Colors has designed a 3D adventure-based
shooter game called ‘Ashoka: The Warrior’.
It will give users a chance to step into
Ashoka’s shoes and fight enemies with
bows and arrows. A third-person direct-play
game, it has a special diagonal view where
the enemies will be shown from Ashoka’s
line of vision while highlighting his
silhouette in the periphery as well. Medieval
war and battle feel music has been added
as background score to enhance the gaming
experience.
Developed by Vroovy (a JV between
Hungama and Gameshastra), the game was
launched today for Android and iOS devices.
While players can earn titles like ‘Archer’,
‘Sword Martial’ and more, they can also
share their gaming experience through a
leadership board and on social media
platforms.
The campaign will further engage viewers
through cable and television, print, DTH and
OOH at multiple touch-points.
'Chakravartin Ashoka' to be Colors' magnum opus in 2015 | TelevisionPost.com
