Hollywood films dubbed in Tamil have always had a huge reception in Tamil Nadu.
Last month, Zee Tamil began an innovative marketing campaign to announce the telecast of hugely-popular James Bond movies, dubbed in Tamil.
The marketing campaign, which showed Daniel Craig (the latest Bond), in a traditional silk shirt and veshti , and calling himself Jambulinga Eswara Bondian , was a huge hit. Sources from the channel said the idea to rebrand James Bond as a son of Tamil Nadu worked, with movies such as Skyfall getting great reception.
Speaking about how the whole campaign was conceived, P. Kannan, head of film acquisition, Zee Tamil, said, “We wanted to attract viewers by re-branding Bond as a Tamil. We were clear about the audience we had in mind.”
He said the idea was to target sections of the society that were not familiar with films from Hollywood, but at the same time, were young and upwardly mobile.
“We knew the channel was doing pretty well with B, C and D segments. We wanted to target youth between the ages of 16 and 30,” he said.
So what after the Bond series? “We are planning for movies such as Chronicles of Narnia and Spiderman to be telecast. The idea is to present movies that are majestic,” he said.
Stage singers’ talent show nears finale
Yet another music talent show is approaching its finale. But what makes Isai Medai different is that professional stage singers compete on the show.
Started with 40 singers, the show has already crossed 35 episodes on Kalaignar TV.
Soon, the chosen five finalists will get to perform live in New Jersey, USA. Several playback singers, including Sadhana Sargam and Abhay Jodhpurkar, are expected to croon film tunes at the grand finale on October 19.
“There are many talented light music singers who do not get the right opportunity. This show is a perfect platform for those cherishing the dream of becoming playback singers. Some of the contestants have already bagged film offers,” says Paul T. Raja, the show’s director and producer.
And the rewards do not end with a cash prize. The winner and the other finalists will get a befitting launch as singers in a Tamil album.
“We plan to air the finale in November. The show’s next season will be for children. We plan to hold auditions in nine countries to choose the young talent,” says Mr. Raja.
Isai Medai is aired on Sundays at 9 a.m.
