After a long hiatus, Sony Entertainment Television is all geared to launch a mythological series, Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan. The channel had experimented with a similar tale, titled ‘God Hanuman’, but this time its raising the stakes to explore various known and unknown facets of the mighty Hanuman.
Sharing his thoughts on the collaboration with Sony once again, Contiloe Productions CEO Abhimanyu Singh added: “Contiloe has always experimented with multiple genres. This would be our first mythological show and we are pretty excited about it. The show will project the tale of Hanumanji from his childhood. We will be using state-of-the-art visual effects and stunts to tell this great tale. I hope the audience enjoys the show as much as we have while creating the show.”
Premiering on 4 May, 2015 at 8:00 pm, the show will capture Hanuman’s divine journey and will present the tale from the perspective of Lord Krishna. Produced by Contiloe Productions, Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan will take viewers on a journey of his eventful life right from his childhood from being a devotee of Lord Ram to being the vanquisher of all evil. It will also bring out his qualities and derive morals from his life which are relevant in everyday life. The show will not replace any other show as the channel has been airing repeat telecast of one of its shows, Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar, in this time slot.
Sony is bullish about the new show and has rolled out one of its largest campaigns for the same. To establish Mahabali Hanumaan’s larger-than-life persona in cities across India, the channel has rolled out a series of innovative on-ground activation initiatives. The channel has roped in three presenting sponsors – Quick Heal, Kent Mineral RO and Ultratech Cement.
Sony Entertainment Television, Sr. VP head – marketing, Gaurav Seth said in a statement: “The whole idea was to create Mahabali Hanumaan’s larger-than-life persona and to take the show closer to the viewers. Thus, taking the idea forward of getting viewers close to their God, the channel introduced Lord Hanumaan’s drones that have been flying in various cities across the country over congregation of people reciting Hanumaan Chalisa. We have also created a microsite, which gives a gist of the epic character.”
The initiatives commenced on the occasion of Hanumaan Jayanti, wherein Sony set up branded kiosks at four prominent Hanumaan temples in Uttar Pradesh – Sri Sankata Mochana Hanumaan (Varanasi), Sri Hanuman Badi temple (both old and new, in Aliganj, Lucknow) and Sri Bade Hanumaan (Prayagraj, Allahabad). Volunteers dressed as Hanumaan’s ‘Vaanar Sena’ served prasad boxes and water to the devotees who visited these temples.
Sony Entertainment Television, Sr EVP and business head, Nachiket Pantvaidya commented: “We, at Sony Entertainment Television, would like to bring a mix of various genres to our viewers. We feel that adding the mythology genre to our offering completes the channel and we are happy to present the story of Lord Hanumaan in a very unique format to our viewers. The show explores a mix of untold and popular mythology around Lord Hanumaan in a never seen before format, with mind blowing visuals and powerhouse performances. We are delighted to collaborate with Contiloe Productions once again, with whom we have tasted phenomenal success with the show Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap. We are confident that Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan will set a new benchmark on how mythological shows are presented on television.”
So far, the drones have been activated in Jaipur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi and Nagpur, with more planned in cities like Bhopal, Indore and Pune.
Seth further said, “Not only that, but there is also a high impact outdoor media campaign for the show covering massive regions across the country.”
