Colors announces Season 2 of '24'

The Hindi GEC is set to launch the crime thriller series in 2016. Maruti S-Cross has been roped in as presenting sponsor for the show

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | October 21, 2015

Fresh from launching 'Bigg Boss Nau', Colors is now gearing up to launch the second season of Anil Kapoor-starrer '24', adapted from the US show. Though the launch date and time slot are yet to be announced, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said the show would launch in 2016. Colors unveiled the poster for the new season of the action-packed show. Maruti S-Cross has been roped in as the presenting sponsor.

Nayak remarked, “Season 1 of '24' was a game-changer on Indian television, and as we enter the production phase for Season 2, we are looking forward to raise the bar, creating unparalleled entertainment avenues for the viewers. As the shoot commences, we welcome on-board S-Cross as the presenting sponsor of '24: Season 2'. The bold, dynamic and strong features of the vehicle run in harmony with the character traits of our lead protagonist, Jai Singh Rathod. We are certain that the integration will be mutually beneficial for both the brands.”

Anil Kapoor with Raj Nayak (CEO-COLORS) and R.S. Kalsi (Maruti Suzuki)

On the association with the show, RS Kalsi, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki, said, “S-Cross is a premium offering from Maruti Suzuki, which offers a unique combination of power and performance of a SUV and the comfort and refinement of a sedan. The target audience that '24' caters to and its genre allows us to draw synergies between the brands of S-Cross, '24' and Colors. We believe in utilising multiple avenues to connect with our audience and '24: Season 2' is the perfect platform for us to integrate and showcase the premium crossover S-Cross to consumers while strengthening our expanded brand reach.”

Speaking about the integration of Maruti into the show, Kalsi said, “The lead character will be driving the S-Cross. Being the principal sponsor, there will be other vehicles from Maruti that will be used by the other characters. Besides, the S-Cross will also be featuring prominently in the print ads for the show.”

It may be noted here that Maruti has also been associated with other shows on Colors like 'Bigg Boss' and 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'.

Nayak attributed the one-year gap between the first and the second seasons to unavailability of Anil Kapoor, who was honouring his film commitments.

When asked about the learnings from the first season, Nayak said, “One of the learnings of the last season was that while there were no problems with the story line and the production values, I think people in India were still not ready for four parallel screens coming at the same time. That perhaps was too intellectual. While we don't want to change that, after all that is what the show is all about, so without change in the pace of the show and its slickness, the challenge this time is how to 'massify' the show so that the common man also stars relating to the show in the same fashion.”

“One of the mistakes that we did in the last season was that we didn't leverage Anil Kapoor to the extent that we should have. This time we are strategising how we can leverage Maruti's network to help our show and vice-versa. One of the things that we are going to do this time is take Kapoor to the Maruti stores,” Nayak added.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that Anil Kapoor Film Company had reportedly acquired the rights of '24' for Rs 100 crore from Fox, while Colors is said to have paid around Rs 150 crore to buy the rights from Anil Kapoor's production house.

On being queried about when the channel hopes to break even on this show, Nayak replied, “Not all shows make money, but some shows do many other things. '24' for us gave something like Rs 15-20 crore publicity last year. When was the last time that you saw an Indian show being featured on Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, New York Times, CNN and BBC globally?”

Divulging details about what is in store for viewers in Season 2 of '24', actor and producer Anil Kapoor said, “The tight narrative and gripping storyline has made the show stand out among contemporaries, with the question 'when will Season 2 start?' on everyone's mind. As production begins, we would like to welcome Abhinay Deo and Rensil D'Souza back as directors. Their contribution made Season 1 a success and together, we hope to surpass previously set benchmarks with Season 2.”

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com