Big B makes Sony launchpad for fiction foray

Amitabh Bachchan is set to play the lead in Sony's upcoming fiction show co-produced by his venture, Saraswati Creations, in partnership with Endemol India.

Amitabh Bachchan has long been a name that is reason enough to make the audiences in India sit up and take notice. Now, viewers have a reason to love him more, with his debut on national television in a fiction show. After enthralling audiences as host of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Big B, as he is fondly called, is once again set to enter the common man's living room, this time with a fiction concept on Sony Entertainment Television.

Bachchan's first brush with television (KBC) paved the way for Star Plus to become the No.1 Hindi general entertainment channel. Now, back on TV in a new avatar to surprise the audiences, can he change the fortunes of Sony?

Man Jit Singh, CEO, Multi Screen Media is quite hopeful that this 'finite' fiction show is bound to reinvent the television space. He says, "Sony has always been instrumental in innovating and creating numerous milestones for the Indian entertainment industry. It has been our constant endeavour to create clutter breaking and novel content for our viewers and each show that we have launched reiterated our philosophy."

While the channel has still kept the name and launch date of the show under wraps, it has revealed that filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is the creative director of the show, which is being co-produced by Bachchan-owned production house Saraswati Creations and Endemol India.

Deepak Dhar, managing director and CEO, Endemol India, adds, "Changing the level of the game once again, Endemol India, in collaboration with Saraswati Creations, introduces for the first time on TV Amitabh Bachchan, in what is sure to be an epic fiction show. An amalgamation of an ingenious original script, great production values, the inimitable style of Anurag Kashyap and the stupendous talent and persona of Mr. Bachchan; this finite fiction series is sure to be blockbuster television! This show is yet another initiative by Endemol in its ongoing endeavour towards creating endearing and innovative programming for Indian television audiences."

"Working with Mr. Bachchan is every director's dream! When Endemol approached me with a great concept and the novel idea of launching him for the first time in an original fictional series on Indian television, I jumped at the opportunity. This series will change the way India sees television and will open the doors for a new genre in television entertainment," Kashyap adds.

An enthusiastic Bachchan says, "I am delighted to be a part of this venture."

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com