9X Jhakaas hunts for lead heroine for 'Mitwaa'

In a one-of-its-kind initiative, 9X Jhakaas has launched a hunt for the leading lady of the upcoming Marathi film, 'Mitwaa'.

The channel has already kick-started the registrations for Lux Jhakaas Heroine. It is accepting registrations till March 26. It has called for registrations via multiple platforms including Facebook, Email, SMS and online registration through a form that one can fill up on Jhakaasheroine.com.

The entire process from the auditions to the Grand Finale will be aired through a six-part reality series on 9X Jhakaas in April-end or May.

Talking about the reason for doing 'Lux Jhakaas Heroine', Punit Pandey, EVP and business head, 9X Media says that the channel is aiming at giving superior content to the existing viewers and at the same time, adding new viewers. "Moreover, 9X Jhakaas is an apt platform to highlight the great work and talent from the Marathi film, music and entertainment industry," he adds.

Pandey mentions that in the past six months, he has seen that the Marathi movie genre has done very well. There have been movies which have done very good business at the box office. Also, the core audience of 9X Jhakaas, youth, which earlier rarely watched Marathi movies in theatres, has started going to the theatres. "The movies are churning really good music," he adds.

In the regional space, the idea is to do whatever is required. The channel has Music Yatra on-ground and has also launched Lai Bhari magazine. With Jhakaas Heroine, the channel saw an opportunity to connect with its target audience. "It is also not something out of our space. We air entertainment shows, and Lux Jhakaas Heroine will be one of them," says Pandey.

Mitwaa will be produced by Meenakshi Sagar Productions and Nanubhai Jaisinghani of Video Palace. It will be directed by Swapna Waghmare-Joshi.

Amar Tidke, SVP and content head, 9X Media Group says that Lux Jhakaas Heroine is an initiative that has never been done before in the Marathi film industry. It will give a girl a chance to live a dream and get a meaty role in a movie.

"The responses for the registration process so far have been very good. We have got more than 1000 good entries from different platforms. We are hoping to get more registrations in the coming days. The initiative will bring the youth closer to the Marathi film industry and since 90 per cent content on our channel is music, in a way it will help us," Tidke adds.

The best 60 entries will be shortlisted and further screened to arrive at the top 30. 9X Jhakaas, along with Meenakshi Sagar Productions, the producers of Mitwaa, will scan through all the entries and shortlist the best candidates. These shortlisted entries will be groomed by experts including Sonalee Kulkarni, Umesh Jadhav, Ravi Jadhav and Swapnil Joshi.

"The idea is to identify, scout for and nurture the talent. The contestants will be judged on various parameters including their acting skills, dance and grooming during their stay in a villa. Celebrities will come on to the show to judge the contestants, too. It will offer good entertainment to the TV viewers as well," Tidke says.

The channel is running promos of Lux Jhakaas Heroine on 9X Jhakaas, 9XM and 9X Tashan, and has also tied up with Radio City for advertising and content integration. The RJs of the station are talking about the contest, which is open for girls in Maharashtra.

On print, the property will be promoted in Loksatta. The channel is also running spots in Big Cinema and Cinemax, across Maharashtra. There are activations and promotions in around 25 outlets of CCD, 12 colleges, 11 acting schools and 16 societies in Mumbai. Also, there is an activation across media agencies in Mumbai and Delhi to promote the consistent performance of 9X Jhakaas and the new property, Jhakaas Heroine. A caricature artist will design caricatures of media buyers on Jhakaas branded sheets. In Mumbai, the activation will be done in the offices of Group M, Starcom, Madison and OMD. In Delhi, it will be done in GroupM, Madison and OMD's office.