Life OK to launch monthly Bollywood awards property

Life OK, the second Hindi general entertainment channel from STAR India, has announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind Bollywood awards property which will be aired almost every month, contrary to the other annual award ceremonies.

According to Ajit Thakur, general manager, Life OK, Bollywood releases films round the year. "There are 12 windows to release films, and there are some windows higher than the others. It's the same for music, even television shows which we keep launching all the time. This is where the insight came from - if there is so much excellent work happening, why should the celebration, rewarding and coming together happen once a year? This is the basic premise on which we are launching the property."

Reliance Broadcast Network's Big Productions will produce the property and 45 stations of its FM brand, Big FM will be leveraged to promote it.

Targeting the "popcorn" generation, the awards property will not only reward Bollywood actors and films, but also singers. There will be 10-11 categories including one from TV - 'Hero of the Month' and a special category to honour someone in the industry who has contributed more than just to cinema.

As for the USPs of the property - Firstly, 'Life OK NOW Awards' will be the first 'instant' award property in the industry, being held almost every month (except this July when there are not enough movie releases). The second USP of the property is that it will be based on 100 per cent public voting, which will start on May 15. The viewers will be able to vote through a missed call, through the website or through the official app for Android devices.

The jury committee will comprise of members from Life OK, Big and a couple of people from the industry; its role will be restricted to preparing a shortlist of films and other nominees, which will then be put up for voting. The auditing company for the property is PwC.

The channel is looking at scaling up the property during Diwali.

Besides acknowledging the hard work people put in generating good content, the property will also provide a platform for promotion of upcoming movies. Life OK has announced Akshay Kumar as the face that will promote the first edition of the property. The actor will be seen performing with Sonakshi Sinha, his co-star in Vipul Shah's upcoming movie, 'Holiday'.

In all, there will be around seven acts. Television's Rithvik Dhanjani will be seen dancing at the event as Elli Avram (of Bigg Boss fame) and Sumant-Sonali (of India's Got Talent fame) will give electrifying performances.

The event will be held at Reliance Studios, Mumbai on May 21 and will be anchored by Richa Chadda and Varun Sharma. The two will also be seen doing some gags at the event.

The first edition of the awards will be aired on the channel on May 31 at 8 pm. The duration will be of two hours. For this edition, '2 States', 'Bhootnath Returns' and 'Main Tera Hero' have been shortlisted. The nominations in the 'Best Actor Male' category are Amitabh Bachchan, Varun Dhawan and Arjun Kapoor; Kangana Ranaut, Alia Bhatt and Ileana D'cruz have been nominated in the 'Best Actor Female' category.

The 'Best Bollywood Song' nominees are 'Imaandari', 'Party to Banti hai' and 'Mast Magan' from the above mentioned films. For the TV category, Tara (Ek Boond Ishq), Paakhi (Tumhaari Paakhi) and ACP Diler (Shapath) have been nominated. According to Thakur, these shows have been selected on the basis of ratings.

Life OK has roped in Wild Stone as the powered by sponsor; it plans to rope in another five-six sponsors for the property.

Life OK will also unveil its new fiction show 'Bawree', written by Neelesh Mishra, at the event.

On the marketing front, Life OK and Big FM will take the message across to the audience. Together, the power of STAR India and Big FM is expected to give 80 per cent coverage to the show's promotion in the Hindi speaking belt. The online platform, starsports.com will also be leveraged to promote the event.