Every Indian fan of English television series is familiar with the pain of downloading episodes of their favourite English shows, hours after its telecast in the US. But now, come November and they will have a reason to celebrate. A sister channel of Colors TV, Colors INFINITY is not only the new English channel on the block, but but will also let viewers finally experience the thrill of watching their favourite English shows, almost at the same time, they are telecasted in the US.
From popular shows like Fargo, Better Call Saul, The Big C and Orange Is The New Black to reality shows like My Kitchen Rules, this channel promises a varied content. According to Ferzad Palia, Viacom18 EVP and head English entertainment, the objective of the channel is to reach out to that category of the population who are in love with the English language. “We have gone out of our way to bring content, never been seen before. The explosion of the Internet has created a global audience and we are seeing some great content driven shows. In India, these are only accessible through the net and people resort to piracy to download them. Through this channel, we will try to bridge that gap,” he said.
Palia pointed out to the fact that now, television series have become a great influence, globally. “Today these shows are viewed like movies. This is considered the golden age of TV and this is an attempt to bring some of the best content to India,” he added.
The feature which makes the project stand out is its promise of telecasting English shows within a few hours of its premier in the States. So, will this finally curb pirate downloading in the countryIJ Palia told us that no one indulges in piracy for fun. “It is only when they are out of option that they download, often illegally. We cannot claim that it will stop completely, but yes to certain extent the figures will come down,” he said. This arrangement, he continued, proved to be a win-win situation for everyone — the telecasters, the INFINITY team and the producers. Everyone was on the same page, Palia added.
Colors INFINITY is not the first English channel in the Indian television scenario. It is about to face stiff competition from the likes of Zee Cafe and Star World HD but Palia does not see it that way. He explained to us that the objective of the channel is not to deviate viewers from these channels but, to broaden the penetration of viewers of English shows in the category itself. “It is meant for people who understand the content and appreciate it,” he added.
Make way for the ladies of litchfield Prison, as Orange is the New Black hits the channel, sans the steamy prison scenes, which will be clipped. Palia explained that the channel will follow some censorship guidelines to remain in sync with the Indian tradition. “We will be mindful of the few laws of the land that govern television shows. There are and will be certain scenes in a lot of shows which we will need to edit, to remain in sync with the laws,” he concluded.
Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt have been roped in to curate the line up of the shows. “To add that perfect blend of insight and finesse to the content selection,” as Palia put it. Judging by the years he has spent in the industry, we might understand Johar’s insight into the selection of the shows. But, at the same time we also wonder how much Alia Bhatt is able to understand content as serious as Fargo or The Musketeers.