BIG MAGIC LAUNCHES WEEKEND SERIES AS EXTENSION TO ITS REIGNING SHOW – AKBAR BIRBAL WITH ‘CHATUR AUR CHALAAK-BIRBAL AUR VIRAAT’

NEW CHARACTERS, NEW TWISTS, MORE DRAMA WITH HUMOR, ENSURING PATHBREAKING CONTENT 

HOUR LONG SPECIAL EACH SATURDAY NIGHT, PREMIERS JAN 31^st, 9PM

BIG MAGIC WILL NOW BE AVAILABLE ON TATA SKY FROM FEB 1^st ON CHANNEL NO 138

BIG MAGIC the flagship Hindi general entertainment channel from Reliance Broadcast Network, positioned as a humour destination, brings an excellent extension of its popular historical comedy Har Mushkil ka Hal Akbar Birbal. The new series titled Chatur aur Chalaak, Birbal aur Viraat has been conceived to deliver wit & comedy with intriguing story-telling and new characters. It begins on January 31^st at 9pm. The hour long offering shall see the introduction of Viraat enacted by popular TV actor, Rohit Khurana who joins the talented artist line up on the show like Kiku Sharda, Vishal Kotian, Delnaaz Irani, Kishwer Merchant and Thakur Anoop Singh.

This programming offering is in keeping with BIG MAGIC’s continuous and sustained efforts to deliver original, novel and differentiated content for its viewers. This has been done ongoingly with new shows, launching seasonal formats of existing shows in its programming and also weekday specials. BIG MAGIC aims to deliver an excellent viewing experience for the entire family.

Chatur aur Chalaak, Birbal aur Viraat: This new Saturday series will showcase some exceedingly interesting mysteries being solved by Birbal and his aide Viraat, the new character coming on board in the show. Viraat is a young prankster, with a scheming mind, a penchant for rare and precious items from influential families, but extremely bright. Equipped with an eidetic memory, backing himself with research, with deep knowledge of criminal psychology and an eye for detail, Viraat’s entry ensures a challenge in Birbal. This show, delves into more shades of their very favourite character Birbal, creating a partnership between Birbal and Viraat. Birbal realises Viraat’s potential and rare talent and seeks to befriend him for a larger cause of the kingdom. Viraat admires Birbal as he is a man of principle.

Romance intensifies between Birbal and Urvashi: On the regular weekday shows, of Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal viewers will be taken on a royal comedy ride with fresh ‘romance with a purpose’ between Birbal and Urvashi. The popular couple will be seen addressing larger social issues thus constantly adding humor with a message. Based on audience feedback, the romance between the two will be further built up.

Commenting on the launch, Uditanshu Mehta, Creative Director- BIG Magic said, “Chatur aur Chalaak, Birbal aur Viraat is a natural extension of Akbar Birbal which is popular amongst age groups. We are launching this as weekend series due to more available time for our viewers. BIG Magic has grown as a favourite comedy destination on the foundation of original and differentiated programming. The consumer today is spoilt for choice, which makes it critical for us to deliver engaging and original content that is backed by insights.”

With Sagar Pictures bringing in the expertise on the production front, the versatile Moti Sagar said, “We are proud to be associated with the Akbar Birbal show on BIG MAGIC. Mythology and historical fiction has always been our forte, but with this we added a layer of humour to our experience. Creatively we have looked at every small detail to re-create the grandeur of Mughal era on television.  The results have been satisfying till now. We look forward to creating another successful extension and are confident that our viewers will love Birbal and Viraat.”

Creator of the show and head of script shop “Big Ideas” Paritosh Painter said, “It is the 1^st around a young boy who is accepted by Birbal as his protégée and is reformed. Our viewers wish to see more shades of the very witty Birbal and hence the introduction of a new character as an aide to Birbal in Viraat. It is the coming together of these two extremely bright minds, played out in the Moghul era, that is poised to deliver one hour Saturday night entertainment packed with comedy, suspense and intrigue for a wholesome family viewing.”BIG MAGIC is available across key DTH players as Tata Sky, Airtel, Videocon, DD Free Dish, Dish TV, Reliance Digital TV along with Hathway, Incable, Digicable, DEN, 7 Star, ABS, Siticable, Star Broadband and GTPL amongst others.

ABOUT RELIANCE BROADCAST NETWORK

Reliance Broadcast Network is a media and entertainment company with interests in radio, television and television production. The Company houses: 92.7 Big FM – India’s No.1 FM Network with 45 stations, reaching over 4 crore Indians each week; Big Magic – which has built strong brand equity as a Comedy Channel and is positioned as the one stop destination for humor, with higher affinity in the Hindi heartland; Big Magic Ganga – the No. 1 regional Channel of Bihar and Jharkhand; Big Magic International – a channel targeted at the Indian Diaspora in the US and Canada; BIG Thrill – the destination for action entertainment; and Big Productions – its television content production division;