ShareChat and TVF are teaming up in search of the next Viral Stars

This is the first digital discovery programme in eight languages to find the next generation of digital entertainment talent.

Homegrown social media platform ShareChat and digital entertainment pioneer TVF are launching the first-ever and largest all-India, digital-first, talent discovery platform called 'The Viral Stars'. The initiative will give millions of Indian youth across the country, an opportunity to showcase their unique talents and become India's next generation of Viral Stars. They will also have the opportunity to win multiple cash and other prizes along the way.

The 3-month program opens on 15th November with an online call-for-entries in eight languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. Users can participate by recording a short video (up to 30-seconds) on ShareChat across categories like humour, music, dance, fashion, beauty or ajab-gajab. Contestants can continue posting videos as a creator till 15th February. A digital leaderboard that will track audience reactions, engagements and votes on each video will determine the winners.

Regarding the inimitable concept behind the latest offering, Karan Chaudhry, president and COO, TVF, says, "As Indians, we love video content - 9 in 10 Indians watch videos on their phones, across the major Indian languages. Humour, music, beauty, dance, reality are amongst the top short-form genres that India loves to watch online. A new generation of digital stars is emerging with new styles of content created for their dedicated fan-bases from Shimla to Salem, from Daman to Digboi. The Viral Stars was conceptualised to provide a unique opportunity to these emerging creators to pursue their talents for life, aligned with our philosophy of being a platform for digital creators. Singers, dancers, writers, performers or just talented creators with a smartphone camera, are now just one viral video away from making it to the mainstream."

The Viral Stars program will visit 50-cities and engage with youth at over 200-colleges to shine the spotlight on emerging and hidden talent across campuses. The program will include on-ground activations featuring popular digital celebrities and youth influencers like Ashish Chanchlani, Mukti Mohan, Pranitha Subhash and more.

The Viral Stars program participant submissions will be live on the ShareChat app in the "The Viral Stars" category and will also be presented in a 200-episode series on TVFPlay's "The Viral Stars" channel with a special focus on the youth from colleges.

Commenting on the initiative and the partnership with TVF, Sunil Kamath, chief business officer at ShareChat, says, "We are extremely pleased to be associated with 'The Viral Fever' to launch India's first ever all India hunt for the next Viral Stars. ShareChat is India's #1 regional social networking app developed keeping in mind the needs of the Indian audience to communicate in their native languages. ShareChat has always endeavoured to provide a culturally relevant and truly Indian social media application for the country's evolving internet users. Being a truly India social media app, we understand that our country is a pool of hidden talent that can be found in every nook and corner of the country. Through this association, we want to provide our users with a platform where they can showcase their talent and get an opportunity to become the next digital stars. As of now, we are a community of 50+ million people and we believe that our search for the next generation viral star would be a huge opportunity for our community."

On the partnership with ShareChat, Rahul Sarangi, global head of business and content development, TVF, adds, "ShareChat and TVF share the vision of thousands of new creative faces finding their audience - language and genre no bar. Through a strategy covering digital content, social influence and live experience, we're using our expertise to encourage more creators and rewarding great content with the recognition it deserves. With the range of our culture, geographies and languages, Viral Stars will foster an environment of content creation with the youth."

The Viral Stars program will be supported by a nation-wide campaign - #ZorSeTalentAaya - that will roll out by mid-November.