MTV Splitsvilla gets a sensuous twist

The seventh season, hosted by Sunny Leone and Nikhil Chinappa, will witness 20 girls wooing - and vying for the attention of - seven male celebrities.

MTV, the youth entertainment channel from Viacom18 stable, is launching the seventh season of 'MTV Splitsvilla' on June 14. The show will air every Saturday at 7 pm.

Sunny Leone and Nikhil Chinappa will host the 13-episode series. MTV Splitsvilla, this time, will been seen in a new avatar with around 20 girls vying for the attention of seven male celebrities including Ayaz Ahmed, Abhishek Malik, Ashwini Kaul, Mayank Gandhi, Mayank Pawar, Rishabh Sinha and Shravan Reddy.

This is the first time that celebrity actors will be courted through the series and they will also be living in the villa in search of their soul mate. Aditya Swamy, EVP and business head of MTV says, "MTV Splitsvilla has entertained around 50 million young Indians across six seasons. While the highly controversial show has become an obsession with young people, we have built strong levers of engagement through our digital platforms that keeps the franchise alive 365 days. With a brand new format disrupter this year, we are looking forward to taking this twisted game of love to an altogether new level."

Vikas Gupta, programming head, MTV India adds that MTV Splitsvilla is a show that supports young love. "This summer we're taking the contestants to a hot new destination that will add a new flavour to the show. We have given the format a twist, with 7 male celebrities and 20 girls in the exquisite surroundings of Samode Palace in Jaipur, which should be the perfect place for love to blossom. Moreover, roping in Sunny with Nikhil is bound to accentuate the glam factor of the show."

The channel has brought on board Killer as the title sponsor. The three 'powered by' sponsors are - Manforce, Fogg and Karbonn Smart. E-commerce partner is Amazon while Airtel comes on board as the telecom partner. MTV has roped in Airtel digital TV and Red FM as DTH Partner and Radio Partner, respectively. The associated sponsors for MTV Splitsvilla 7 are - Breezer, Sprayment, Swift, Tissot and Appy Fizz.

Talking about the marketing efforts for the show, Sumeli Chatterjee - head MTV Marketing and Insights, says, "This year we have carried forward the Fairy Tale romance as a theme across all marketing elements - creative communication and activations. An extensive media campaign is planned extending beyond the metros into 15 plus small towns. Radio is an integral part of the plan with interviews, special features, talk shows etc."

"On the digital front, Splits-Snapper allows the winner a never-before chance to be the official photographer of Splitsvilla. Break Up Diaries is a digital extension, which captures the experiences of the contestants in matters of their heart. Radio, Multiplex, Hangouts, Outdoors - marketing campaign integrates all elements on-air, on-ground, along with an extensive online presence," adds Chatterjee.

MTV Splitsvilla had over 65 million viewers through last season. According to the channel, the appeal of Splitsvilla is beyond television. It has over 3.5 million fans on its Facebook page and last season saw more than 1,500 tweets for each new episode that went on air.