Bindass Play Creates Animated Characters for Storytelling

Aiming to make the characters synonymous to its weekend and weekday programming, the channel will be introducing 'Who's Your Pappa?' (on November 15) and NikAmma (on November 17) to the viewers.

Disney India's recently launched pure-play Bollywood music channel, Bindass Play, is set to take another innovative step as it launches two new concepts - 'Who's Your Pappa?' and 'NikAmma' on the channel.

It is short-form storytelling on the music channel where the channel will have animated characters relaying fun anecdotes and jokes while a song is played on the channel. 'Who's Your Pappa?' will have a chicken and an egg, while NikAmma will have Nik, a young man along with his cool grandmother, Amma.

This is the first layer of innovation since the channel launched on October 1. It may be recalled that Disney India had launched Bindass Play, replacing its three year-old Bollywood entertainment channel, UTV Stars. The channnel was launched to extend brand Bindass.

Like 9XM's 'Bade Chote' and 'Bheegi Billi', characters that are synonymous to brand 9XM, the animated characters from 'Who's Your Pappa?' and 'NikAmma' also intent to be the brand identity for the weekend and weekday programming.

Who are they?

The debate over which came first - chicken or egg? - has been going on for years. 'Who's Your Pappa?' is derived from the urban lingo - 'Who's your Daddy?' (aiming to converse with the youth in their language). The concept will highlight the classic fight between the two which claim to have come first in the world. The idea here is of 'one-upmanship'.

'NikAmma' will showcase the conversation between a boy and his grandmother. To give it a humourous touch, the channel has reversed the role of the two. So, the boy is here simple, geeky while the grandmother is cool, gives tips on gadgets and dating/relationships. Why did Bindass Play feel the need to use animated characters?

"We want to engage with the viewers through conversational storytelling. And our research shows that animation is a great way to do that. We are expecting viewers to find an emotional connect with the characters," says Vijay Subramaniam VP and head - Content and Communication, Media Networks, Disney India.

To start with, these characters will appear on the lower part of the screen and talk about the video music being played. For instance, the chicken and egg will discuss Salman Khan's French beard and his muscles in the 'Jumme ki Raat' song from Kick. The idea is to establish these characters initially. They will eventually start telling stories. At a later stage, the channel will convert them into a longer format of content and will also take them to the digital platform.

"'Who's your Pappa?' will appear on the channel only during weekends, while Nik and his Amma will be seen on weekdays. The idea is to use their identity to differentiate between weekday and weekend programming," adds Subramaniam.

The performance so far...

It's been six weeks since the channel has launched and Disney India officials are happy with the acceptance it has got. Bindass Play opened with 7 TVTs (TAM, C&S, AB 15-24, HSM 1mn+) in week 40 of TAM. And rated 5 TVTs (week 41), 6 TVTs (week 42), 9 TVTs (week 43), 8 TVTs (week 44) and 8 TVTs (week 45) in the following weeks.

According to Subramaniam, the channel is right where it wanted to be. "Growth was never the key reason for launching the channel. The idea was to extend brand Bindass, tell stories that would be a reflection of an young adult's world, inspire and empower them. We are showcasing entertainment in the form of music, through the lens of Bindass," he says.