Star Sports inspires viewers to 'Le Panga'

The channel has launched a campaign titled 'Le Panga' to promote the second season of Pro Kabaddi League which starts on July 18.

Star Sports has launched a campaign, titled 'Le Panga', to promote the Pro Kabbadi League which will be back in its second season from July 18. The league's first season was also telecast on Star Sports, and became popular during its course. The event will be telecast across eight channels on the Star network.

The campaign, which has been released on television as well as digital mediums, hopes to inspire people to overcome personal limitations and barriers. The first TVC in the series was released during the third cricket match between India and Bangladesh. It features well-known radio jockey RJ Malishka as inspector Laxmi Peter and is full of Bollywoodesque drama. The TVC is about Laxmi Peter getting inspired to change, while watching a Pro-Kabaddi League match, and finally managing to capture the group of criminals and her elusive target Rakka, all her on own.

Talking about the campaign, a Star Sports spokesperson says, "As a sport, kabaddi is unique in the nature of the challenge undertaken by the players. A raider is alone and, almost always, faced with insurmountable odds with the defenders waiting to pounce on him and use their collective physical might to overpower the raider and stop him from accomplishing his objective. The campaign, #LePanga, cites real life situations as in the sport that people can relate to."

On the campaign's central idea, he adds, "Panga is that spirited act where passion and courage trump conventional logic and enables one to overcome seemingly impossible challenges."

The Pro Kabbadi League is built along the lines of a franchise model, featuring eight teams from all corners of the country. The previous season enjoyed higher viewership than most sporting events, second only to the Indian Premiere League. This popularity, has prompted the channel to come up with a new season and also to advertise it extensively.