The ‘1 OTT’ app, (Bharat Ka Apna Mobile OTT) a hybrid regional streaming platform, is joining hands with Whistling Woods International (WWI) film communication and creative art institute, to telecast the films made in various language by the students of the latter on the OTT platform. Whistling Woods International’s founder and Chairman Subhash Ghai and 1 OTT’s founders, Narendra Firodia and Swwapnil Joshi made the announcement.

Some of the films to be telecast on ‘1 OTT’ were made by some of the leading directors in the films industry as the students of the WWI a few years ago. WWI will provide ‘1 OTT’ with fresh and entertaining content developed by its students.

‘1 OTT’ is a venture by actor Swwapnil Joshi and industrialist-philanthropist Narendra Firodia, ‘1 OTT’ is widely known as Bharat Ka Apna Mobile OTT. Along with the Narendra Firodia and Swwapnil Joshi the 1OTT platform has been supported by noted name in DTL activation Vinayak Satpute with founder members Venkatesh Shrinivasan, Rajiv Jani, leading banker Satish Utekar and noted name in entertainment industry Chetan Maniar.

While speaking about the joint venture Subhash Ghai, the showman of Bollywood and Chairman of Whistling Woods International, said, “There are more than 10,000 scripts from our ancient era, from Walmiki to Tulsidas, but only 2000 of them have been converted into films. The acting school founded by us is to cater to this untapped stuff. I will keep producing films in my second half of the life. I keep telling my students at Whistling Woods to work on the untapped stories and understand their nuances, the point of view behind them. I can proudly say that my students have been working on it for last 15 years. I am proud to be associated with ‘1OTT’ because it will give recognition to my students and budding talent by showcasing their works through mobile App.”

“I used to make films in Hindi, but today the films are produced in various Indian languages and they are doing good amount of business. Now, you cannot make films any one particular language, but they have to be in maximum Indian languages and it is the future of the film industry. The changes we have witnessed in last two decades have stormed the film industry. I am happy to learn about the OTT App my friend Swwapnil has come up with to cater to various Indian languages. Though India has various languages, we have more than 5000 dialects in use and we should always keep it in mind while producing content,” said Ghai.

Swwapnil Joshi said, “We are thankful to Whistling Woods and Subhash Ghai ji for this association which is just the beginning of very long-term partnership. Through this partnership audience will get an opportunity to watch the very first projects of now well-known directors in Bollywood. These films are from all genres and are made by the students of Whistling Woods. It’s a great platter of entertaining cinema for the audience. They are in 4 to 5 Indian languages, and of course in English.”

Swwapnil Joshi has thanked Whistling Woods International for the association with ‘1OTT’ and Ghai for gracing the occasion. “I thank Ghai sir for having shown faith in an upcoming platform like us. It swells our hearth with pride and gives us a lot of positivity and encouragement to do bigger and better projects in the future. When you think about the legendary director Ghai saab, the first and foremost words come to your mind are craftmanship, grandeur, storytelling, world class stuff among others,” he said.

Narendra Firodia said, “India is a huge market for the contents on OTT and it has been proven in the last two years. Since the regional languages were not getting the due participation on these platforms, we decided to launch ‘1 OTT’ for the content in Indian languages. The platform will benefit the contents from all the Indian languages. We are aiming at giving quality content in Indian languages to our viewers and that way it will be India’s OTT. The joint venture with WWI is nothing but showcasing the upcoming and one of the best talents from industry on this platform.”

Chetan Maniar said, “We at 1OTT, a hybrid regional streaming platform are very pleased to announce the tie up with Whistling Woods International which is Film Communication and Creative art institute located in Mumbai promoted by the Mr Subhash Ghai. Whistling Woods will provide 1OTT with fresh and entertaining content developed by its students. In my personal opinion there shall be lots of opportunities created within the industry. The synergy creates an ecosystem that allows aspiring content creators to showcase their talents and viewers getting fresher content to view. 1OTT looks forward to this new initiative which we are certain will be of mutual benefit. In many ways it's a perfect fit.”

After the logo of ‘1 OTT’ was launched by Maharashtra governor B S Koshyari in January, the OTT platform joined hands with Padhega Bharat drive in February to offer the syllabus for students of Classes V to X on the digital platform. The 1 OTT platform will cater to the regional content covering all major Indian language to become truly ‘Apne Bharat Ka Apna Mobile TV’. The platform will prove the OTT of India by telecasting films and series in regional languages including Hindi, Marathi, Bengali among others.

The two entities working on the regional languages at the national level by producing the content in these respective languages have announced plans to make these programs available to all at a very affordable price

Superstar from film and TV industry Swwapnil Joshi and leading industrialist and philanthropist Narendra Firodia have jointly founded ‘1OTT’ and they are joined by Vinayak Satpute, founding member Venkatesh Srinivasan, Rajiv Jani, noted banker Satish Utekar, well known personality from entertainment sector Shri Chetan Maniyar and Sandeep Ghuge. Their joint venture ‘1OTT’ is the digital platform to produce and telecast the entertainment contents from various Indian languages. By producing the programs in various regional languages such as Marathi, Bengali and Hindi, the platform has, in true sense, become ‘Apne Bharat Ka Apna Mobile TV’. Padhega Bharat, on the other hand, is an educational digital platform with the focus on syllabus in Indian languages. Though the platform provides syllabus in English, Padhega Bharat has been emphasising on the content in regional languages over the last three years.

While imparting the information about the joint venture between the two companies, actor Swwapnil Joshi said, “‘Padhega Bharat’ has already made the syllabus of Std V to X in digital form in Marathi on ‘1OTT’ platform. In addition to that, they are also bringing the syllabus of Std V to X in other Indian languages including Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, and Hindi on the online platform. It follows the introduction of the syllabus of IAS, IPS, and IRS in digital form as well. UPSC, MPSC syllabus too will be launched on ‘1OTT’ digital platform soon. Amar Sable, Mentor of ‘Padhega Bharat’ and his daughter and Managing Director of ‘Padhega Bharat’ Venu Sable have shouldered the responsibility of bringing the syllabus in digital form. The duo has resolved to bring all the syllabus taught in India in digital form.”

Both ‘1OTT’ and ‘Padhega Bharat’ are dedicated to work in the interest of the regional languages and both the entities share the same ideology. Thus both of them have come together on a common thread, said Swwapnil Joshi. “‘1OTT’ will avail all the links of all syllabus introduced by ‘Padhega Bharat’. ‘1OTT’ ecosystem will make all the syllabus available after making the instant payment for them. The parents can download the same immediately for their children. The model syllabus is available on ‘1OTT’ app for more information. The app also offers many discounts and schemes for syllabus. After the ‘Padhega Bharat’ initiative, which is very strong in the sector, joined hands with ‘1OTT’, the Edutainment vertical we have been working on has been strengthened. This will enable the users to use the same forum for education and entertainment without downloading any new app. ‘1OTT’ subscribers will get a 50% discount for some of the ‘Padhega Bharat’ programs. Similarly, the subscribers of some of the ‘Padhega Bharat’ programs will get a few ‘1OTT’ programs free of cost for a year. We expect 10 lakh subscribers in the first year, of which 30% subscribers will be of ‘Padhega Bharat’”, said Joshi

“This joint venture is the new beginning of edutainment. Online education has become an integral part of our life during the Covid-19 pandemic. The students can learn from anywhere. ‘Padhega Bharat’ has brought the syllabus of all classes in digital form. The blockchain model is being implemented for the first time. Students and their parents are getting this package together by enabling them to get entertainment and education as an integral package,” said Narendra Firodia while speaking about the new partnership.

“We have aimed at taking our unique syllabus to at least one lakh students in the first year. We are going to improvise the initiative by taking recommendations from the students. We have been aiming to give quality education at an affordable price. This is a one-of-its-kind experiment in India of bringing education and entertainment together. The partnership will focus on edutainment and its independent operation,” said Amar Sable.

Amar Sable added, “The industrial revolution-4 is happening at the much rapid pace compared to the earlier industrial revolutions. When the entire world is adopting modern technology, it would not be appropriate for us to be mute spectators of it. Keeping with the true spirit of Digital India policy and taking advantage of fibre optical network, the ‘Padhega Bharat’ initiated to take the modern technology to the next generation students and the last beneficiary involved in the chain. To achieve the target, the entity created a syllabus for graduation, post-graduation courses, besides the syllabus for Std 1 to 12, with the value-added features. ‘Padhega Bharat’ has tried, in its unique way, to integrate the conventional education with the modern education by adopting modern forms and thus stimulating the intellectual and social skills of the students. ‘1OTT’ platform will help to take this modern education to the students.”

“‘Padhega Bharat’, the e-learning venture has introduced various courses for educational syllabus and skill development. The initiative has successfully integrated with various action based educational programs which are part of the National Education Policy 2020. We have been implementing foreign language programs along with IT courses including Block Chain, SAP and BI. Our e-Content is in the form of Audio and Visual enabling the students to assimilate even difficult concepts easily,” said Venu Sable.

She added, “Action-based education, actual use of education in practical life, moral values are the major factors in National Education Policy 2020 adopted by ‘Padhega Bharat’ in its syllabus designed for Std 5 to 10. It has helped ‘Padhega Bharat’ to institute one of the best syllabus in Audio-Visual form. ‘Padhega Bharat’ and ‘1OTT’ have come together to educate youngsters by giving them education and values and do away with the deficit in the educational merits. We hope that the ‘Padhega Bharat’ syllabus will help in bringing positive changes in the assessment and evaluation of the students.”

Maharashtra Governor, Honorable Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, launched the logo of ‘1 OTT’, a joint venture of leading film actor Swwapnil Joshi and noted industrialist-philanthropist Narendra Firodia, on December 1, 2021. The OTT (Over The Top) platform will cater to the regional content covering all major Indian language and thus would truly become ‘Apne Bharat Ka Apna Mobile TV’.

Honourable governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari after unveiling the logo of ‘1 OTT’ at a glitterati function held at Raj Bhavan said, “I congratulate Shri Swwapnil Joshi ji, Narendra Firodia ji and his team members on the occasion of the launch of the unique platform. I wish them and the venture every success in the endeavor undertaken,” he said.

Along with the Joshi and Firodia, the OTT platform has been supported by noted name in DTL activation Vinayak Satpute, founder members Venkatesh Shrinivasan, Rajiv Jani, leading banker Satish Utekar, noted name in entertainment industry Chetan Maniar and their team members; all of them were present for the launch.  

Swwapnil Joshi, the household name with his variety of roles in the films and serials and Narendra Firodia, a noted industrialist-philanthropist, were separately planning to launch the OTT for a long period. When they came to know about each other’s plan, they decided to join hands and launch it on the larger scale and change the definition of the regional content the way it is being presented today.

“I was thinking about starting the OTT for the last two years as I was looking to do something different to grow as an artist. We wanted to give a good OTT platform to the people. In the meantime, I discussed the venture with Narendra Firodia with whom I share very good relations for the last few years. When I learnt about his plans to launch OTT for regional languages content, we decided merge both the ventures,” said Swwapnil Joshi.

“Not only the regional languages in India, but even foreign language content can be added in future on the platform. We have a very good team of leading people from this field intending to form a global entity. We are happy to launch it today. We are looking forward for out of the box entertainment for the people across demographies,” Joshi said.

Narendra Firodia said, “The lockdown saw the launch of many OTT platforms catering to various genres of the content. India is a huge market for the contents on OTT and it has been proven in the last two years. Since the regional languages were not getting the due participation on these platforms, we decided to launch ‘1 OTT’ for the content in Indian languages. The platform will benefit the contents from all the Indian languages. We are aiming at giving quality content in Indian languages to our viewers and that way it will be India’s OTT.”

Shri Satish Utekar said, “The OTT space is heating up. As a true blue banker, I see a great future for the platform for the decades to come. We at ‘1 OTT’ are bound by the belief that entertainment needs to be affordable and a solid business model. As a Founder Director, I will try my best with the help from the team to achieve sustainable growth in the space. We are 1 and we have just begun!”

Chetan Maniar has the experience of more than two and half a decade in Pay TV industry and has successfully launched multiple linear channels and Pay TV platforms across the globe. “As a founding director, I am excited to announce the launch of the hybrid OTT platform "1 OTT - Apne Bharat Ka Apna Mobile TV" that stands for 3 Es - ENTERTAIN, EDUCATE and E-COMMERCE. The platform enables to select language of own choice for the wider audience. Presenting regional and international content in various Indian languages makes the platform unique in all aspects. It also helps connecting the audience to rich Indian culture assimilated with various languages,” he said.

Mr.Vinayak Satpute said, “1 OTT is in true sense a multi-language platform. The platform will cater to not only the urban audience, but also people in rural parts of the country. We are sure that the people from all walks of life will enjoy the content on this platform.”

Venkatesh Shrinivasan said, “As a founder member of ‘1 OTT’, I can surely say that our preliminary focus will be the rural audience in the country. After working in rural India for a long time, we felt about the need to give them good entertainment in their own language. The content is being offered in such a manner that they could watch the programs whenever they need to as per their convenience.”