Jay Hind! Hits Online Record Of 250 Episodes
The record-setting installment of the show, which mainly focuses on stand-up comedy and small sketches based around current events (from both around the world and in its native India), will air on 23 February in its usual 24-minute length, with presenter Sumeet Raghavan also using the special to announce the nominations for ‘Sadma Awards’, an alternative awards show that will be held by Jay Hind! on April Fool’s Day.While part of the theme of the 250th episode may already be planned, the show is generally produced in a quick process to keep up with the latest headlines, streaming live in ‘Hinglish’ (a hybrid language of Hindu and English) on the show’s dedicated website (and hosting catch-up and extra content through YouTube and Dailymotion India) every Monday and Thursday, with few interruptions since its inception in August 2009.
Jay Hind!’s creator and director Abhigyan Jha, operating on behalf of production company ’Undercover Productions’ said of the format: “What began as a crazy dream is now 250 episodes old! The journey has been rapid and exciting. Along the way we’ve broken and set many records, earned respect from as well as irked industry peers and have managed to stand out from the crowd. We take maximum satisfaction from the fact that we’ve managed to introduce the entertainment industry to an exciting new medium.”
The show’s risk of operating exclusively on a then-untested medium has been successful for them, recording a total of over 125 million views across all hosts, while the studio’s fortnightly ‘Late Night Comedy Show‘ sees an average of 150,000 (also known in India as 1.5 ‘lakh’) hits per day, as well as spawning an international spin-off version BLTN (Better Late Than Never, in English-language only) in 2011, and have also reached ‘YouTube Partner Programme’ content status. Undercover claim, however, that their landmark episode is far from the end of their franchise, claiming they have plans to expand the format further in the coming years.
Dailymotion India’s Raajh Singh added that the show has been a key attraction on their video sharing site, stating: “The viewership for Jay Hind is rapidly growing on our website indicating strong connect with our audience The show is high in terms of content quality as well as humour. We think that the show will achieve many more landmarks in the years to come.”
Show ‘anchor’ Sumeet Raghavan summarised their success: “Shooting for Jay Hind feels like a breeze! We are always laughing and cracking jokes on the sets, not only on the others, but even on ourselves. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like we’re about to complete 250 episodes. The show has also contributed enormously towards improving my capabilities as an actor. I feel proud to be associated with a path breaker like Jay Hind!”
With a number of notable achievements under their belt already, will Jay Hind! make good on their plans to become one of global online TV’s dominant forces? For users that can understand ‘Hinglish’, the most recent episode (#249) can be seen below, along with a segment of BLTN:
.jpg)
