DQE Signs Home-Entertainment Deal with Sony for South Asia

HYDERABAD: DQ Entertainment International (DQE) has appointed Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) as the representative for three animated properties in South Asia.

The deal includes Twisted Whiskers, which feature zany cats and dogs interacting in typical pet situations that will become "twisted" as the animals get into funny and unexpected (mis) adventures. The property is a spin-off of the greeting-card characters from American Greetings. The deal also includes two Indian TV features: Balkand and Ravan. Ravan is based on the story of Ravan, the Demon King. The property depicts Ravan’s childhood with his siblings and unmanageable supernatural powers. Balkand revolves around several of the anecdotes from the childhood of Lord Rama, who is revered for his unending compassion and courage. It tells the story of Rama and his young brothers and their journey from the princely palace of Ayodhya to the Gurukul of Rishi Vashisht.

Tapaas Chakravarti, the chairman and CEO of DQE, said: “Following the international success of a large number of our co-produced properties, DQE’s foray into the Indian market has been successful with the airing of Balkand and Ravan on Pogo channel of TENA. It is with great pleasure that we now target the international home video distribution market through our global partners SPHE based on the reputation of the Sony group. We believe Balkand, Ravan—airing on POGO—and Twisted Whiskers—currently airing on Disney channel in India—will be hugely popular with viewers."

Keith Ribeiro, the country manager for SPHE India, added, "This deal will strengthen our product portfolio and help us to connect with younger audiences across South Asia. DQE has a proven track record the world over, in bringing cutting edge technology to the art of animation. We at Sony are extremely excited at the prospect of making their high quality programming available to millions of homes across the region."

Ribeiro added: "Ravan and Balkand will bring time-tested stories to life in a manner not seen by audiences in this part of the world and the high TV ratings they garnered are a testimony to the superb production values imbibed in the presentation. Twisted Whiskers is an iconic property, which has never been released on DVD in this region. Consumers will now have a real opportunity to create and own a collection of their favorite characters from this truly endearing TV series."