Aha was the first OTT platform from Telugu that was floated by Mega Producer Allu Aravind in support with My Home Group. Producer Dil Raju and others have a minor stake in the digital platform that acquired several dubbing films to fill their content library. Allu Aravind, the mastermind behind several top deals like Star MAA had plans to make Aha a renowned OTT platform and sell off the stake for a massive price. My Home Group invested big and Aha even produced several originals. Allu Arjun promoted the platform big time and it helped Aha to an extent. Unfortunately, most of the web series and shows ended up as disappointments. Allu Aravind and his team has been making constant efforts to sell Aha from the past two years.

My Home Group stalled the further investments and Aha turned selective in acquiring the digital rights of films. Speculations started that Sony India is keen to acquire a share in the platform but Sony issued a public statement saying that the news is false. Aha also hasn’t witnessed a rise in the viewership and managing the platform without further investments would land the digital platform to stare at losses in the future. Aha now needs a strong investor or a potential digital platform to acquire the stake to survive further in this extremely competitive digital space. For now, the stake spent on the platform is at risk.

National, 27th March: aha, the fastest growing local OTT platform, recently announced that it will invest over Rs.1000 crores over the next 3 years to expand into newer genres and languages as well as to finance its ambitions of becoming a complete regional entertainment platform. In line with these plans, aha has announced changes in its leadership today. Mr. Ajit Thakur, the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), has been elevated to the Board of Directors of aha and will be driving its future-facing initiatives, including aha Studio. Mr. Ravikant Sabnavis, an industry veteran, will be taking charge as the new CEO with immediate effect.

Welcoming the new CEO, aha’s promoter, Mr. Ramu Rao Jupally, said, “We are delighted to have Ravikant on board as the new CEO. aha will surely benefit from his rich experience, which spans many industries. Ravikant is passionate about fostering the growth of homegrown businesses in India, encouraging new ventures, and nurturing emerging talent. We are confident that Ravikant’s unparalleled pedigree and exemplary leadership will propel aha to its next growth phase.”

Commenting on Mr. Thakur’s elevation to the board, aha’s promoter, Mr. Allu Aravind, said, “Ajit has been with aha since the inception of the company. He has managed to build aha into a brand that has captured the hearts of the Telugu-speaking audience and extended its presence into Tamil. In recognition, we are elevating him to the Board of Directors. In his new role, he’ll continue to guide aha and focus on building newer initiatives, including aha Studio.”

Mr. Sabnavis has over 30 years of experience and has honed his skills across organizations in diverse industries, including Star TV, Kingfisher Airlines, Force India Formula One Team, United Breweries, Heinz India, and ConAgra Foods. Mr. Sabnavis presently holds concurrent roles as a Charter Member of TiE – Mumbai and a member of the Startups & Entrepreneurship sub-committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Western Regional Council.

Speaking on his vision for aha, CEO Ravikant Sabnavis said, “The aha team and I would like to create a truly experiential entertainment platform that every family member can enjoy, ranging from shows & daily series to movies, games, news, and very soon Metaverse. At aha, we are on a mission to redefine how people experience entertainment and tell the stories from Deep India to the rest of the world through diverse and unexplored genres.”

About aha

Launched in 2020, aha is an Indian video-on-demand streaming service that provides 100% local entertainment. It started out with a 100% Telugu OTT and witnessed great success across the world with its extensive content slate that includes original programming of web series and movies, with a new release every Friday. Fulfilling its promise of 100% Local entertainment, aha has recently launched aha Tamil which has 100% Tamil Web series and movies. Aha is owned by Arha Media & Broadcasting Private Limited, a joint venture by My Home Group and Allu Aravind (Geetha Arts). aha also recently won the ‘Best Entertainment App’ Award under the category, Best Mobile & App Awards at the prestigious Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) India Digital Awards 2023, marking yet another honor, in a series of accolades, for the regional OTT leader.

For more information, please follow: https://www.Aha.video/all

After the arrival of coronavirus pandemic, the whole world relied on digital platforms for entertainment. The current situations made sure that the theatres would not reopen anytime soon and the audience will have to watch films on digital streaming platforms. The digital platforms too are acquiring the rights of films for staggering prices. Telugu OTT platform Aha is set to release a series of web series in the next six months. Allu Aravind met the press and announced that they will have 42 releases in the next six months.

All these 42 projects would be original web series. Apart from these, Aha is also acquiring the streaming rights of yesteryear classic Telugu films for the audience. They are also dubbing super hit flicks from neighboring movies. Allu Aravind made it clear that watching films in theatres would always stay as the best experience for movie lovers. He made it sure that the shootings of Telugu movies will resume from October.

Allu Aravind floated his digital platform ‘Aha’ with utmost enthusiasm but the response was mixed. Most of the shows fell short of expectations and it is clear that they are made on strict budgets. Though some of the scripts sounded innovative, the directors lacked enough hands experience in handling web based content. Almost 25 new shows are planned and they are expected to be released on Aha before the end of this year. Then came an unexpected shock through coronavirus.

Allu Aravind is said to have spent ample time, re-checked the scripts and shelved some of the projects. At the same time, he inked deals with several Tollywood directors and offered them decent budgets if they are ready to come up and direct web series for Aha. He is also in plans to lock Megastar Chiranjeevi for a project to bring extra mileage for the digital platform. Allu Aravind is working hard to bring Aha to track with a series of interesting shows.

To dish out the content that would appeal to the audience, veteran producer Allu Aravind is in plans to rope in a bunch of renowned directors for his digital platform Aha. Frankly saying, not a single show from the OTT platform received a decent response. Allu Aravind hired a team from Mumbai who could not find refreshing plots and interesting concepts that would appeal to OTT audience. He was left in rethinking mode because of the lukewarm response the shows on Aha received.

Allu Aravind is in talks with Tollywood directors who can spend ample time and finalize interesting content for Aha. Directors like Vamshi Paidipally, Nandini Reddy, Chandra Siddharth and VI Anand already gave their nod to turn consultants for Aha. All these directors are in talks with aspiring writers and youngsters in their circles who already penned interesting scripts. Allu Aravind is quite confident in changing the face of Aha with the arrival of these talented directors on to the board.

The whole Tollywood, fans and the audience were quite eager when Mega producer Allu Aravind announced a digital streaming platform Aha. Leaving many in shock and surprise, the content failed to live up the expectations. Allu Aravind and his team were much focused on producing as many projects as they can on limited budgets so that they will have a huge collection. Picking up the right content and making quality web films are ignored because of which the platform was criticized.

Aha is now in plans to produce and release 20 web series by the end of this year. Allu Aravind approached several directors but they are left in shock with the allocated budgets. Hence he is in talks with several aspiring debutants to direct content. Allu Aravind seems to have been repeating his mistakes and he is in a hurry to produce several projects soon after the lockdown gets lifted as the audience are watching web series due to the coronavirus scare.

Allu Aravind should focus on innovative content and produce them with utmost quality if he wishes Aha to turn a tough competitor for digital giants like Amazon and Netflix. Else, Aha would get vanished in this new world of digital space.