Lokmat claims success for its content studio Shudhdesi's first Marathi original web series 'Striling Pulling'

Shudhdesi Marathi premiered its first Marathi original web series, 'Striling Pulling', on January 3, 2019. The web series was well received by Marathi audiences across digital platforms since the release of the trailer was on December 16. Within 15 days of release, the trailer garnered over three million views and episode one, within six days of release garnered over eight Lakh views. The subscribers on the Shudhdesi Marathi YouTube channel jumped 110 times since the launch of the first episode.  

ShudhDesi studios, a division of Lokmat Media Group, is a ‘Made for digital’ new age content studio. ShudhDesi Studios is a platform for young talent to tell stories in local languages. ShudhDesi Studios will focus on creating web series, short comedy sketches, branded content, invest in local IP and build a global distribution network.

A 6-episode series, 'Striling Pulling' is a comedy-drama produced by ShudhDesi Studios and written and directed by renowned Marathi director Sameer Asha Patil. In the past, Patil has worked on Marathi films like Chaurya, Yuntum, and comedy-drama Wagherya. The web-series stars popular faces from Marathi television industry like Bhagyashree Nhalve, Aarti More, Sayali Patil and Nikkhhil Chhavan.

‘Striling Pulling’ is a modern day take on relationships. With three female protagonists, Pallavi, Priya and Archana as pivotal characters, it traces the journey of their beliefs, ambitions and conflicts. A major twist in Pallavi's life sets them on an exploratory journey of self and meaning of life. It also focuses on vulnerable relationships in today's era, where everyone seems to be in an internal search of the perfect. With Pallavi’s journey, Archana and Priya also end up finding a new perspective on their lives.

Commenting on the launch of the web series, Hemant Jain, Senior EVP and Head of Digital Business, Lokmat Media Group, said, “Regional content is at the forefront of the rapidly evolving video ecosystem today. With Marathi language users expected to emerge as the second largest after Hindi by 2021, our focus is to cater to the ever-increasing Marathi-speaking audience that prefers alternate content. Through ShudhDesi Marathi, our commitment is to deliver interesting stories that are distinct and contemporary and build the largest community of Marathi speaking audiences.”

Rishi Darda, Joint Managing Director and Editorial, Lokmat Media, said,  “We at Lokmat have always had a pulse on our audience, and that is reflected in the fact that we are No.1 Marathi daily in India. When the digital wave hit our country, we realised that more and more audiences wanted to consume content in the regional language. We also learned that video content is on the rise. We invested energies in Lokmat.com and grew from eight lakh in 2016 to 85 lakh users in December 2018. Our Hindi news portal, LokmatNews.in has over 55 lakh monthly users. We recently launched an integrated language mobile app that will cater to Hindi and Marathi audiences. We also launched Kidoz TV, a kids animation channel on YouTube. The best part is that all our platforms and apps are built in-house using the best technology platforms. Through ShudhDesiMarathi we wish to provide Marathi audiences with original, entertaining content. We have received a great response to the first episode and hope that audiences continue to shower their love.”