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Even after the manga’s conclusion, Jujutsu Kaisen has the world in its spell, and Sony YAY! has brought the anime to Indian television for the first time. Recently, Sportskeeda had the chance to speak on this with Ronojoy Chakraborty, the Programming Head of Sony Pictures Network.
Sony YAY! being primarily a children’s channel has been branching into slightly more mature works, namely shonen anime like Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Jujutsu Kaisen, being one of the most popular anime in recent times, becomes the next big name in their repertoire.
The recent boom of anime fanaticism in India, coupled with their success with the shows broadcast on their channel, facilitated this significant step. In this interview, Mr. Chakraborty demystified the process of bringing Jujutsu Kaisen to Indian television.
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After Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen becomes the next anime to be broadcast on Sony YAY!
Mr. Chakraborty began by introducing us to the process of selecting Jujutsu Kaisen for Sony YAY!
Ronojoy Chakraborty: “So it is part of our strategy. I'm sure that you know that Naruto and Naruto Shippuden had played on our channel, and it was very successful; we had more than 16 million cumulative viewers. We want to create a portfolio of the best anime shows for our linear television play. So that's why we got Jujutsu Kaisen, which is a global cultural phenomenon.”
When asked, Mr. Chakraborty said that they have considered all popular titles, including Bleach and My Hero Academia. Some of the anime, he explained, are not available for India, while others are not suitable for Indian Television. Jujutsu Kaisen seemed to be the perfect next step for the channel after the success of Naruto.
Ronojoy Chakraborty: “We are getting the bigger properties of anime to India step by step, and we are doing it in a very 360-degree approach. For Naruto, we had licensing and merchandise. It was a huge success. Now with Jujutsu Kaisen, it is going to be broadcast on our linear television channel, and we are also in negotiations for licensing the merchandise of the show.”
He added, regarding the audience,
“We are offering new anime properties to our audiences. Of course, these audiences are 12 plus, and they (these properties) appeal to that age group, the age bracket, which is a little higher. The teens, the tweens, and the young adults – they like these kinds of properties, and they are also on our channel. So that's why we are going ahead and acquiring more anime titles for our channel.”
Jujutsu Kaisen, of course, is a bit more violent and gory in general when compared to Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Sony YAY! is considered to be a children’s channel, and Indian TV does employ certain restrictions on what can and cannot be played at certain times. Mr. Chakraborty shared that keeping this in mind, they are airing it at a late-night slot. He also added that they plan to edit the show a little to fit the Indian regulations.
Ronojoy Chakraborty: “We generally air it at a late-night slot. What we also do is we are also very concerned about is the standards, practices, and regulations that are there for Indian television. And we edit the show, dub the show, and adapt it for our local sensitivities. We are very cautious about what we are playing on the channel.”
He further elaborated,
“So, while we are dubbing the show, we don't dub the show the way it is written in English or the way it goes in the original language, Japanese. We do a local adaptation, and that is how we make it relevant to our culture, and that is how we tone it down if there are extremes in the show. We did that with Naruto, and Naruto was a success, so we are hoping that Jujutsu Kaisen would also be a success after that.”
Sony YAY! is dubbing Jujutsu Kaisen in three Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Mr. Chakraborty mentioned that they plan to include dubs in Malayalam, Bangla, Marathi, and Kannada in the future. However, the channel has no immediate plans to bring any popular personalities on board for dubbing.
This dubbing is also a key attraction for bringing viewers to the channel, according to Mr. Chakraborty.
“It is adapted well, because dubbing plays a very important role. We call it thoughtful dubbing, the way we have dubbed the series. Obviously, we have sensitized it to our cultural specifications, and that's why it will appeal more to this set of broader audience, and that is the differentiator that we have for linear television.”
Unlike the two parts of Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen is seasonal. While the manga is finished, the anime is still ongoing. When asked, Mr. Chakraborty admitted that this wasn’t particularly a consideration for them, although it does help in the long run.
Ronojoy Chakraborty: “…because if something is ongoing, obviously you have a chance to simulcast that particular show on your channel, parallelly with other platforms.”
Sony YAY! is broadcasting Jujutsu Kaisen seasonally, and has no plans to bring Jujutsu Kaisen 0 to India as of yet.
Detailing Sony YAY!’s plans to foray further into anime, Mr. Chakraborty stated:
“Our strategy is that as an entertainment brand, we want to be the home to the biggest tools. We want to create many different avenues for engagement. We are kind of breaking boundaries with this expansion into different kinds of animation products, including anime. So the acquisition of Jujutsu Kaisen fits into this overall strategy.”
As I followed up on my earlier interview with Sony YAY!’s marketing head, Sujoy Roy Bardhan, Mr. Chakraborty confirmed that they are continuing their production endeavors in Japan and have started to receive finished episodes. They are also looking to diversify the content they produce in Japan.
Finally, Mr. Chakraborty shared his opinion on anime in India and its recent growth:
Ronojoy Chakraborty: “I think now, audiences are open to seeing animation as a format of storytelling, which earlier it was not, because there is a generation of young adults now who have grown up on animation. So they accept animation as a standard means of storytelling.”
He further stated,
“They know the norms of animation storytelling, and they are very open to seeing different stories in animation, and that's why anime has become such a popular genre. I see this as we move ahead, as we will see this open up even more, and we will see a much wider set of audiences demanding to see more stories in animation, not just anime, but animation.”
Mr. Chakraborty thinks this is very hopeful for the Indian audience,
“We used to discard any form of animation as cartoons and for children. That perception has changed over the years, because there is a whole generation of young adults who have grown up on animation shows. So, they are open to seeing meaningful stories in animation now as adults.”
When asked if Sony YAY plans to go into animation from other countries, Mr. Chakraborty stated,
Ronojoy Chakraborty: “See, primarily we look at stories which can be adapted and told or presented to the Indian audiences. This is the essence of our selection. So I won't consider any country, I won't consider the origin of the product, but I would look at the product, whether it has a story that will resonate with my audience or not.”
He continued,
“That remains the main criterion. If it is coming from China or Japan or France or Canada, it doesn't matter, because if it has a story that resonates with our audiences, then we will acquire that story and we will present it to our audiences to evaluate and see and watch and decide whether it's a successful show or not.”
Ronojoy Chakraborty has worked in the animation category for the last 19 years now and has witnessed the growth of anime across almost two decades. He is a fan of animation of all kinds and contemplatively states, “I can't separate myself from anime or animation, even if I want to.”
Jujutsu Kaisen is currently being broadcast on Sony YAY! on monday to Friday at 9 Pm.
Final thoughts
Unlike Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen is fairly modern. The Indian audience who have watched it or will watch it on Sony YAY! have largely grown up without the overarching stigma that older audiences had faced. Anime, while not yet mainstream in India, is rapidly getting there. So, the availability of Jujutsu Kaisen on a mainstream Indian TV channel is not the vindictive event that Naruto’s broadcast was.
However, it is a significant matter on its own and is the best step anime could have taken in India via mainstream television. Sony YAY! plans to monitor the reception Jujutsu Kaisen receives before considering more diverse anime. Hopefully, the reception will open more doors for Indian anime fans.
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