Familiarising Urdu: ToffeeTV to launch The Bhonpoo Show on Eid

Puppetry show aims to promote Urdu humour among children

KARACHI: The connection that puppets can create with the audience through their voices and expressions fascinated me and that is what the show aims to achieve.

ToffeeTV co-founder and CEO Talea Zafar said this while talking to The Express Tribune about the animation studio's upcoming puppetry show, The Bhonpoo Show, which will be released on Eid. "I really want children to have a different perspective during this Eid."

Zafar and Rabia Garib founded ToffeeTV in 2011 with the aim to allow children to 'enjoy' what the Urdu language has to offer through promotion of animated characters on computer screens and mobile apps.

Talking about the inspiration behind ToffeeTV's newest venture, Zafar revealed that the majority of their programming is animated. However, The Bhonpoo Show is a concept she developed a while back when they [ToffeeTV] started to develop an interest in puppetry theatre.

"The team at ToffeeTV is very passionate about creating fun, family content," shared Zafar.

Taking place at a radio station, the show is based on two radio jockeys, Guddu the goat and Bubbly the cow, a collection of crazy callers from wrong numbers and Uffairra the crazy camel. "Guddu, Bubbly and Uffairra will take the audience through some very crazy, whacky humour in each episode," said Zafar, adding that Garib has worked with the audio elements of the show.



"I had planned the puppet characters to be that of a goat and cow and thought that Eid will be an appropriate time to launch the show," said Zafar, saying that if one searches for jokes and humour in Urdu, there is very little 'family-oriented' or appropriate humour available so ToffeeTV tries to 'do their bit' by producing such content and programmes.

"The content has to not only look good, but make you feel good. We feel the dearth of healthy programmes for children is so huge that we must keep our productions going," said Zafar, while talking about the philosophy behind ToffeeTV. Even if the risks are high for business, we still make our investments, she added. The first episode will be launched this Eid on ToffeeTV's website, mobile apps and social media platforms.

Voice of the puppets

"Guddu has the voice of Syed Jaasim Ali and Farheen Malick lends her voice to Bubbly. A lot of the callers voices are played by various RJs, including Syed Athar Raza Naqvi," said Zafar. We will reach out to several guest voices to be part of the show, over the many episodes, she said, adding that efforts have been made to get radio artists into the mix to keep the show as authentic as possible.

Crafting the characters

"I designed the puppets and had them produced in-house. Again, our hope is that by venturing into content areas such as this [show], more people will see the scope and add to the noise that can be generated," said Zafar, saying that finding the right talent and skill to work on the characters was a challenge on its own.

Promotion plan

According to Zafar, ToffeeTV has a high global following and strong links with parents and schools who enable young audiences to connect with them. Social media and ToffeeTV's mobile apps continue to help get the word out about their ventures.

"We don't rule out any platform because this kind of programming is so dynamic. One has to understand how critical and sensitive the young audience is," asserted Zafar, adding that they have the trust of many schools, parents and community influencers, which is how a lot of their traffic is generated.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2016.