JAI BHEEM App teaser launched by Girish Wankhede at the Midday International ICONS Awards Dubai

JAI BHEEM App teaser launch

The teaser of JAI BHEEM APP was launched on the 25th September 2021 at the Mid-day Icon Awards event that was held in Dubai. The First Look of the Short-Video app fell 'nothing short' of creating a huge buzz in the international arena amidst film celebrities and even the international media present at the event. Suhail Galadari, Co-Chairman of Galadari Brothers graced the event along with Bollywood stars Vivek Oberoi, Neha Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Zarine Khan, Sandeepa Dhar, Daisy Shah and Dr Bu Abdullah.

"We are launching an App - and it is a 'Huge App' for Short Videos as we desire to hone the skills of the youth in small towns across our great country, that don't get the opportunity to express their creativity and we aim to encourage them to make a career out of it by sharing the revenue with those whose videos go viral and the well performing short videos. We want to make them understand the seriousness of career in entertainment as well as make them our ‘Revenue partners'."

"JAI BHEEM app will literally unleash the creativity of youth and hand-hold to lead them into international competition," says Girish Wankhede, the CEO of the app who has been in the business of entertainment for the last two decades, having own expertise and strong foundation to manage the app.

"Our app gives short video creators the space to connect to anybody across the globe to create your identity," reveals Wankhede about the App that is managed by a board of directors that aim to create a global footprint by addressing international press in Dubai … "as the app users can be from any corner of globe. I am overwhelmed by the huge response in Dubai," he mentioned.

The first look has been launched in Dubai to make it a Global entity. Having an understanding of Cinema exhibition and OTT business, Wankhede aims to push the envelope further by creating a niche audience and a mass appeal for the app that, he further claims, "It will cater to the masses as well as classes as it has something for everybody. Our app has all the best features of all apps and the USP is that it has the combination of entertainment and entrepreneurship."

Here is an exclusive chat with Girish Wankhede:

What is the idea behind launching the JAI BHEEM app?
JAI BHEEM app is purely and solely an app for SHORT VIDEOS. There is a huge space in apps for short videos that has not yet been tapped in a better way. There are wide choices of long video apps or OTT Platforms in India and world over those are catering to large films and are still mushrooming by the day. But there isn't any app catering to creators of short videos who are abundant across the globe and for the viewers of shorts. Hence this has created an opportunity in the short video apps format.

Wasn't TikTok an app for shorts?
Yes. But that was in the past. When TikTok was allowed to operate in India, it used to gratify the creators of short videos as there are a large numbers of short video creators spread across our country . But now that TikTok has been banned in India, it has created a vacuum in this particular space.

There are already some existing apps catering to this space. Right?
I can say that there are a few other Indian apps for shorts. There is MX Takatak that is owned by a publication house and it claims to have over 100 million subscribers. Isn't that a huge number? Besides this there are other short form video like Mauj, Josh and Chingari . Chingari boasts of Salman Khan as their brand ambassador. The short video app space is becoming hotter.

Then, what is your personal opinion?
There are people who want to spend less time on watching on video apps yet they yearn for big entertainment. Small towners are very creative and they don't have the opportunity to showcase their talent. Therefore short form video format is one platform that has created a market where youngsters from all strata of the society like B Tier town and C tier towns can showcase their talent and get recognized and gratified.

So are you ready to create a competition with your short video app with other existing players?
The JAI BHEEM app has been created in the same space of Mauj, Chingaari and Takataks of the world but we don't see it as a competition. There is room for everybody. We are catering to this space as there is huge pool of talent all across the country.

As quoted by an actress - what works for the people is Entertainment, Entertainment and Entertainment. Your comment.
I agree with her but we are here with an added edge. JAI BHEEM app will now redefine the Es in the business. This app will not only talk about entertainment as right now the other short video apps have entertainment as their priority, their base and backbone. Whereas, in our short video app, we will be also focusing on ENTREPRENEURSHIP apart from ENTERTAINMENT. As it's just the First look launch , it's better to wait for more revelations

What is your market strategy?
Jai Bheem will focus on guiding small town students to know more about opportunities in entertainment and entrepreneurship. Other apps focus only on entertainment which brings them fame and money. Besides this there are certain social responsibilities of the youth which can be filled only through channelizing their energies in more creativity and entrepreneurship. Our app has social consciousness. It will have all the elements that international short form video apps have. The novelty of our app is that it will have more drive for creativity and entrepreneurship.

What is the further launch schedule?
We will start beta version of the app in these days and will work on the feedbacks. We have been working for more than a year to understand this space and have been interacting with young consumers to understand their mindsets. We are taking our time to build up a better proposition and right mix of entertainment and entrepreneurship.. The idea is to create a space for lot of youngsters who can stream their creative minds into revenue models. By December end, we will be ready for a Global Launch.

What is the significance of your app's name - JAI BHEEM?
The name itself speaks about Indianness and equality. It underlines our commitment to serve in a creative way and come up with out-of-the box ideations. It will be an entertainment with a certain philosophy, vision to reach the maximum creative people across the worldwide space and felicitate them and make every youngster conscious about their growth and their entertaining creative minds. This interactive app will open a plethora of entrepreneurial avenues in their respective fields. It will hand-hold you to bring you into international competition.

And that of the App's byline 'UNLEASH YOURSELF'?
It is symbolic to channelize the creative energies of the new generation. Youth in far remote places have access to the internet but are not aware of any rewarding platform. We need to create that bridge and motivate them to unleash their talent in a better and constructive form. This App will add on aspirational value as well it will engage them in more creative pursuits.

What is the app's subscription model?
Initially it will be free to download and only after garnering a considerable base of users, we shall think of charging a nominal amount. Our aim is to heat up the space of short video apps. The teaser is just the beginning...

By Paresh B Mehta