Good news! This show can finally be seen in the US on http://www.qubo.com/shows/sally-bollywood
Sally Bollywood, Super Star….
Who is the Indian Bollywood star with a huge mainstream fan following in Spain, Germany and France? Amitabh Bachchan? No. Aishwarya Rai? No. Shah Rukh Khan? No. It’s Sally Bollywood!
Who would have thought a time would come when there would be a Bollywood movie made by a totally non-Indian team, and its heroine Sally Bollywood would become a super-star with French, German and Spanish fans, her own series of books, stationery line, a comic strip, a luggage and textile line.
‘Sally Bollywood’ is an animated TV series created by Zodiak Kids and Family, which develops, produces and distributes children’s brands to the global marketplace. It is part of the Zodiak Media Group, a French and Australian company which is an international leading distributor of content for TV, radio, new media and cinema, ranging from animation to talk shows and game shows. The company is based in London and Paris
Meet Sally Bollywood, Super Detective
According to the Zodiak Media site, “the group consists of 45 production companies with presence in 17 countries including the US, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Russia. The Group also incorporates an international distribution business based in London and Paris whose catalogue boasts over 10,000 hours of content.”
‘Sally Bollywood’ is about a 12 year old girl detective who always manages to solve the case. And can she dance! This strong-minded, smart detective who wears a bindi and is totally comfortable in her skin should be a great role model for desi kids in any part of the world. And can she dance! It’s kind of hypnotic to see her perform to some catchy Bollywood music.
Sally Bollywood: All about the show
She’s the twelve-year old detective who walks to the Bhangra beat!
“School books gone missing? Parents blaming you for something you didn’t do? Then you need Sally Bollywood Investigations! 12-year old Sally knows how to solve a mystery because she’s learnt from the very best – her private detective dad Harry. She knows all the tricks of the trade and has a few of her own too, and with the assistance of her occasionally clairvoyant friend Dowee she guarantees results in just 24 hours – providing you’ve got the candy to pay for it.
Ideal for boys and girls aged 6-10, Sally Bollywood is a fast paced, funny and exciting cartoon with a great multi-cultural feel and charming characters. With music, musical sequences and graphic transitions heavily influenced by the glamorous world of Bollywood cinema, it’s a cartoon like no other and is making waves right across Europe.
Don’t believe us? Why not ask Sally to investigate…”
Sally Bollywood’s Desi Dance Number
Lassi with Lavina interviewed Philippe Alessandri, producer of the Sally Bollywood series, to find out who is Sally Bollywood and when we can expect to see her in the US.
Q: I’m quite amazed that Bollywood has caught on in Europe enough for a series to have Bollywood in the name! How did this happen?
A: Bollywood has became more and more popular over the years in Europe. So, when two talented authors pitched us, three years ago, their animation project Sally KUNGFU about a young Chinese girl and her best friend running a detective agency for kids, we asked the creators to change Sally into an Indian girl and to rename the show Sally BOLLYWOOD.
Q: Who conceived of the Sally Bollywood character?
A: Pepper Sue, a designer and Elastik Jane, a writer, have created the character of Sally Bollywood.
Q: There seems to be enough knowledge about India and Bollywood in the series.
Were there any Indians involved in the planning or production of the series?
A: There were no Indian talent involved (the French Indian community is not as large as it is in the UK for instance), but we have asked our creative team to learn about Indian culture.
Q: Who are the viewers and how popular is the series?
A: The audience is kids – boys and girls – between 6 to 11 years old. On Super RTL, a daughter company of Disney and RTL, in Germany, the series has been the best launch of an animated series for the last four years!
Q: Finally – I’m still not clear if the show runs on regular television or is only Internet based.
A: The show runs on regular television in several countries such as France (France 3), Germany (Super RTL), Spain (Cartoon Network), Italy (Disney Channel), Australia (Network 7)… and India (Disney Channel).
Q: Are there plans to bring Sally Bollywood to the UK and the US?
Our distribution arm – Zodiak Rights – is in discussion with several broadcasters in the UK and the US but the series has not yet been sold.
This article was written in 2010. An alert reader tells me Sally Bollywood can now be seen in the US on Qubo.
6 Comments
My 4-year-old American daughter is infatuated with Sally and would like to have her show as her birthday theme, but there is nothing in the States but the show on Qubo. Any recommendations for party planning with a Bollywood theme?
Thanks Vanessa for letting us know – and I see Daniel had also let us know in 2014 about the Qubo Channel. Hope lots of families can watch this fun detective show with the feisty Sally Bollywood!
As of this moment you can watch the program in the United States, they show it every night on the qubo channel in the central time zone at 8pm.
It’s now 2014 and “Sally Bollywood” has shown up on the Qubo Channel; it used to be a syndicate but became a cable channel.
I’m not a close follower of Bollywood trends but from the few times I’ve seen the show it has promise. Cute and fast-paced. I hope it lasts or gets additional exposure. I understand they’ve made plenty of episodes.
Hi Alpana, I think the series has been sold to Disney in India so you should be able to see it there, but probably only on the Disney channel. We don’t get it in the US yet so I’ve just seen the Youtube videos. But can Sally Bollywood dance!
I loved it, wish it could be seen here in India also..but will follow your website to see what is happening..