Amidst the cacophony of traffic on Thursday night, the Sheraton Hotel in the capital's Banani area lit up yesterday with the presence of some of the top celebrities of our country, as Channel i launched their new OTT platform, iScreen. From glamorous dance performances to surprise content announcements, the star-studded gala evening was a successful treat to the eyes. 

Celebrities like Afzal Hossain, Mamunur Rashid, Subarna Mostofa, Badrul Anam Soud, Runa Khan, Tanvin Sweety, Raihan Rafi, Syed Ahmed Shawki, Azmeri Haque Badhan, Nipun Akter, Apu Biswas, Mehazabien Chowdhury, Afran Nisho, Chanchal Chowdhury, Sariful Razz, Pori Moni, Shamol Mawla, FS Nayeem, and Nazifa Tushi were present at the event. Additionally, cricketer Shakib Al Hasan was also present in the festivities. 

Although it started a bit late, the gala evening opened with an exciting performance and a short introductory video for iScreen. Then, the newly appointed Project Manager of the platform, popular actor Riaz Ahmed, greeted the audience with a big smile. 

"It is a historic night for all of us because Channel i is stepping into the big world of OTT. I can't remember the last time I saw such top celebrities under one roof," said Riaz.  

Following his short speech, Faridur Reza Sagar, the visionary of Impress Telefilm and Managing Director of Channel i said, "We have been getting responses from the audience since the in-house launching of the platform. Statistics for the last two months show that each visitor spent an average of 18 minutes on our platform, which is a big thing for us."

"We started the journey with 3000 hours of content. Not only web series and films are available, but the audience can also watch live TV and sports from the platform. We are working on building the biggest online music archive too," he added. 

Faridur Reza Sagar then announced the release of three hit films of last year, "Hawa", "Damal" and "Beauty Circus," on iScreen. 

The gala evening was colored with a variety of performances. The stage was lit up by dance performances on the hit songs of these three films. At first, there was a dance performance of the song "Boye Jao Nokkhotro" from the film "Beauty Circus". The performance mesmerized the audience with its brilliant choreography,which incorporated different moves of acrobatics and contemporary dance. 

Performance on the song Boye Jao Nokkhotro

Then, there was a unique performance on the song, "Shada Shada Kala Kala" from the film "Hawa", which was done by putting on a dance that involves intricate movements of the fingers and hands.

Performance on Shada Shada Kala Kala

At last, there was a performance on the title track of the film "Damal" where they beautifully presented the whole essence of the film with their dance performance.

In between the performances, there were a few surprise announcements that revealed the upcoming contents of iScreen. Although the projects mostly feature popular actors Mehazabien Chowdhury and Afran Nisho, they still look quite promising. 

A short teaser was shown at the event which revealed the first look of the thriller web series, "A Clueless Murder" directed by Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul. The series will feature Afran Nisho and Sabila Nur in the lead roles. The series was based on a mysterious murder that happened a long time ago in a building. 

Apart from this, Vickey Zahed is back again with another thriller project titled, "Ami Ki Tumi" featuring Mehazabien Chowdhury in the lead role.

"Mayashalik" famed director Shihab Shaheen announced his project, "Nil Joler Kabbo" starring Afran Nisho and Mehazabien in vital roles. 

Mehazabien Chowdhury is optimistic about the launch of a new OTT platform and said, "Through iScreen, there will be a new start in our industry. It just opened a new door for us to experiment with our roles. I hope they will tell those stories which were never told before"

"The audience has a thirst for good content. I hope iScreen will be able to quench this thirst," added another guest, Nusrat Imrose Tisha.

Finally, the event came to an end with the launching ceremony, where all the stars came to the stage and took pictures. 

iScreen will offer three subscription plans for the audience. They include a one-month subscription for BDT 25, a six-month subscription for BDT 125, and a one-year subscription for BDT 225.