TRENDS
Travel demand remains high in the final phase of Maha Kumbh as airfare doubles
Among the top originating cities for travel to Prayagraj, New Delhi accounted for 30 percent of total bookings, followed by Mumbai at 25 percent and Bengaluru at 15 percent.
BUSINESS
Newer segments driving growth at MakeMyTrip, foray into activities and experiences soon, says Rajesh Magow
The contribution of corporate segment (myBiz and Quest2Travel) has risen to high single-digit to the company's revenue of $267.4 million for Q3FY25, signaling a momentum of a strong growth trajectory. Alternate accommodations segment contribute 10 percent to the total accommodation volume on our platform.
ENTERTAINMENT
India vs Pakistan clash delivers a hit for PVR Inox cinemas
PVR Inox signed a partnership with JioStar, the broadcast and streaming partner of the ICC Champions Trophy, to screen key matches of the tournament amid the exhibitor's efforts to fine-tune its alternate content strategy.
TRENDS
Campaigns worth lakhs, bonanza for meme platforms as brands piggyback on Maha Kumbh
From Flipkart to ITC, Maha Kumbh marketing campaigns by brands on meme pages and social media channels recorded millions of likes and thousands of comments.
ENTERTAINMENT
PVR Inox says Chhaava breaking box office records a much-needed boost, after a slow start in 2025
The historical drama, made with a budget of around Rs 130 crore, has, so far, collected Rs 225 crore at the India box office and has become the ninth-fastest film to colllect Rs 200 crore, joining the list of Pushpa 2, Jawan, Animal and others.
BUSINESS
PVR Inox to challenge Bengaluru penalty order for 'wasting time' with 25-minute ads
The cinema advertising revenue has not gone back to pre-Covid levels, analysts tracking the exhibition business have said, and while the inventories have been filling up, the pricing is still muted.
TRENDS
Ranveer Allahbadia controversy: Brands retreat, influencers scramble, agencies tightening grip on creators
Influencer marketing agencies see a short-term pullback by brands. Some influencers have lost deals while others are dealing with cancelled shows. Like brands, agencies have also increased content vetting process to nip any controversies in the bud.
TRAVEL
More travellers get on the bus for Maha Kumbh as bookings soar 300 times
Millennials and Genz are driving the bus demand for Maha Kumbh
TRAVEL
Relief short lived, Maha Kumbh airfares soar again as demand spikes
Recent data showed that the average price of a one-way ticket to Prayagraj from Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata stood around Rs 17,400, Rs 14,860, Rs 14,340, respectively, for tickets booked seven days in advance.
TRENDS
Nas Daily wants to make Indian brands go viral via AI, comes to India with a marketing agency
1000 Media has already signed up 15-20 brands and the plan is to take the number to 80-100 by the end of this year.
TRENDS
Bitten by the love bug, Indians splurge on Valentine's Day travel, hotel bookings up over 20%
All the hotels are working at around 75 - 85 percent average occupancy for this Valentine's weekend and room prices are up by around 10 percent.
TRAVEL
Relief for pilgrims after Maha Kumbh airfares drop by 50%, average ticket price down to Rs 10,000
Airfares to the holy city of Prayagraj were around 98-210 percent higher in the first week of February, compared to the year-ago period
INDIA
Ranveer Allahbadia's followers down by 1.4 lakh, his remarks could cost him brand deals too amid row
Hashtags like #boycott_ranveerallahbadia and #unfollow_ranveer_allahbadia trended on social media, with users urging each other to unfollow the popular YouTuber.
TRENDS
AAPsolute Memefest: Delhi election results spark gold rush for meme creators
From posting scenes of the OTT series Mirzapur with clever captions to clips of popular films, meme creators struck it rich by churning out more than 100,000 posts on February 8
BUSINESS
Pushpa 2 scripts a turnaround for PVR Inox but Bollywood still a flop show
Re-runs contributed about 2 percent to PVR Inox's admissions in Q3. In 2025, re-releases such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani made up for some of the big movies such as Game Changer which did not perform well, said Ajay Bijli
ENTERTAINMENT
Amazon MX Player bets on shoppable videos to drive growth in India as competition intensifies
Amazon MX Player is a key part of the online retail giant’s strategy to boost its digital advertising revenue in the country.
TRENDS
Divine Deals: Influencers cash in on Maha Kumbh 2025, charge lakhs for a single post
Influencers with 100,000 following are charging Rs 15,000 for a post, while those with 1 million followers are charging Rs 1-1.5 lakh for posts on Maha Kumbh. This goes up to Rs 2.5-4 lakh due as there are not many influencers with high following creating content around the event.
SPORTS
Finance ministry needs to look at incentivising CSR funding into sports: RCB's Rajesh Menon
He said that the government should look at more public-private partnerships.
BUSINESS
Data shows fall in airfares to Prayagraj, but for pilgrims, it's still beyond reach
Data from Ixigo shows that while the average spot fares from Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai to Prayagraj have fallen to Rs 13,000-25,000 on February 3, 2025, from Rs 17,000-33,000, seen around January 28, 2025, ticket prices are still much higher, compared to the same period last year.
TRENDS
Sharan Hegde says finance creators, brand deals will shrink as Sebi curbs use of live stock prices
More clarity is needed on some aspects, he says. "Sebi has not given any clarity on platforms other than social media. If I am able to bring people, let's say on a Zoom platform or if I am able to talk to them on email, that's my own distribution. That's not social media. What is the restriction on that? Nobody knows," he said.
TRENDS
Sharan Hegde's 1% Club is the first to get SEBI’s Investment Advisor licence amid clamp down on finfluencers
The company's Personal CFO division is now compliant with SEBI’s regulatory framework. The company has become the first finfluencer-led company to secure the SEBI-RIA licence, Sharan Hegde said.
TRENDS
Financial influencers to see drop in brand deals and value as SEBI curbs use of live stock prices
SEBI has issued a circular clarifying provisions related to regulated entities and persons engaged in prohibited activities, aiming to end the business of illegal advisories masquerading as stock market education.
BUSINESS
Hotel industry has quite a few good reasons to cheer about in 2026
With high-profile events like the Aero Show and the World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit, both in Bengaluru, and the Maha Kumbh, the industry sees a promising year ahead. Also, premium room rates in India are still cheaper, compared to the rest of the world, say industry executives.
ENTERTAINMENT
Pickleball debut league: Brands in wait and watch mode, but star power piques interest
Top teams like Samantha Prabhu's Chennai Super Champs have clocked Rs 3-4 crore worth of sponsorship deals, with expectations of reaching Rs 5-6 crore by the second season of the league.
