ENTERTAINMENT
Not enough female directors, producers in the mainstream, we need more, said Roy Kapur Films' Malvika Khatri
Khatri says time is right for more women to take the lead in direction and production, adding audience wants a powerful story and don't care if it is male-led or a female-led story
ENTERTAINMENT
India in finals of Champions Trophy is already a winner for broadcasters as ad rates rocket
Several new brands have tested waters during the Champions Trophy, setting the stage for IPL, which begins March 22. Marketers expect ad momentum to continue in IPL as well
TRENDS
Ranveer Allahbadia controversy: Influencers' rates drop, deals fall through as impact persists
The Beer Biceps fiasco continues to impact the influencer space with some marketers expecting the effect to be long term.
TRAVEL
ICC Champions Trophy: Travel package demand still high from Indians all over the world
The Indian economy is performing very well and people are spending on sports travel more than any other developing country, said Rakesh Patel, founder of Bharat Army Travels, the official ICC travel partner.
ENTERTAINMENT
Shattered Frames: Technicolor layoffs expose deepening crisis in India's VFX and animation industry
The lingering effect of artists' strike in Hollywood coupled with fewer original content being produced by VFX and animation studios has created challenging times for the creative industry in India.
ENTERTAINMENT
Over 2,000 Technicolor India artists left jobless as firm stops operations, offers no clarity on pay
While the company announced shutting down its US operations on Monday, there was no communication regarding the shutting down of the India operations. In India, the company has offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru and employs over 2,000 people while it has a global headcount of over 10,000 across France, the US, Canada and India.
ENTERTAINMENT
Technicolor's fade-out: India's VFX industry eyes spotlight amid uncertainty
In India, Technicolor has around 3,370 professionals as of February 2024, according to market research and data platform Tracxn.
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.
