MAM

CenturyLaminates tied up with Manish Malhotra

Published

3 years ago

July 24, 2023

Mumbai: Century Laminates, one of the largest brands in the furniture surface solutions category, has tied up with globally renowned fashion designer, Manish Malhotra, and launched a stunning range of laminates which truly in letter and spirit ushers in “Fashion for your Furniture”

CenturyLaminates is widely known for quality, range, innovation, and customer focus. With the introduction of a game changer in the form of Manish Malhotra, Century Laminates redefines design with its industry-first range of designer laminates for discerning customers.

Laminates play a significant role in making one’s home appear distinctly different from another’s. The right interiors are an extension of the customer’s personality hence, we are witnessing increasing preference for home décor Consumers are driven by the desire to own exclusive items.

Century Laminates cosponsored Manish Malhotra’s bridal couture show which was held in Mumbai at the Jio World Convention Centre. The event witnessed a lavish display of Manish Malhotra’s unique collection, with Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt as showstoppers. The event witnessed the presence of eminent celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Kajol, Karan Johar Janhvi Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Nora Fatehi, and Khushi Kapoor, along with the top billionaire businessman Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani with his mother and daughter.

Manish Malhotra said, “It was great collaborating with Keshav. I think both of us are keen towards being innovative. Both of us are known for our quality work. There is always that extra step which you need to take with changing trends & time and Keshav is very keen to do that, to move with time. And with Designer Laminates a lot of people will identify the product and what this new range of laminates speaks about.”

Century Laminates by Manish Malhotra brings in that element of exclusivity, which is coveted by high-end consumers, capturing the essence of Manish Malhotra’s designs in three exquisite ranges. His penchant for designs rooted in Indian culture & tradition finds expression in the contemporary, world-class look of the elegant range. He incorporates the double M monogram into the very modern Insignia range, stamping it with his unmistakable style. He experiments with all that’s chic & post-modern to create the unique and stunning Fusion range. These breathtakingly beautiful ranges of laminates will blow the minds of customers and enable their homes to make a statement about themselves. Through this partnership, CenturyLaminates effectively repositions competition which is only talking colours, designs, textures and finishes.

Century Plyboards (India) Ltd executive director Keshav Bhajanka. said, “I am so proud and delighted That CenturyLaminates has tied up with Mr Manish Malhotra, a designer par excellence, to bring this range of laminates to our customers. Over the last few years, we have been witnessing a sea change in customer behaviour & lifestyle. They are looking at brands to amplify their style quotient and enhance their personality. They are aligned with global trends and exposed to international styling.

In order to cater to such consumers, we wanted to innovate and change the way laminates have looked for ages. Instead of making incremental changes, we chose to unveil designs that will radically redefine the decorative space. We thought of ‘revolution’ not ‘evolution’ and who better than Mr Manish Malhotra to turn the ‘revolution’ we had envisioned into reality. He has effortlessly extended his expertise and his customer insight – from dresses to brand labels to accessories to, eventually, furniture.

When it comes to designing what goes inside the wardrobe, Mr Manish Malhotra is the undisputed master. We put up a new challenge for him by asking him to design what goes outside a wardrobe as opposed to one who is globally known for i.e., dresses which go inside the wardrobe. Not only did he graciously accept the challenge but also reinvented himself to come up with designs that are completely out of this world. CenturyLaminates by Manish Malhotra introduces a designer of this stature into the laminates category for the very first time. This trend-beating genre of designer laminates – uber cool, super classy and a pride to own – is aptly described as Fashion for your Furniture. Discerning customers, interior designers and architects will now be like painters & sculptors – mixing & matching these laminates, making their imagination run wild as they create their own masterpieces”.

Century Laminates, widely known for quality, range, innovativeness and customer focus thus redefining the erstwhile available designs in the laminate industry, has come out with this industry-first range of designer laminates for its evolving customers. The range captures the essence of Manish Malhotra’s designs in 3 ways, his penchant for Indian-rooted designs presented in world-class look and style, his own monogram incorporated in his stunning designs and a very chic very contemporary unique style range. The range of laminates will blow away the customer’s mind and will make his home a total standout.

The films – Where’s Manish & The Video Call – showcasing Manish and his creations, attempt to stoke the aspirations of upwardly mobile, brand-conscious individuals. They address the overarching consumer need – “My home needs to create a buzz in my social set”.

Manish Malhotra is known for the clothes he designs. Over the years, he has associated himself with related categories like cosmetics & jewellery. But till now, he had never designed for a completely unrelated category. When you hear the name, you think of fashion and not laminates. Both films play on this fact to add an element of surprise. Viewers are led to believe they will soon get to see the latest costumes designed by Manish before the big reveal which provides the twist. They realize that Manish has designed the wardrobe yet again, in a manner of speaking, but the outside, not the inside.

Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

MAM

Washington Post CEO exits abruptly after newsroom cuts spark backlash

Leadership change follows layoffs, protests and a bruising battle over trust.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When the presses are rolling but patience runs out, even the editor’s chair isn’t safe. The Washington Post announced on Saturday that its chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is stepping down with immediate effect, bringing a sudden end to a turbulent two-year tenure marked by financial strain, newsroom unrest and public backlash.

Lewis’s exit comes just days after the Bezos-owned newspaper announced sweeping job cuts that triggered protests outside its Washington headquarters and a wave of anger from readers and staff. While newspapers across the US are grappling with shrinking revenues and digital disruption, Lewis’s leadership had increasingly come under fire for how those pressures were handled.

The Post confirmed that Jeff D’Onofrio, a former Tumblr CEO who joined the organisation last year as chief financial officer, has taken over as CEO and publisher, effective immediately. In an email to staff, later shared by reporters on social media, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

The leadership change follows the announcement of large-scale redundancies earlier this week. While the Post did not officially confirm numbers, The New York Times reported that around 300 of the paper’s roughly 800 journalists were laid off. Entire teams were dismantled, including the Post’s Middle East bureau and its Kyiv-based correspondent covering the war in Ukraine.

Sports, graphics and local reporting were sharply reduced, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended. On Thursday, hundreds of journalists and supporters gathered outside the Post’s downtown office in protest, calling the cuts a blow to public-interest journalism.

Former executive editor Marty Baron described the moment as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

Lewis defended his record in his farewell note, saying “difficult decisions” were taken to secure the paper’s long-term future and protect its ability to publish “high-quality nonpartisan news”. But his tenure coincided with growing scrutiny of editorial independence at the Post.

Owner Jeff Bezos faced criticism for reining in the paper’s traditionally liberal editorial page and blocking an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US election. The move was widely seen as breaking the long-standing firewall between ownership and editorial decision-making.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, around 250,000 digital subscribers cancelled their subscriptions after the paper declined to endorse Harris. The Post reportedly lost about $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues slid.

While the wider newspaper industry continues to battle declining print advertising and the pull of social media, some national titles have stabilised. Rivals such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have managed to build sustainable digital businesses, a turnaround that has so far eluded the Post despite its billionaire backing.

As Jeff D’Onofrio steps into the role, the challenge is stark, restore confidence inside the newsroom, win back readers who walked away, and prove that one of America’s most storied newspapers can still find its footing in a brutally competitive media landscape.