iWorld
Fan-tastic First: India Bags Maiden OTT Documentary Win at ATA 2025
MUMBAI: If devotion ever needed a documentary, India has just delivered a global winner. TV9 Network’s in-house unit, Studio9, has scripted history by securing India’s first-ever win in the OTT documentary programme category at the 30th Asian Television Awards 2025 in Singapore, all thanks to its gripping deep dive into the feverish world of South Indian fandom, Fanatics.
Commissioned by Docubay, the 55-minute documentary edged past six heavyweight contenders from China, Taiwan and India, including Bitter Sweet Ballad, Echoes of Life, Polar Alarm, and Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli. But Fanatics emerged the clear favourite, proving that stories rooted in India’s pop-cultural heartbeat can travel far beyond linguistic or regional borders.
Fanatics maps the emotional, sociological and sometimes extreme landscape of fan devotion across South India where admiration often transforms into worship, complete with temples built for stars, tattoos dedicated to idols, and massive celebrations that rival festivals during birthdays and film releases.
The film features candid voices from some of the region’s biggest stars Kichcha Sudeep, Allu Arjun, and Vijay Sethupathi alongside film historians, mental health specialists, cultural commentators and ordinary fans whose stories reveal the joys and darker shades of fervent adulation.
One such story follows a young man who found courage and self-worth through Allu Arjun’s on-screen presence after years of stigma for having a cleft palate, a reminder that fandom often runs deeper than entertainment.
The win marks a major milestone for Indian nonfiction storytelling on the global stage.
“This honour at the 30th Asian Television Awards is a defining moment,” said The EPIC Company MD Aditya Pittie. “As the first Indian OTT documentary to win in this category, Fanatics reaffirms our belief in culturally rooted narratives with universal resonance.”
For TV9 Network, it’s a creative high point. “We knew we had a winner from the word go,” saidTV9 Network MD & CEO Barun Das. “The subject was unique, the appeal universal. I thank DocuBay for trusting Studio9 to produce it.”
Studio9’s head, Arpita Chatterjee added: “This was my first major documentary project, and winning on a global stage is a huge validation of our team’s work across fiction, nonfiction and films.”
DocuBay’s CCO Samar Khan highlighted the complexity behind the narrative, “Fanatics demanded honesty and courage. The documentary explores a world where devotion often blurs into obsession. This win validates the creative risks we took and the sensitivity with which the team approached the subject.”
The award-winning film was powered by a strong Studio9 crew:
. Director: Aryan D. Roy
. Assistant Director: Debanjana Ghosh
. Show Runner: Santosh Raj
. Creative Consultant: Aniruddha Chakladar
. DOP: Akshay Kumar
. Editor: Paras Sharma
. Research Support: News9, consulting editor, Sudha Sadhanand
Their collective effort helped transform India’s most flamboyant subculture into a documentary that resonated across Asia.
For TV9 Network, this accolade signals more than an award, it marks a renewed commitment to elevating Indian nonfiction with home-grown talent, bold subjects and global storytelling ambition. As Studio9 continues to expand its creative footprint, Fanatics stands as proof that India’s stories, when told with authenticity and cinematic depth, can captivate audiences well beyond the fan clubs they depict.
India may have many fan armies but this time, it’s a documentary about them that has brought home the glory.
iWorld
Netflix celebrates a decade in India with Shah Rukh Khan-narrated tribute film
MUMBAI: Netflix is celebrating ten years in India with a slick anniversary film voiced by Shah Rukh Khan, a nostalgic sprint through a decade that rewired how the country watches stories. The campaign doubles as both tribute and reminder: streaming did not just enter Indian homes, it quietly rearranged them.
Roll back to 2016 and television still dictated schedules. Viewers waited weeks, sometimes months, for favourite films to appear on prime time. Family-friendly filters narrowed options further, and piracy often filled the gaps. Then Netflix arrived, softly but decisively, carrying a catalogue of international titles rarely seen in Indian theatres and placing them a click away. Old blockbusters and new releases suddenly coexisted on the same digital shelf.
The platform’s real inflection point came in 2018 with Sacred Games, a breakout series that refused to dilute India’s grit for global comfort. Audiences embraced its unvarnished tone, signalling readiness for stories that did not need box-office validation or censorship compromises. What followed was a steady procession of relatable narratives. Competitive-exam anxiety fuelled Kota Factory. College relationships unfolded in Mismatched. Everyday pressures, not grand spectacle, proved bankable.
Language barriers thinned as foreign series arrived with Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubbing, expanding viewership beyond urban English-speaking pockets. Marketing mirrored the shift. For global releases such as Squid Game, Netflix leaned on regional creators and influencers to localise buzz and make international content feel native.
The library widened beyond fiction. Documentaries stepped out of festival circuits into living rooms. Stand-up comedians found scale. Established filmmakers, including Sanjay Leela Bhansali with Heeramandi, embraced the platform’s long-form canvas. Subscriber numbers swelled to 12.37 million in India, according to Demandsage, and behaviour followed suit. Late-night binges became routine. Friday release rituals loosened. Watch parties turned solitary screens into social events.
Economics demanded adjustment. Early subscription pricing carried a premium aura that deterred many households. Over time, Netflix recalibrated plans to align with Indian spending sensibilities, conceding that accessibility is as critical as content. To extend momentum around marquee titles, the platform also experimented with split-season releases, stretching anticipation and watch time.
The anniversary film, narrated by Shah Rukh Khan, captures the linguistic shift that mirrors the cultural one: from “Netflix pe kya dekha?” to “Netflix pe kya dekhein?” The question moved from recounting the past to planning the next binge. In ten years, Netflix morphed from foreign entrant to familiar fixture, exporting Indian stories abroad while importing global ones home. The remote no longer waits; it chooses, clicks and moves on. In the streaming age, patience is out, playlists are in, and the next episode is always one tap away.
e-commerce
Tulasi Mohan Padavala elevated to Associate Director at Blinkit
Gurugram: Blinkit has elevated Tulasi Mohan Padavala to associate director, capping a three-year climb inside the quick-commerce firm and signalling confidence in an executive steeped in ecommerce, category management and on-ground sales execution.
Padavala shared the update publicly, saying he was “happy to share” the promotion, a succinct announcement that nevertheless marks a notable step up within one of India’s fastest-moving delivery platforms. The new role follows nearly three years at Blinkit, where he most recently served as senior category manager from February 2023 to January 2026, focusing on strategic sourcing and assortment planning.
The promotion places Padavala in Blinkit’s mid-to-senior leadership tier at a time when the company continues to expand its rapid-delivery footprint and sharpen category economics. His brief tenure as associate director began in January 2026, with responsibilities expected to span category growth, supplier strategy and cross-functional execution.
Before Blinkit, Padavala spent a short but intensive stint as global ecommerce manager at Wholsum Foods, the parent of Slurrp Farm and Millé, between November 2022 and February 2023. There he worked on digital marketplace expansion and online retail operations, adding a direct-to-consumer and international ecommerce layer to his résumé.
A longer stretch at Amazon shaped much of his cross-border commerce experience. As business development manager for Amazon’s India Global Selling programme from February 2021 to October 2022, Padavala helped Indian D2C brands enter the North American market. His remit ranged from seller recruitment and category revenue management to coordination with industry bodies, regulators and logistics partners. Key outcomes included launching more than 50 D2C consumable brands in the United States, driving a cumulative gross merchandise sales figure of $1m in FY21-22, tripling sales for participating brands during Prime Day through marketing and visibility levers, growing the monthly recurring revenue of more than 10 newly launched sellers from zero to an average $20,000 each, and negotiating ecommerce partnerships that reduced initial launch costs by 20 per cent.
Padavala’s earlier career was forged in the field rather than the dashboard. At Coffee Day Group, he spent close to five years across multiple sales leadership roles. As sales manager in the Greater Delhi Area from July 2019 to January 2021, he led vending-machine and consumables sales for small and medium enterprises with a team of more than 15 assistant and territory sales managers, managed over 2,000 clients, drove upselling and cross-selling, maintained channel partnerships and ensured timely collections. Prior to that, he served as area sales manager in Delhi between May 2018 and June 2019, handling south and east Delhi markets, and earlier in Hyderabad from April 2016 to May 2018, where he led Andhra Pradesh sales for the vending division, supervised service and logistics functions and managed a base of more than 600 machines with a four-member team.
His professional arc began with internships that combined analytics and process improvement. At Boehringer Ingelheim in 2015, Padavala analysed the impact of brand extension on the drug Pradaxa, identified key performance indicators through market research and assessed sales forecasts, recommendations that drew positive responses in pilot studies. Earlier, at Genpact in 2014, he automated manual sales-order backlog reporting using VBA and Excel, increasing efficiency by 800 per cent, and worked on benchmarking metrics within supply-chain planning processes.
From automating spreadsheets to scaling cross-border ecommerce and now steering quick-commerce categories, Padavala’s trajectory tracks the evolution of India’s retail economy itself. Blinkit’s bet is clear: blend data, discipline and delivery speed. The promotion formalises what his career already suggests. In the race for instant commerce, experience that moves from warehouse floors to global dashboards is no longer optional. It is the engine.
e-commerce
Bharatpe plays a super over as Rohit Sharma fronts T20 push
MUMBAI: When the stakes rise and seconds matter, even payments need a match-winning finish. That’s the cue for Bharatpe, which has rolled out Super Over, a nationwide campaign led by Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma, timed neatly ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The campaign draws a straight line between the pulse of cricket and the pace of everyday digital payments. A new brand film taps into India’s emotional bond with the game, while positioning UPI as the quiet hero that keeps daily transactions ticking along at match speed.
As part of Super Over, users making payments via Bharatpe UPI can bag daily rewards ranging from match tickets and signed merchandise to a chance to watch a T20 World Cup fixture alongside Rohit Sharma himself. Both consumers and merchants are also assured Zillion Coins on every eligible transaction, adding a little extra sparkle to routine payments.
Behind the scenes, Bharatpe is also batting for safety. The platform is backed by Bharatpe Shield, a fraud-protection layer designed to offer enhanced security, comprehensive coverage and dedicated support aimed at helping users transact with greater confidence as digital payments scale up.
Announcing the campaign, Bharatpe head of marketing Shilpi Kapoor said Super Over mirrors the aspirations of everyday Indians, combining speed, security and instant rewards to make UPI transactions feel both reliable and rewarding.
The campaign will play out across digital platforms, social media and on-ground activations nationwide, staying live through the T20 World Cup season proof that in cricket, as in payments, timing is everything.
-
iWorld4 days agoNetflix celebrates a decade in India with Shah Rukh Khan-narrated tribute film
-
I&B Ministry3 months agoIndia steps up fight against digital piracy
-
iWorld3 months agoTips Music turns up the heat with Tamil party anthem Mayangiren
-
iWorld12 months agoBSNL rings in a revival with Rs 4,969 crore revenue
-
MAM3 months agoHoABL soars high with dazzling Nagpur sebut
-
News Broadcasting2 months agoCNN-News18 dominates Bihar election coverage with record viewership
-
News Broadcasting11 hours agoMukesh Ambani, Larry Fink come together for CNBC-TV18 exclusive
-
MAM3 months agoKapil Sethi joins Network18 as head of technology
