MUMBAI: When the applause gets louder than the dialogue, you know the fans have taken over. That was the unmistakable mood as Zee formally announced the Zee Cine Awards 2026, flipping the script to celebrate not just cinema’s stars, but the people who cheer them on the loudest.

The 24th edition of the awards marks a fresh chapter in Zee’s long-standing relationship with Hindi cinema, anchored in its fan-first philosophy, Fantertainment. This year’s theme, ‘Yeh Pal Hai Fans Ka’, reinforces a simple idea: cinema’s most powerful moments are shaped as much by audiences as by actors on screen. Presented by Maruti Suzuki, the awards aim to turn fandom into the main event.

The announcement, held in Mumbai, was anything but a routine press conference. Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar, Tamannaah Bhatia, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonam Bajwa, Aparshakti Khurana, composer Mithoon and singer Palak Muchhal joined fans to kick off the celebrations, turning the launch into a high-voltage, participative spectacle.

Staying true to the theme, fans didn’t just watch the announcement, they drove it. Akshay Kumar took the lead, pulling fellow stars on stage and energising the room, before the unveiling of a live LED Fan Meter. Powered purely by audience cheers, the rising meter culminated in the reveal of the Zee Cine Awards 2026 ground event date, announced in unison with fans, blurring the line between performer and spectator.

The momentum continued as Tamannaah Bhatia, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonam Bajwa and Aparshakti Khurana recreated iconic hook steps, joined by Mithoon and Palak Muchhal for music-led interactions. Games, spontaneous performances and playful banter kept the focus firmly on shared moments, underscoring the evolving bond between cinema and its audience.

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Beyond the launch, the awards will roll out as a multi-platform journey across television, digital, print and fan-led experiences. The aim is sustained engagement from the first announcement to awards night cementing fandom as a cultural force rather than a footnote.

Commenting on the milestone edition Zee head of advertisement revenue, broadcast & digital Laxmi Shetty said the 24th Zee Cine Awards continue to draw strength from the network’s omni-channel ecosystem, reflecting how audiences consume content today across TV, digital and social platforms. She noted that long-standing brand associations, including Maruti Suzuki’s three-year partnership and support from brands such as Hell Energy, underline the platform’s scale, trust and cultural relevance.

As Zee Cine Awards 2026 gathers pace, one thing is clear: this year, the loudest cheers won’t just echo in the auditorium, they’ll shape the show itself.

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MUMBAI: Jacques Barreau has spent two decades helping Hollywood speak the world’s languages. From The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter, the dubbing specialist at TransPerfect Media has built a career on making stories travel seamlessly across borders. Yet nothing in his global playbook quite prepared him for Mumbai’s streets.

On his first trip to India, Barreau is not sightseeing but sprinting between workshops and conferences, evangelising the craft of localisation. “I’m not enjoying it at all; I’m just working,” he says cheerfully. “Work, work, work. But I’m very happy and excited to share my knowledge. I just have to come back to discover more of India.” For now, India remains largely unseen beyond studios and seminar rooms.

The culture shock, however, has arrived in full force, on the roads.

“What surprises me is how people don’t get killed every day while riding their motorcycles in the traffic,” he says, still sounding incredulous. He has seen congestion in Vietnam, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Mumbai, he insists, is another league. “Everybody is crossing in all directions. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

Food, at least, poses no such puzzle. Barreau approaches Indian cuisine the way he approaches dubbing: as variation on a universal theme. “Indian food is just a local variation of world cuisines,” he shrugs. “It’s all the same with different variations. Overall, it’s all good.”

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That instinct for finding common structure beneath surface difference runs through his philosophy of sound and storytelling. As a classically trained musician and jazz player, Barreau leans on ideas from The Golden Number, a book on proportion he studied at the conservatory. The same ratios, he argues, shape concertos, paintings and even a snail’s shell. Art, at its core, follows patterns.

“Proportions are very important. They’re very similar across different art forms all over the world,” he says. A concerto has an introduction, development and conclusion; so does a well-built story. The principle travels.

Voice acting, in his view, is no different from music. The task is to grasp the creator’s intent, then reinterpret it without betrayal. “I understand how a character works, then I adapt it to my language, to my culture,” he explains. Indians, Chinese and Italians do the same for their audiences. Local flavour, global skeleton.

Barreau’s mission in India is to pass on that thinking to a new generation of voice talent. The Taj Mahal remains on his wish list, deferred to a future trip. For now, the classroom calls louder than the tourist trail.

He may help films cross borders for a living, but Mumbai has reminded him that some crossings, especially at rush hour, demand more courage than craft.

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MUMBAI: When the music keeps playing but fewer listeners stay on the dancefloor, it’s hard not to notice. Sony Group Corporation’s latest financial disclosures point to a sharp slowdown in paid subscriber momentum across its platform businesses, tempering an otherwise steady revenue performance.

At Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), operating income fell 11 per cent year on year to Rs 1,635 crore, down from Rs 1,850 crore a year earlier. Quarterly sales declined 12 per cent to Rs 19,050 crore, compared with Rs 21,740 crore in the same period last year, reflecting softer performance across films and television.

The pressure was most visible in motion pictures. Revenue from theatrical, home entertainment and streaming slid 7 per cent to Rs 6,575 crore, down sharply from Rs 9,200 crore a year earlier. While Sony released five theatrical titles during the quarter, the comparison was weighed down by the absence of a breakout hit like Venom: The Last Dance, which alone generated roughly Rs 3,970 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Television production revenues also weakened. The TV unit posted sales of Rs 5,960 crore, a 10 per cent decline from Rs 6,620 crore a year ago, despite a steady pipeline of scripted shows and long-running broadcast staples such as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. The numbers underline a broader challenge facing global studios: strong content output does not automatically translate into subscriber growth or retention.

The media networks business offered some relief, with revenue rising 10 per cent year on year to Rs 6,430 crore. Sony ended calendar 2025 with 535.2 million subscribers across its television channels, but the latest quarter signalled slower paid subscriber momentum across platforms, as audiences increasingly reassess subscription value amid rising costs and abundant choice.

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The same theme echoed in Game & Network Services. Operating income rose 19 per cent to Rs 11,080 crore, helped by higher software sales and currency benefits. However, segment revenue dipped 4 per cent, and PlayStation 5 hardware sales fell to 8 million units, down from 9.5 million units a year earlier, a notable drop in what is typically the strongest quarter for console sales. While PlayStation Network monthly active users climbed to 132 million, up from 129 million, engagement growth has yet to fully offset softer paid conversion and hardware momentum.

In contrast, Sony’s music division struck a stronger chord. Quarterly sales climbed 13 per cent to Rs 42,320 crore, while operating income rose 9 per cent to Rs 8,300 crore, driven by robust streaming and catalogue performance across global artists. Music once again emerged as the group’s most resilient entertainment pillar.

Yet beneath the topline, Sony acknowledged a material drop in paid subscribers across parts of its networked and digital entertainment platforms, reflecting tougher consumer choices and intensifying competition.

The impact was most visible in Sony’s Game & Network Services and Pictures segments, where growth in digital services revenue was partly offset by slower subscriber additions and higher churn. While digital software and network services revenue still grew, hardware sales declined and platform engagement softened, signalling pressure on recurring subscription income

Sony’s filings show that although network services revenue rose during the period, the pace lagged earlier quarters, underlining the challenge of retaining paid users in a market increasingly crowded by global streaming, gaming and short-form content alternatives. In the Pictures business, direct-to-consumer revenues were weighed down by weaker subscriber traction, even as traditional media networks delivered modest gains.

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The broader backdrop is changing consumer behaviour. With price hikes, subscription fatigue and a flood of competing platforms, users are becoming more selective about what they pay for and what they drop. Sony’s results suggest it is not immune to this shift, even as it continues to invest in content, technology and platform upgrades.

That said, Sony’s diversified portfolio offered a cushion. The Music segment posted solid growth, supported by streaming and publishing revenues, while Imaging & Sensing Solutions delivered one of the strongest performances of the year, helped by demand from smartphone and automotive customers

For now, the message is clear, Sony’s engines are still running, but the subscription gears need tightening. In an era where loyalty is rented month-to-month, even the biggest platforms are learning that keeping users paying can be harder than getting them to sign up in the first place.