iWorld
Old is gold but new is bold as storytellers strike a nostalgia-novelty mix
MUMBAI: If nostalgia is the comfort food of entertainment, India’s storytellers are now serving it with a spicy drizzle of novelty and audiences are lapping it up. That was the clear message from the Vidnet Summit 2025 panel titled “Old is Gold, But the New is Bold – Let’s Unfold Big Ideas,” where creators argued that the future of storytelling lies not in choosing between the old and the new, but in mixing them with flair.
Moderated by Stutee Ghosh, film critic and RJ at Fever 104 FM, the session brought together Saugata Mukherjee (content head, SonyLiv), filmmaker Aditya Sarpotdar, legendary adman Prahlad Kakkar and actor Anya Singh. Between banter, brutal honesty and bursts of classic movie references, the panellists dissected what drives today’s audiences and what keeps creators awake at night.
Ghosh kicked things off with praise-laced humour, calling Mukherjee “Ad-Man, Mad-Man”, a nod to his legacy of memorable ad films and platform-defining originals like Scam, Rocket Boys and Hunt. Mukherjee took the cue to make a larger point, “Are you discovering something? Are you looking at something new? Are you entering a world you slightly know but don’t know enough? That’s what streaming must do.” For him, originality isn’t optional, it is the oxygen of OTT.
From SonyLIV’s perspective, he said, audiences gravitate to worlds that feel familiar but fresh. “You give them something unique, something new, something to discover,” he said, citing how Scam, Rocket Boys and Hunt each pulled viewers into new universes anchored in Indian realities.
Filmmaker Aditya Sarpotdar expanded the thought with a paradox creators everywhere grapple with: “I am living through a creative paradox nostalgia and novelty must coexist.” Audiences want emotions, traditions and worlds they recognise, he argued, but told in a way that feels modern, international and visually inventive.
“You have to take them to something they know, but show it to them in a way they’ve never seen.”
He pointed to the response to films like Chhava and Gadar Raj, where audiences flocked to theatres not just for spectacle but for the emotional familiarity wrapped in contemporary storytelling.
Kakkar, never one to mince words, delivered his trademark candour, “The story is the heart of any project. You don’t need big cameras. If the filmmaker is a good storyteller, it doesn’t matter who you cast, if the story doesn’t connect, nothing will work.”
For him, technology is merely the new paintbrush, cheap, accessible and more powerful than ever but utterly useless without soul. “You can make a film on your phone today. The magic lies in narration. Special effects work only when you don’t notice them.”
He repeated his now-iconic line, eliciting laughter across the hall:
“There is no attention deficit, only content deficit. Kids today switch off because they can.” If a story isn’t gripping, he said, algorithms and audiences will send it “straight into a black hole”.
Actor Anya Singh, fresh off the success of The Bads of Bollywood, described the unpredictable nature of audience reception. “You hope for success, but you never know. I knew the show would be watched; I didn’t know every character would be loved this much.” She credited showrunner Aryan for “catching the nerve of every character”, leading to scenes like the viral Imran Hashmi–Raghav Juyal moment travelling far beyond the series. Success, she said, only reinforces instinct: “I don’t know how to be calculative. I’m instinctive and passionate.”
Ghosh steered the discussion toward an unavoidable reality: algorithms now influence what people consume, often more than marketing does. As she put it: “We’re in a landscape where the algorithm decides our viewing diet.”
Mukherjee countered that authenticity still wins over any machine. Shows like Maharani, Undekhi and Tabbar, he noted, worked because SonyLIV stayed committed to a clear content philosophy. “We will take the bets others don’t. The audience is very smart. Authenticity breaks through.”
Sarpotdar argued that audiences today also intuitively recognise which story belongs on which medium. “Every story has its own life. Some are meant for intimate OTT viewing; some demand collective theatrical energy.” Trailers, posters and first looks, he said, now instantly tell audiences whether a film deserves a cinema ticket or a couch.
Kakkar, meanwhile, returned to his favourite equation: “Two plus two is not four. In filmmaking, two plus two is twenty-two.” Logic, he insisted, cannot guide creativity. Passion must glue creators, platforms and financiers together; otherwise projects fall apart. “Passion is illogical. And that’s why it works.”
As the session wrapped, the panel collectively agreed on one thing: India today is witnessing the most exciting phase of storytelling in decades. The audience is informed, exposed and utterly unwilling to tolerate mediocrity. They seek worlds that move them, stories that surprise them, and characters that feel both iconic and intimate.
And in this era of platforms, algorithms and limitless choice, the new rulebook is simple old is gold, new is bold, and the real magic lies in blending both with fearless imagination.
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.
-
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
-
I&B Ministry3 months agoIndia steps up fight against digital piracy
-
MAM3 months agoHoABL soars high with dazzling Nagpur sebut
-
News Headline4 weeks agoPreeti Sahni set to join TV9 Network in senior leadership role
-
iWorld2 weeks agoJio shifts gears as 5G, homes and AI deals drive quarter momentum
-
News Broadcasting5 days agoPalki Sharma leaves Firstpost: Reports
-
iWorld3 days agoNetflix celebrates a decade in India with Shah Rukh Khan-narrated tribute film
