iWorld
#ZEE5Rewind: 2023 in a flashback!
Mumbai: ZEE5, India and Bharat’s largest home-grown video streaming platform, and the OTT arm of ZEEL, releases #ZEE5Rewind 2023, highlighting a year filled with groundbreaking content across languages. With a paying subscriber in each leading city of the country, the platform experienced an extraordinary surge in streaming hours, across SVOD, AVOD and TVOD offerings. ZEE5’s biggest hits of the year, spanning heartwarming dramas, family entertainers, to adrenaline-pumping thrillers, is a testament to its commitment to build a platform that caters to every audience with entertainment of their choice.
Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, Marathi, Punjabi, and Kannada emerged as the top languages. The West and the South markets led the race for SVOD, closely followed by the East and the North. Titles across Direct-to-Digitals and originals which were undisputed chart-toppers were ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hain’, ‘Mrs. Undercover’, ‘Taj’ in Hindi, ‘Ayali’, ‘Sengalam’, ‘Oru Kodai Murder Mystery’ in Tamil, ‘Vyavastha’, ‘Puli Meka’, ‘Maya Bazaar For Sale’ in Telugu, and ‘Abar Proloy’, ‘Swetkali’, ‘Roktokorobi’ in Bangla. In an industry-first development, ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hain’ went for a theatrical release following its digital launch owing to massive audience support. It is now a part of IMDB’s coveted Top 250 titles list and a recipient of multiple awards.
Coming to post-theatricals, the movies which enjoyed significant audience favour were ‘Unchaai’, ‘Gadar 2’ in Hindi, ‘Vidhuthalai – Part I’, ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ in Tamil, ‘Writer Padmabhushan’, ‘Karthikeya 2’ in Telugu, ‘Vedha’ in Kannada, ‘Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne’, ‘Maurh’ in Punjabi, ‘Pranaya Vilasam’ in Malayalam, ‘Vaalvi’, ‘Ghar Banduk Biryani’ in Marathi, and ‘Projapoti’, ‘Shabash Feluda” in Bangla. ZEE5 also became a leading name in showcasing socially relevant stories and narratives featuring real-life personas. Titles like ‘Lost’, ‘Tarla’, ‘Ayali’, ‘Abar Proloy’, ‘Chhatriwali’, ‘Haddi’, ‘Koose Munisamy Veerappan’ and several others received positive audience reactions, further cementing ZEE5’s position as the country’s OTT platform of choice.
Top five streaming titles of 2023:

ZEE5’s AVOD content triumphed in 2023, captivating audiences and bolstering the platform’s commitment to providing accessible and engaging entertainment for all. West and South dominated here too, closely followed by the North and East markets. The ad-supported roster featured an extensive line-up of movies and web shows in Hindi and regional languages, along with Korean drama series dubbed in local languages. Exclusive films like ‘Country Mafia with Ravi Kishan, ‘Am I Next’ with Anushka Sen, Anshuman Jha’s ‘Lakadbaggha’, and Priyamani’s ‘Sarvam Shakti Mayam’ enjoyed strong audience reception, alongside rising popularity for devotional content, and cricket and e-sports streaming. The past year has also solidified ZEE5’s dedication to innovation, with a continued focus on pushing boundaries, making a meaningful impact, and delivering compelling content that resonates with audiences worldwide.
Establishing a stronger connect with the diverse audience base, ZEE5 introduced socially relevant and creative campaigns for content promotions in line with the vision of #ZEE5GameChangers. For instance, for the film ‘Tarla’, ZEE5 expressed appreciation for the dabbawalla community in Mumbai with a surprise lunch, accompanied by a meet and greet with actors Huma Qureshi and Sharib Hashmi. On the occasions of National Girl Child Day and International Education Day, ZEE5 organized screenings of ‘Ayali’ across Tamil Nadu, reinforcing its commitment to meaningful engagement. For the launch of ‘Duranga’ S2, ZEE5 organised a dialogue between the cast and the female police force at the New Delhi Headquarters. The discussion shed light on the challenges and triumphs of women in law enforcement, contributing to a broader societal dialogue. Additionally, leading up to the launch of ZEE5’s popular Bangla series, ‘Shabash Feluda,’ a vibrant two-day Feluda-themed event was organized in Kolkata. Drawing inspiration from the iconic characters in the novels, the Feluda Fair led to much fanfare and excitement among audiences in the city. Further to acknowledge the love from our viewers, a content wrap-up chart featuring individual consumption highlights is shared with top ZEE5 bingers at year-end.
Going forward, 2024 promises to be an exhilarating year for ZEE5 with multiple power-packed releases, like Guneet Monga’s highly anticipated ‘Gyarah Gyarah’, the Telugu spy-thriller series ‘Mission Tashafi’, and return of popular titles like ‘Sunflower S2’ and ‘Broken News S2’.
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.
-
News Broadcasting3 days agoMukesh Ambani, Larry Fink come together for CNBC-TV18 exclusive
-
iWorld6 days agoNetflix celebrates a decade in India with Shah Rukh Khan-narrated tribute film
-
iWorld12 months agoBSNL rings in a revival with Rs 4,969 crore revenue
-
I&B Ministry3 months agoIndia steps up fight against digital piracy
-
iWorld3 months agoTips Music turns up the heat with Tamil party anthem Mayangiren
-
MAM3 months agoHoABL soars high with dazzling Nagpur sebut
-
MAM3 days agoNielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement
-
News Broadcasting2 months agoCNN-News18 dominates Bihar election coverage with record viewership


