ITV

Tag: IPL

  • IPL’s surging IPL valuation slides back as gambling ban and media merger collide

    IPL’s surging IPL valuation slides back as gambling ban and media merger collide

    MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League, the commercial behemoth that has redefined cricket economics, is experiencing something unprecedented: contraction. After years of relentless upward momentum, the IPL’s valuation has plummeted to Rs 76,100 crore in 2025—a staggering Rs 16,400 crore collapse over two years. The league that once seemed destined to become sport’s most valuable franchise now faces an altogether different reality: the era of exponential growth has ended.

    Two seismic forces have conspired to puncture cricket’s golden goose. First, India’s crackdown on real-money gaming has eviscerated the advertising market, stripping an estimated Rs 1,500–2,000 crore from annual sponsorship revenues. Second, the 2024 merger of Disney Star and Viacom18 into JioStar eliminated the competitive media rights bidding war that had inflated valuations for over a decade. Together, these shocks have shattered the financial architecture upon which the IPL’s boom was built.

    Fantasy and gaming platforms were the IPL’s most profligate sponsors, lavishing Rs 1,500–2,000 crore annually across league, franchise, and broadcaster deals. Dream11’s Rs 358 crore national jersey sponsorship exemplified this era: premium pricing underpinned by what amounted to speculative betting cash. Then the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act descended like a guillotine. The gaming sponsors evaporated overnight, leaving franchises scrambling to replace lost revenue with comparatively cheaper deals from fast-moving consumer goods, banking, and electric vehicle makers.

    The vacuum revealed an uncomfortable truth: gaming sponsorship wasn’t additional revenue flowing into cricket’s ecosystem. It was unsustainable froth, inflating numbers on spreadsheets rather than building durable commercial value. When it disappeared, so did the illusion of inexhaustible growth.

    For years, competing broadcasters—Star Sports, Sony, Amazon, others—bid ferociously for IPL rights, each convinced that exclusive access to India’s cricket audience justified premium prices. In 2023, with two strong bidders and whispers of global tech giants entering the fray, valuations soared to Rs 92,500 crore. But the promised tech invasion never materialised. Netflix, Amazon, and Apple pivoted away from sports streaming. Disney and Viacom18 merged, eliminating one bidder entirely. The competitive tension that had driven rights auctions simply evaporated.

    D&P Advisory managing partner Santosh N summarised the revised reality: media rights will no longer deliver the 40–50 per cent appreciation once confidently projected. The IPL’s “fundamentals remain strong,” he insisted, but “the pricing environment will remain under pressure.” Translation: viewers will watch, advertising inventory will sell, but sponsors will pay less.

    The Women’s Premier League, still in its formative years, has already buckled. Its ecosystem value fell 5.6 per cent to Rs 1,275 crore in a single year. Unlike the IPL’s entrenched commercial machinery, the WPL lacks pricing resilience. Dream11’s sponsorship withdrawal and the gaming ban have left the BCCI scrambling to secure title sponsors before the next season—a predicament that would have been unthinkable two years ago.

    Amidst the financial carnage, audience enthusiasm remains robust. The 2025 IPL season crossed a billion cumulative viewers, with digital viewership surpassing television for the first time. JioStar recorded 1.19 billion unique viewers and 514 billion minutes watched. Stadium attendance remained strong; travel searches spiked across Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Lucknow during matches. In short, Indians remain obsessed with cricket. They’re simply less willing—or able—to pay premium prices for the privilege.

    The road forward demands what the boom years never required: structural innovation. Subscription bundles, regional packages, commerce integrations, and renewed competitive tension from global streaming platforms must replace the twin engines of gaming sponsorship and auction-driven bidding wars. 

    If they don’t materialise, the IPL faces not terminal decline but permanent diminishment: a mature, cash-generative business rather than the exponential growth machine it once promised to be. For a league built on the premise that tomorrow would always dwarf today, that’s a bitter recalibration indeed.
     

  • Building Digital Communities Through Sincerity: The NoDee Unfiltered Journey

    Building Digital Communities Through Sincerity: The NoDee Unfiltered Journey

    MUMBAI: From Nomaan Unfiltered to NoDee Unfiltered, this unique YouTube channel has stepped up its game by offering viewers unbiased, unfiltered content that leaves an impression.

    With their sincere yet offbeat approach to content, No Dee Unfiltered aims to build a community of like-minded people who are looking for honest reviews and opinions.

    From Nomaan Unfiltered to NoDee Unfiltered: Why the Change

    Nomaan Unfiltered was geared toward delivering content that is bias-free, candid, and direct. NoDee Unfiltered, i.e., a different name but the same channel, took this approach and gave it a revamp.

    But this is not just a revamp or a rebranding. Instead, it is a call for all who enjoy a no-holds-barred commentary to be a part of their journey.

    Today, the Channel, which started its journey by making press conference-based parodies for cricket to highlight the gaps between players and fans, has expanded to a broad range of topics, like movie reviews and opinions on all topics that revolve around daily life.

    Mapping the Market: NoDee Unfiltered’s Target Audience

    Trying to learn what the YouTube audience prize, NoDee Unfiltered found a gaping hole – a lack of channels that are honest in their opinion and content. With a huge amount of subscription-driven and sponsored content, people come across biased content more times than they care to admit or view.

    By expanding their content beyond cricket, NoDee Unfiltered is set to create a larger audience. These people will not just be those who love cricket and need some sharp insights, but people from all walks of life who want to know more.

    Whether it is cricket or a movie review, what a celebrity said to how something can impact you, NoDee Unfiltered offers raw commentary that speaks to the audience instead of the polished content that exists just for entertainment.

    The NoDee Unfiltered Journey: Leveraging the Market Through Experience

    NoDee Unfiltered built its primary listener base with cricket enthusiasts. They provided clear, crisp, and sharp insights on how a match is going to unfold, predicting play-by-plays, and learning what is the true meaning hidden behind a celeb’s words.

    Where other influencers and channels delivered mainstream content, they have set themselves apart with their knowledge, creativity, honesty, and out of the box topics. This approach has helped them create a loyal following that values their input and loves the real-time community experience they are trying to build.

    Today, NoDee Unfiltered has expanded its scope. They are no longer just about cricket commentary and insights. Sure, they still do that, but they are also creatives who challenge the norm, questioning trends, narratives, and creators and calling out the half-truths of mainstream digital content.

    Making an Impact: Top Topics Delivered by NoDee Unfiltered

    NoDee Unfiltered is gearing up to both take the market by storm and build a community loyal to them. Most of their content revolves around cricket, spanning formats and leagues like IPL, WPL, Test Matches, ODIs, T20s, and more.

    A noteworthy and memorable event for NoDee Unfiltered was when they were able to predict a ball-by-ball of a WPL match with surprising accuracy.

    In recent times, NoDee Unfiltered has not shied away from any topic. To garner attention and a bigger audience, they have presented the following: 
    ●    Honest and Witty Teaser Reactions for Upcoming Movies. 
    ●    Movie reviews for both popular and underrated productions. 
    ●    Live Streams of the Cricket matches. 
    ●    Live Streams of WWE matches. 
    ●    Watchalongs for live matches. 
    ●    Inputs on Popular Series and Game Shows. 
    ●    Shorts on social issues with honest opinions. 
    ●    Unfiltered opinions on what’s happening.

    This is a clear show of how they are expanding beyond their usual domain, i.e., cricket and live streams. Further, NoDee Unfiltered presents only true, honest opinions, offering not just entertainment value but unbiased opinions with courage and clarity.

    The Long-Term Plan: A Connected, Loyal Audience

    The two prongs of NoDee Unfiltered, Nomaan and Desai Bhai, are committed to creating honest content that resonates with people. By striking a balance between comedy and honest, unfiltered opinion, the NoDee Unfiltered team approaches every topic and content with raw bravery that is a breath of fresh air.

    They care less for sponsorships and more about presenting the truth to their audience, which is where they deviate from the usual mainstream content creators. Instead of making biased content, which can generate revenue and new sponsorships, they prefer making content that their audience can relate to.

    And what’s more, they experiment with formats to learn what viewers love and want to see more. This confidence and flexibility are rapidly making them the top choice among their viewers.

    The NoDee Unfiltered Promise

    Honest, unbiased commentary with zero hidden promotions and half-truths is what NoDee Unfiltered revolves around. They experiment with different formats to learn what people like best and relate to most. Their fearless approach and sharp insights are why people value their opinion.

    With a commitment to creating not just a channel but a movement, NoDee Unfiltered makes people laugh but also think. Just like the creators, NoDee Unfiltered goes beyond simple, empty entertainment, creating a unique channel that is ready to tackle every topic.

    Thus, it is not just a channel ready to experiment, but one prepared to stay unfiltered in the interests of its audience. 
     

  • Nilay S exits Upstox after five-year marketing stint

    Nilay S exits Upstox after five-year marketing stint

    MUMBAI: Nilay S has wrapped up his near five-year run at online brokerage Upstox, where he rose to director of marketing.

    Joining in 2020, Nilay helped shape the firm’s brand and product marketing strategy, spearheaded marquee campaigns across the IPL and World Cup, and built initiatives such as UpLearn and UpNews. He led a 25-strong team, directly managing seven functional leaders, and drove growth across SEO, ASO and newer platforms.

    Earlier, Nilay spent nearly two years at Bytedance in senior marketing roles, handling go-to-market strategy for TikTok India. His résumé also spans stints at WPP’s Maxus Global, Accenture and TBWA.

    A graduate of Gujarat University with a later product management programme at Duke, Nilay signalled that he is “excited about what lies ahead” as he moves on from Upstox.

  • Sun TV makes UK cricket power play with £100.5m Superchargers buy

    Sun TV makes UK cricket power play with £100.5m Superchargers buy

    LONDON: Sun TV Network has struck a six to the boundary with a bold £100.5 million acquisition of Northern Superchargers, a prominent franchise in the UK’s The Hundred cricket league. The all-cash deal, approved by Sun TV’s board on 18 July, makes the broadcaster the sole owner of the Leeds-based team and further cements its global sporting ambitions.

    The move sees Sun TV add a third franchise to its growing sports roster, which already includes Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa’s SA20. With cricket’s commercial appeal soaring across continents, the company is betting big on the format’s future in the UK.

    Northern Superchargers, incorporated in 2019 and based in London, clocked a turnover of £1.89 million in FY24 and will become a wholly owned subsidiary once the transaction is completed, expected by the end of 2025. The acquisition is routed through India’s automatic route for overseas investment, with the final remittance pegged to prevailing exchange rates.

    Sun TV said the deal aligns with its strategy of tapping global cricket leagues with strong broadcast and sponsorship potential. “The Hundred has shown strong traction with younger audiences and we see significant upside in long-term value creation,” said the broadcaster in its filing.

    This acquisition marks a rare Indian media foray into English cricket—an arena traditionally dominated by homegrown stakeholders and legacy institutions. With this move, Sun TV is not just buying into a team, but into a format and fanbase with serious commercial legs.

    The game, it seems, is well and truly on.

  • Q1 FY26: JioStar smashes profit records as IPL juggernaut drives Rs 11,222 crore revenue surge

    Q1 FY26: JioStar smashes profit records as IPL juggernaut drives Rs 11,222 crore revenue surge

    MUMBAI: JioStar has delivered a blockbuster first quarter, posting record revenues of Rs 11,222 crore and profits that soared 154 per cent to Rs 581 crore, powered by what the company calls the “biggest ever IPL in terms of viewership and monetisation.”

    The media behemoth’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation jumped to Rs 1,017 crore from Rs 774 crore in the previous period, whilst EBITDA margins expanded to 10.6 per cent from 8.1 per cent.
    The stellar performance was underpinned by IPL 2025, which shattered viewing records with 1.19 billion viewers across television and the JioHotstar platform. The tournament’s final match became the biggest T20 match ever on digital, reaching 237 million viewers with a peak concurrency of 55.2 million—obliterating the previous IPL record of 35.9 million.

    JioHotstar’s dominance was on full display during the quarter, with the app hitting 1.04 billion downloads on Android and averaging 460 million monthly active users. The platform reached 652 million viewers during IPL—a staggering 28 per cent year-on-year growth—whilst television delivered 514 billion minutes of watch-time.
    Beyond cricket, JioStar consolidated its entertainment stranglehold with a commanding 35.5 per cent share of TV entertainment viewership. Star Plus retained its Hindi general entertainment channel leadership with six of the top 10 shows, whilst regional powerhouses Star Pravah, Star Jalsha, Star Maa and Asianet maintained their number one positions in respective markets.

    The quarter also saw strategic moves in the free-to-air space, with Star Utsav and Colors Rishtey relaunching on DD Free Dish. Star Utsav became the number one channel from day one, reshaping the FTA Hindi GEC landscape.

    JioHotstar’s content strategy bore fruit beyond sports, posting its highest-ever monthly entertainment watch-time in June 2025. The latest season of Criminal Justice scored the strongest opening for any OTT original in 2025, according to Ormax Media, whilst Kesari 2 emerged as the year’s biggest movie across all languages on the platform.

    International content remained a key differentiator, with Captain America: Brave New World debuting as the quarter’s second most-watched film and Mufasa: The Lion King becoming the most-watched international movie ever on JioHotstar.

    The company’s subscriber base swelled to 287 million during IPL on JioHotstar, whilst reaching over 800 million people on television during the quarter—cementing its position as India’s undisputed entertainment colossus.

  • RCB crowned kings as IPL brand value hits $18.5bn in record-breaking 2025 season

    RCB crowned kings as IPL brand value hits $18.5bn in record-breaking 2025 season

    MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) juggernaut stormed into 2025 with record-breaking viewership, blockbuster auctions, and soaring brand valuations—cementing its status as one of the world’s most valuable sporting properties.

    According to Houlihan Lokey’s latest IPL Valuation Study, the business value of the league has surged to a staggering $18.5 billion—up 12.9 per cent year on year: in rupee terms that tots up to Rs 156,568 crore -a 16.1 per cent growth. Its brand value alone clocked in at $3.9 billion, a 13.8 per cent jump while in rupee terms it grew 16.1 per cent again to Rs 32,721 crore.  The numbers reflect not only the league’s financial firepower but also its bulletproof commercial appeal amid global uncertainty.

    Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally shed their “chokers” tag after 17 seasons to lift their maiden IPL trophy, catapulting them to the No. 1 brand spot with a valuation of $269 million. Virat Kohli’s on-field heroics and Rajat Patidar’s captaincy delivered a fairytale finish that sent digital viewership through the roof—JioHotstar recorded a peak of 678 million views during the final, eclipsing even the India–Pakistan ICC clash earlier this year.

    Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retained their spots in the top three, with brand values of $242 million and $235 million, respectively. While MI impressed with eight wins and Hardik Pandya’s smooth takeover as captain, CSK’s season was defined by MS Dhoni’s calm return to the helm amid injuries and a rebuilding phase.

    The 2025 season also saw record media rights revenues, a $300 million extension of Tata Group’s title sponsorship till 2028, and mega-bucks player signings—Rishabh Pant fetched a record $3.19 million at the auction.  The franchises spent a record 76 million (Rs 639.15 crore) on player acquisition. The BCCI sold four associate sponsor slots for Rs 1,485 crore, up 25 per cent from the previous cycle, while advertising revenues soared to an estimated $600 million—up 50 per cent YoY. The franchises spent a record 76 million (Rs 639.15 crore) on player acquisition. 

    Franchisees continued to ride high on asset-light models and predictable revenue streams. Top teams clocked Rs 6,500–7,000 million in annual revenue with over 80 per cent visibility secured pre-season, aided by front-loaded sponsorships and tight salary caps. The league’s capital-light structure and OTT-driven audience growth make it a poster child for high-yield sports investments.

    Meanwhile, Punjab Kings emerged as the fastest-growing brand in 2025, leaping to $141 million in value. With Shreyas Iyer as captain, and bold marketing campaigns like “Sarpanch Sahab” driving regional fandom, the franchise not only made it to the finals but also dominated digital chatter.

    As cricket’s footprint grows beyond its traditional bastions—with the ICC Champions Trophy breaking global viewership records and the US hosting marquee events—the IPL remains the sport’s commercial and cultural vanguard. It’s no longer just a league; it’s a billion-dollar blueprint for the future of cricket.

  • “We have invested more than $500 million dollars in sport over the past 15 years, and this is apart from rights acquisition costs” – Sanjog Gupta

    “We have invested more than $500 million dollars in sport over the past 15 years, and this is apart from rights acquisition costs” – Sanjog Gupta

    Sanjog Gupta, the man steering live experiences and the sports juggernaut at JioStar, finds himself squarely in the spotlight. Fresh off helming the eighteenth edition of the IPL — a relentless, high-octane ride that shattered records in viewership, fan engagement, and tech wizardry — Gupta is already plotting the next innings.
    In a crackling fireside chat with MPA’s Vivek Couto at APOS in Bali this morning, the sharp-suited sports boss laid out JioStar’s grand vision: why giving away the IPL for free wasn’t madness but method, how technology is rewriting the fan playbook, and why the network isn’t just broadcasting sport — it’s reinventing it.

    Here’s the man behind the masterstroke, unfiltered and in full flow.

    On IPL 2025’s impact on Indian sports
    India’s growing influence in sport is nothing but a reflection of India’s growing significance on the global stage, driven by a strong consumption-oriented economy. This IPL, not only have we reached a billion viewers across platforms, we have also managed to make this IPL the most monetised edition of the event and also the most monetised sporting event ever in India across advertising and subscription revenue.

     On what Star and JioStar have invested in sport
    Over the last decade and a half, Star and now JioStar has actually been the biggest private investor in Indian sport and in Indian media and entertainment. Largely with the mission to build what we believe can be a media and entertainment economy, but more than that, a media consumption economy, which is much larger in scale to anything that could have been imagined. While numbers around acquisition prices for sports rights tend to be thrown around a lot, what at times gets missed is the sheer investment that a network such as ours has made to grow those properties by way of marketing, by way of production, by way of investment in technology and that over the last decade and a half exceeds 500 million dollars. That is outside of what we paid for the acquisition of rights.
     
    On sport fuelling the wider JioStar network
    We believe sports serves as a recruitment funnel to bring in viewers and fans at scale, who then can be taken on a journey on a platform which could entail a live event, a Hindi entertainment show, or it could entail one of our new originals which is marketed on the back of a big sporting event and a recent example of that is the returning season of Criminal Justice which benefited significantly by launching in the last week of IPL.”

    On the freemium IPL strategy and changing viewer habits
    Our mission wasn’t to incrementally change the landscape, it was to completely shift the way consumers perceive paying for content and also over a period of time, attribute value to the entertainment needs they have. The subscribers are on the platform and not just on IPL and it started with an interesting hybrid subscription strategy, which allowed everyone to come onto the platform free. So it’s not pay at the gate, we’re not trying to keep people out and having them pay before they can consume. The model is based on real life example of how you shop, which is you go into a mall or a store, you sample enough and more of what you may want to look at and then choose to pay for deeper engagement, which in that case is purchase of an item.

    On whether cricket will remain the network’s sole focus
    We don’t want to be a single content or be known for a single content genre and that applies to sport as well. We have looked to grow English Premier League significantly over the last five years. In fact, over the last five years the viewership for English Premier League across our platforms has grown almost three and a half X (3.5x). Largely on the back of localisation efforts where we’ve taken Premier League deeper into the Indian sports ecosystem than ever before by producing it in languages meant for regions which have affinity for football. At the other end of the spectrum, you have a sport like kabaddi which is a sport that goes back thousands of years and is a part of India’s history but also it’s a part of India’s recreation where kids grow up playing it as a game. We’ve professionalized it and continue to invest in it to build it as India’s second most favorite sport. It already is the second biggest league in the country but but our objective with it is for the sport itself to grow and become a year-long proposition instead of being a two to three-month league.

    On building hyper-personalised sports journeys
    Our premise around sport is don’t look to serve many fans as one but look to serve almost each fan as many and what that means is every fan at different points of time and on different devices and in different modes of consumption will consume your content differently. So can you create infinite hyper-personalized journeys for each and every fan instead of serving one streaming experience to all and that’s the core tenet of the platform.”

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  • APOS 2025: MPA and JioStar release report on how IPL scored new records

    APOS 2025: MPA and JioStar release report on how IPL scored new records

    BALI: At the APOS summit in Bali, JioStar dropped its much-anticipated report titled TATA IPL 2025: A Year of Firsts—and it reads like a victory lap for both the broadcaster and the billion-plus fans who tuned in. Produced in partnership with Media Partners Asia (MPA), the report reveals how IPL 2025 turned into a fan-first, tech-powered juggernaut that smashed records, redefined storytelling, and blurred the lines between sport, spectacle, and screen.

    JioStar’s digital reach alone crossed 652 million, while Star Sports pulled in 537 million viewers, pushing total reach to a record-shattering 1.19 billion. Women accounted for 47 per cent of TV audiences—marking a seismic shift in cricket’s traditional demographic. The IPL final alone drew 426 million fans, with JioHotstar peaking at 55.2 million concurrent users and soaring to 300 million subscribers.

    “TATA IPL 2025 was a season where the lines between sport, storytelling, and shared experiences truly blurred. It wasn’t just about broadcasting matches – it was where creativity, culture and commerce converged, with fan connections at the heart of it all,” said JioStar chief executive of sports and live experiences Sanjog Gupta. “ At JioStar, we set out to make every screen feel personal, every interaction meaningful, and every moment unforgettable. From deep consumer journeys to a rich spectrum of viewing experiences, this was a celebration of fandom in all its forms. The real success of the IPL isn’t measured in numbers, but in the moments that moved millions.”

    JioStar delivered 840 billion minutes of cricket watch-time, riding on innovations like MaxView 3.0 (a TikTok-style vertical experience), 360° VR streaming, and voice-assisted search on connected TVs. Over 44 per cent of mobile viewers played along live with the ‘Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan’ game, while AI-powered highlights and live expert commentary translations made the sport more accessible than ever.

    Regional viewership surged with Telugu up 87 per cent, Tamil up 52 per cent, and Kannada up 65 per cent—showing that cricket’s heart beats strong beyond the metros. Accessibility also hit new highs with Indian Sign Language interpretation and audio descriptive commentary for the visually impaired.

    Advertisers swarmed the platform, with over 425 brands onboard—including 270 first-timers across 40 categories. Nielsen-measured ROI, play-along games, and AI-personalised ads helped deliver what marketers crave: measurable impact at scale.

    JioStar’s IPL 2025 wasn’t just a tournament—it was a case study in what the future of sports broadcasting could look like: immersive, inclusive, interactive, and insanely watchable.

  • Mars hits it out of the park with its first-ever premier league of beauty

    Mars hits it out of the park with its first-ever premier league of beauty

    MUMBAI: Mars Cosmetics, just bowled over the internet with the Mars Premier League (MPL) — a vibrant collision of cricket frenzy and cosmetic flair. Channeling the pulse of IPL season, MPL wasn’t just a beauty contest — it was a high-stakes face-off blending bat, blush and bold looks in equal measure.

    Staying true to its mantra of ‘Makeup for Everyone’, Mars handed over its City Paradise Eyeshadow Palettes to makeup mavens across India, challenging them to capture the spirit of eight IPL cities in jaw-dropping beauty looks. Think stadium roar meets spotlight shimmer.

    Mars Cosmetics director and business administrator, Rishabh Sethia said, “We’re always looking at opportunities to pair beauty with moments in culture that truly resonate with our fans. The IPL is a sporting event, of course, but it’s also a celebration of passion, community, and high-level energy. We brought that same energy into the world of makeup with the Mars Premier League. It was not competition; it was a moment for creativity, for self-expression, and for everything glamorous.”

    Conducted in four electrifying rounds — the first three online and open to all — the MPL ignited an avalanche of fan votes, reels, and cosmetic creativity. The grand finale saw India’s top beauty creators converge offline, judged by a panel that included Aditi Dubey, Vandana Sehgal, and MPL mentor Anupreet Bakshi.

    And it was Delhi’s own Anupreet who walked away with the Rs 1,00,000 cash prize, a red-carpet pass to the Bollywood Hungama Style Icon Awards, and a coveted meet-and-greet with actor Varun Dhawan — all while stealing hearts (and likes) with her fierce, city-inspired artistry.

    The finale was a content creator’s dreamscape, featuring interactive hubs like a DIY “Mirror, Mirror” booth and a buzzing nail art lounge — designed to spark influencer creativity and spread the MPL glam gospel across social media.

    While Mars remains tight-lipped about whether MPL will return next year, this debut season has already rewritten the rules of beauty marketing — where mascara meets match fever, and fandom finds its fiercest winged eyeliner.

  • Ghosted with benefits as Noyontara haunts prime time on Colors

    Ghosted with benefits as Noyontara haunts prime time on Colors

    MUMBAI: Just when your TV schedule was mourning the end of IPL madness, Colors is summoning the spirits with Noyontara, a supernatural thriller that slips between the living and the dead with all the finesse of a ghost through a locked door.

    Premiering 9 June at 8:30 PM and airing daily, Noyontara centres on a 23-year-old ghost-whisperer who marries into a family with more secrets than skeletons in the closet and that’s saying something. The titular Noyontara (played by Shruti Bhist) steps into the lavish yet ominous Pari Mahal as Dr Surjo’s new bride, only to discover that her real in-laws might be the ones lurking beyond the veil.

    With a cheeky ghost sidekick named Hasiram and two very much dead women claiming to be her mother-in-law (cue Narayani Shastri in a dual role that’s all shade and secrets), Noyontara must untangle love from manipulation, science from the supernatural, and figure out whether she’s being guided… or gaslit.

    “Noyontara isn’t your typical ghost story,” says Shruti Bhist. “She’s not afraid of the dead she speaks their language. What drew me in was the idea of a saviour, not a victim. And yes, the ghosts here are more guardian angel than ghoul.”

    For Narayani Shastri, it’s a dual debut her first collaboration with Colors and her first time playing two emotionally conflicting characters on the same canvas. “One thrives on power, the other on protection. And the viewer never quite knows which one’s which.”

    Also making his Hindi TV debut is Bengali heartthrob Arjun Chakrabarty as Surjo, a rational man grappling with very irrational hauntings. “It’s less about fearing the supernatural,” he explains, “and more about wrestling with buried grief and emotional truths we hide from ourselves.”

    With its blend of paranormal drama, human vulnerability, and a haveli that’s practically a character in itself, Noyontara promises to be the gothic escape viewers didn’t know they needed. Expect blurred lines, chilling twists, and a heroine who’s got one foot in this world and one firmly planted in the next.

    So, if your evenings have been missing drama post-IPL, prepare to get possessed. Noyontara is here to haunt your heart and your remote.