Tag: Suppandi

Karnataka sets sights on creative technology leadership following GAFX 2025

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has unveiled ambitious plans to position the state as a global creative technology hub, announcing upcoming Esports Summit and Game Developers Conference events following the conclusion of the highly successful Bengaluru GAFX 2025.

The three-day conference, held at The Lalit Ashok and organised by the Department of Electronics, IT & Biotechnology and the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI), attracted over 5,000 daily visitors and featured 100+ sessions with 200 speakers from ten countries.

“Karnataka is not just the IT, biotech, and skill capital of India—we are on our way to becoming the global creative capital,” declared information technology minister Priyank Kharge at the valedictory function. “With the right policies, incentives, and vision, we will transform India into a hub for creative technology.”

The minister outlined plans for significant investment in incubators, Centres of Excellence, and original intellectual property creation, inspired by the success of global entertainment giants like Disney and Marvel.

Karnataka’s AVGC-XR Finishing School has already trained over 842 students, while the state hosts 27 Digital Art Centres and represents 20 per cent of India’s Media & Entertainment market.

Several major announcements marked the event, including the animated debut of beloved comic character Suppandi, unveiled by actor Rana Daggubati. The character will stream on PowerKids TV, with Tinkle’s young female superhero WingStar also set for animation. The prestigious Uncle Pai Promising New Creator Award was launched, with Mahati Santhanakrishnan named inaugural recipient for her comic Hunting Monsters.

A significant partnership between Green Gold Animation (India) and TG Entertainment (UK) was announced to expand The Brilliant World of Tom Gates franchise across South Asia, focusing on licensing, merchandising, and animation production.

The conference proved particularly fruitful for business development, with the B2B Forum facilitating 395 letters of intent between companies. Fifteen top buyers engaged with 39 participating companies, with 40 intellectual properties showcased. The Investor Connect Program saw 29 investors from 22 companies meeting with 34 startups, offering crucial funding and mentorship opportunities.

The Skyesports Souvenir 2025 National Esports Championship featured four elite teams competing for a Rs 5 lakh prize pool, with Gods Reign crowned champions and Aakash “PH1NNN” Bose earning MVP honours. The competition showcased Counterstrike 2, confirmed as a title in the upcoming Olympic Esports Games 2026.

The AnimationXpress GEM Awards recognised industry excellence across gaming, esports, and metaverse categories. Notable winners included Bloom – A Puzzle Adventure (Best Casual Game), Indus Battle Royale (Best Mobile Game), and 1971: Indian Naval Front (Best Hardcore Game). SuperGaming claimed Game Studio of the Year, with Lucid Labs named Best Indie Studio.

Several strategic agreements were formalised, including an MoU between Uzbekistan and ABAI that will see delegations exchanged between the countries. The ABAI AVGC Centre of Excellence and Media & Entertainment Skills Council also partnered to advance skilling, incubation, and policy development.

A Digital Detox Center by the All India Gaming Federation was launched, while a special session on Bringing Moana 2 to Life offered behind-the-scenes insights into Disney’s advanced animation technologies, including Tonic for hair grooming and enhanced crowd simulation.

“There are tangible outcomes that will be an accelerator for India’s creative technology industries,” said Bengaluru GAFX chairman and ABAI president Biren Ghose. “GAFX 2025 has succeeded in highlighting the disruption that will enable studios, startups, and talent to make a lasting impact on the global stage.”

March 1, 2025
Jim Sarbh gets replaced by Chacha Chaudhary in Cred’s latest ad film

Mumbai: Cred has launched its latest ad. But, this time it does not feature any of its usual line-up of Bollywood superstars or Sports celebrities. In a departure from its tried and tested formula, the fintech brand has released an animated film with the disclaimer ‘Not an ad’, featuring Indian comic book characters loved by many – Chacha Chaudhary & Suppandi!

The animation, created by homegrown animation and comics studio Bakarmax, has voice-over by the inimitable Raghubir Yadav, who reprises his Chacha Chaudhary’s role from the 2002 TV series of the same name. Actor-comedian Suresh Menon lends his voice for Suppandi’s character, while Chacha’s trusted buddy cum strong man, Sabu is voiced by Shivansh Bajaj.

The film follows the familiar Cred ad storyline with Chacha Chaudhary reading out Jim Sarbh’s lines about the benefits of making credit card payments on the app. However, Chacha, who’s renowned for his exceptional wisdom and whose brain apparently “works faster than a computer”, storms off the set as he finds the claims in the script too incredulous to believe. It is then left to the ‘director’ Suppandi to bring the old-timer up-to-date with the times we live in- from the social networking addiction, electric vehicles and cryptocurrency to global warming and climate change- Suppandi’s character doles out all the modern gyan.

Finally, Chacha Chaudhary is seen mulling over all his new-found knowledge in solitude and experiencing a moment of FOMO (fear of missing out). But not for long. The film ends on an amusing note as the affable Chacha Chaudhary reaches out to his trusted confidante Sabu, as he’s overwhelmed by all the new-age wisdom and reels out an instruction to the giant, to find out how he can get an NFT made for his brain!

The ad-film is directed by Vivekananda Roy Ghatak and the writing is credited to Rachit Varma, Adhiraj Singh and Sumit Kumar.

Cred product and growth Trupthi Shetty says the brand aimed to bring something unique to its consumers. “Cred is reinventing nostalgia by bringing something new to old with familiar personalities to encourage financial independence and literacy. We are delighted to work with team Bakarmax who came up with this concept, where we could bring in beloved characters from the ’90s to send across the messaging to our members and consumers”, she added.

Sharing the experience of collaborating with Cred, Bakarmax founder Sumit Kumar said, “The process of building a concept that would bring back nostalgia with our favourite characters with a twist has been a great experience. Highlighting the advancements in the financial industry through a different lens was refreshing. I hope Cred members and consumers enjoy the latest animated film.”

December 1, 2021
Tata Sky launches interactive comedy service in partnership with Shemaroo Entertainment

MUMBAI: Tata Sky has added a new service to its diverse bouquet of content – Tata Sky Comedy. The DTH player has partnered with Shemaroo Entertainment as content partner, powered by Comedywalas. The tagline for this new service is ‘Haso Khulke’. Tata Sky had recently launched two interactive services – Actve Fitness in association with Suniel Shetty and Dance Studio in partnership with Madhuri Dixit Nene and Dr. Shriram Nene’s RnM Moving Pictures.

Tata Sky Comedy will initially be available to its subscribers primarily on TV and can also move to digital platforms in the future. The viewers can also see the popular comic strip Suppandi refreshed daily.

Launched today on 8 March 2016, Tata Sky’s latest addition aims to be a single destination for all formats of Hindi comedy content. The launch event also provided a glimpse of the service, as unfolded by stand-up comedians Sugandha Mishra and Sahil Khattar who are also a part of the service.

“We wanted a guide, an anchor with a youthful appeal who could carry the audience for this new service. Sugandha and Sahil are youth icons and are perfect to be a part of our service”, said Shemaroo Entertainment director Hiren Gada.

Priced at Rs 59, the standalone service aims at a non-stop clean entertainment for all age groups, across geographical and socioeconomic boundaries with a diverse range of formats exclusively for its subscribers.

Talking about the launch, Tata Sky chief commercial officer Pallavi Puri said, “With Tata Sky Comedy we aim to provide a fun way to relax for our subscribers. Comedy is a genre that the audiences have a huge appetite for, and we believe there is currently a gap for a singular destination for all types of Hindi comedy content. We wish to fill that gap with this latest offering from Tata Sky. In partnership with Shemaroo, it is our attempt to provide a one-stop shop for popular comedy formats that will be available to subscribers 24 hours a day. ”

The 24×7 ad free service based on a subscription only basis, will be free for the first 10 days for its customers. Placed at channel 102, the interactive service has a diverse range of formats like Bollywood Tadka which is an overview of Bollywood mixed with comedy. This comedy service features interesting formats like Scene Smaash, Pehchaan Kaun, Dekh Gaana Dekh, Filmy Fankaar, Pocket Films with Gauri, etc.

Tata Sky Comedy will have all time classics, will highlight jokes, fun quizzes and comic strips and will telecast all-time favourite shows like Zabaan Sambhalke, Office Office, Ye Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad, etc. Interesting and eye grabbing short snippets like Waiting Lounge, Fact de India, Paanch Namune, Sher Bazaar, No News Network, etc., will be made available to the customers under Comedy Fatafat hour. One of the formats, The Weekend Special, will feature the best of Comedy Circus for an hour every Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm and 10 pm.

Talking about his company’s expertise, Gada said, “We’re very excited to launch the comedy service with Tata Sky. Being a leading content aggregator and owner, our continuous efforts are to serve our audiences in new and innovative ways. Comedywalas is one such initiative from Shemaroo. Given the fact that comedy is such a universal entertainment genre, our efforts will be to aggregate, produce and curate some highly entertaining and fun programming.”

March 8, 2016
Tata Sky launches interactive comedy service in partnership with Shemaroo Entertainment

MUMBAI: Tata Sky has added a new service to its diverse bouquet of content – Tata Sky Comedy. The DTH player has partnered with Shemaroo Entertainment as content partner, powered by Comedywalas. The tagline for this new service is ‘Haso Khulke’. Tata Sky had recently launched two interactive services – Actve Fitness in association with Suniel Shetty and Dance Studio in partnership with Madhuri Dixit Nene and Dr. Shriram Nene’s RnM Moving Pictures.

Tata Sky Comedy will initially be available to its subscribers primarily on TV and can also move to digital platforms in the future. The viewers can also see the popular comic strip Suppandi refreshed daily.

Launched today on 8 March 2016, Tata Sky’s latest addition aims to be a single destination for all formats of Hindi comedy content. The launch event also provided a glimpse of the service, as unfolded by stand-up comedians Sugandha Mishra and Sahil Khattar who are also a part of the service.

“We wanted a guide, an anchor with a youthful appeal who could carry the audience for this new service. Sugandha and Sahil are youth icons and are perfect to be a part of our service”, said Shemaroo Entertainment director Hiren Gada.

Priced at Rs 59, the standalone service aims at a non-stop clean entertainment for all age groups, across geographical and socioeconomic boundaries with a diverse range of formats exclusively for its subscribers.

Talking about the launch, Tata Sky chief commercial officer Pallavi Puri said, “With Tata Sky Comedy we aim to provide a fun way to relax for our subscribers. Comedy is a genre that the audiences have a huge appetite for, and we believe there is currently a gap for a singular destination for all types of Hindi comedy content. We wish to fill that gap with this latest offering from Tata Sky. In partnership with Shemaroo, it is our attempt to provide a one-stop shop for popular comedy formats that will be available to subscribers 24 hours a day. ”

The 24×7 ad free service based on a subscription only basis, will be free for the first 10 days for its customers. Placed at channel 102, the interactive service has a diverse range of formats like Bollywood Tadka which is an overview of Bollywood mixed with comedy. This comedy service features interesting formats like Scene Smaash, Pehchaan Kaun, Dekh Gaana Dekh, Filmy Fankaar, Pocket Films with Gauri, etc.

Tata Sky Comedy will have all time classics, will highlight jokes, fun quizzes and comic strips and will telecast all-time favourite shows like Zabaan Sambhalke, Office Office, Ye Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad, etc. Interesting and eye grabbing short snippets like Waiting Lounge, Fact de India, Paanch Namune, Sher Bazaar, No News Network, etc., will be made available to the customers under Comedy Fatafat hour. One of the formats, The Weekend Special, will feature the best of Comedy Circus for an hour every Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm and 10 pm.

Talking about his company’s expertise, Gada said, “We’re very excited to launch the comedy service with Tata Sky. Being a leading content aggregator and owner, our continuous efforts are to serve our audiences in new and innovative ways. Comedywalas is one such initiative from Shemaroo. Given the fact that comedy is such a universal entertainment genre, our efforts will be to aggregate, produce and curate some highly entertaining and fun programming.”

March 8, 2016