MUMBAI: India is making its mark on the global creative scene as some of the country’s leading minds join juries for The One Club for Creativity’s prestigious awards. Celebrating excellence across advertising, design, and typography, The One Club is known for rewarding standout work while championing inclusion, education, and creative growth.

The One Show 2026, one of the most coveted honours in advertising, sees Indian leaders on its jury including Khalil Bachooali of Offroad Films, Rajdeepak Das of Publicis Groupe South Asia, Ashish Deshpande of Elephant Design, and creative chiefs from Ogilvy, Havas, Mudra, FCB Interface, and more. The extended submission deadline is 6 February, with the final cut-off on 20 February.

On the design front, the ADC 105th Annual Awards, celebrated worldwide for design and visual communication, counts Binaifer Dulani, Moumita Pal, Sulekha Rajkumar, Kamal Kumaar Rao, and Neha Tulsian among its Indian jury members. The deadline extensions mirror those of The One Show, encouraging broader participation.

Meanwhile, the TDC 72nd Annual Competition, the world’s leading platform for typography and lettering, features Namrata Goyal of Universal Thirst representing India. Entries are open until 27 February.

Indian creatives also enjoy reduced submission fees, with tiered pricing for smaller agencies and freelancers, making it easier for talent of all scales to shine on the world stage.

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With India’s creative leaders now shaping the decisions behind these global accolades, the country is proving it’s not just participating, it’s setting benchmarks.

BENGALURU: Bengaluru is set to turn up the creative volume as the 41st edition of the Big Bang Awards takes centre stage on 9 February 2026 at The Ritz-Carlton. Organised by the Advertising Club Bangalore, the awards remain one of India’s most respected celebrations of excellence across advertising, media, design, digital and marketing.

This year, the Big Bang Awards arrive with a fresh rhythm. For the first time, the event expands into a full-day industry experience. The afternoon will open with thoughtfully curated workshops, a Founders Circle fireside conversation and The Bang on Music, before rolling into the much-anticipated evening awards ceremony. The idea is simple and ambitious at once to spark learning, encourage honest conversations and bring the creative community closer together.

Now in its 41st year, the Big Bang Awards continue to reflect the changing face of creativity in India. With more than 130 categories, the awards honour standout work across print, broadcast, digital, mobile, experiential and emerging platforms, capturing the breadth and ambition of today’s communications landscape.

Laeeq Ali, President of the Advertising Club Bangalore, said the awards go beyond trophies and titles. They celebrate ideas that influence culture, drive business and help define where the industry is headed next.

Backing the 2026 edition is a strong line-up of partners from across the media and digital ecosystem. Gold Partners include Snapchat, Sony Network Pvt. Ltd., Truecaller and Times Group. Silver Partners are Mob Avenue, Deccan Herald and Team Pumpkin. Community and Media Partners such as afaqs, Adgully, MediaNews4U and Indian television dot com further strengthen the platform’s reach and relevance.

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Together, they reinforce the Big Bang Awards’ standing as a meeting point for ideas, ambition and creative leadership. Even for those who do not live and breathe advertising, the message is clear. When creativity comes together at scale, it tends to make a rather big bang.

NEW YORK: Diljit Dosanjh’s Emmy dream ended in heartbreak on Monday night as Spain’s Oriol Pla walked away with the best performance by an actor trophy at the 53rd International Emmy Awards in New York City. The Punjabi superstar, nominated for his turn as folk legend Amar Singh Chamkila in Imtiaz Ali’s Netflix biopic, couldn’t crack a competitive field that included Britain’s David Mitchell for Ludwig and Colombia’s Diego Vasquez for One Hundred Years of Solitude.

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences handed out 16 Emmy statuettes to winners from nine countries, with Britain’s television industry dominating the night. Rivals, the 1980s-set drama about corporate warfare in television, took the drama series prize, whilst Anna Maxwell Martin won best performance by an actress for Until I Kill You. British productions also swept comedy (Ludwig), current affairs (Dispatches: Kill Zone: Inside Gaza), documentary (Hell Jumper), and the TV movie/mini-series category—Lost Boys & Fairies, which beat Dosanjh’s Chamkila biopic.

Pla’s win came for his raw portrayal of a man battling addictions to drugs, alcohol and sex in Yo, Adicto, a Spanish drama about a voluntary stint in a Barcelona detox centre. His performance edged out Dosanjh’s widely praised embodiment of Chamkila, the Punjabi folk singer whose meteoric rise ended in assassination.
The ceremony, hosted by Live with Kelly and Mark presenters Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, saw wins spread across Australia (Bluey for kids’ animation), Turkey (Deha for telenovela), Japan (Ryuichi Sakamoto: Last Days for arts programming), and Qatar (Gaza, Search for Life for news). Denmark’s Shaolin Heroes claimed non-scripted entertainment, whilst Canada’s La Médiatrice took short-form series.

Special awards went to Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, who received the Founders Emmy for championing hits including 24, Glee and Grey’s Anatomy, and João Roberto Marinho, chairman and president of Grupo Globo, who was handed the Directorate Award.

Bruce Paisner, president and chief executive of the International Academy, called television “a powerful force for connection across cultures and borders” as he surveyed winners spanning continents from Turkey to Australia. Dosanjh, dressed in a glittering jacket and black turban, made his mark on the red carpet even without the trophy—a bittersweet consolation for Indian viewers who’d hoped to see him make Emmy history.

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