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<ul><li>Today, <keyword id="419433" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-doodle">Google Doodle</keyword> is honouring an Indian poet <keyword id="109442" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kaifi-Azmi">Kaifi Azmi</keyword> to mark his 101st birth anniversary. </li><li>Azmi brought urdu literature to Indian cinema with motion pictures. </li><li>He published his first set of poetry named Jhankar in 1943.</li></ul>Today, Google Doodle is honouring Indian poet Kaifi Azmi — the man who brought Urdu literature to Indian cinema. The doodle marks his 101st birth anniversary. Though he is popularly known as Kaifi Azmi, his full name is Sayyid Athar Hussein Rizvi. At the age of 11, he composed his first poem. Needless to say, he grew up to become one of India’s most renowned and cherished poets of the 20th century. He has an array of ghazals, nazms and mushairas to his name. In 1942, when India was still under British rule, Azmi answered Mahatma Gandhi’s call to Quit India. He left his hometown in Uttar Pradesh and moved to Bombay to write for an Urdu newspaper. A year on, he published his first set of poetry named Jhankar. The man who wore pyjamas all day Arts also run in his family. His daughter <keyword id="19" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shabana-Azmi">Shabana Azmi</keyword> is a popular actress and and his son Baba Azmi is a well-known cinematographer. A young Shabana however had her qualms about her father’s profession and had lied to her friends that he did some vague ‘business.’ “He didn’t go to ‘office’ or wear the normal trousers and shirt like other ‘respectable’ fathers but chose to wear a white cotton kurta-pyjama 24 hours of the day. He did not speak English and worse still, I didn’t call him ‘Daddy’ like other children, but some strange sounding ‘Abba’!,” she <a href="http://www.azmikaifi.com/">recalled</a>. To everyone else though, Kaifi Azmi was known as a passionate social activist. He was also a member of Progressive Writers’ Association. The association worked on implementing socio-economic reform via writings and poetry. In one of his early writeups — ‘Aurat’ — he spoke for women empowerment and equality. He later founded an NGO that worked to improve the lives of women in rural India. Azmi was also a famous film lyricist who wrote songs like Heer Ranjha, Kaghaz ke Phool in mainstream hindi movies. He was awarded three Filmfare awards for Garam Hawa, Padma Shri Award for Literature and Education, and Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2002 — which is the highest literary honour in India. Azmi passed away in 2002. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/childrens-day-2019-a-delhi-girl-who-sees-a-future-where-trees-can-fly-wins-google-doodle-competition/articleshow/72048137.cms">Children's Day 2019: A Delhi girl who sees a future where trees can fly wins Google Doodle competition</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/google-doodles-physicist-joseph-antoine-ferdinand-plateau-who-brought-cinema-to-life/articleshow/71573716.cms">Google doodles physicist Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau — who brought cinema to life</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/google-celebrates-its-21st-birthday-with-a-retro-doodle-featuring-desktop-pc/articleshow/71324018.cms">Google celebrates its 21st birthday with a retro doodle featuring desktop PC</a>

Google Doodle celebrates Kaifi Azmi - the man who brought Urdu literature to Hindi cinema

<ul><li>All shaving ads include a petite woman taking a bath in a tub full of bubbles, grabbing a razor in hand to shave her hairless legs and flawless hands.</li><li>We speak to women from the advertising and digital world to understand why brands hesitate from showing body hair in advertisements and what kind of ads they wish to see as we move forward.</li><li>We also discuss Veet’s latest ad starring Shraddha Kapoor and Ahsaas Channa that targets school girls and claims to offer a ‘skin whitening’ mechanism in its cream.</li></ul>“I vividly remember asking my mother after our send-off in high school, "Why am I so hairy?" ⁣I had draped a beautiful sari that day, as the tradition goes. I felt pretty and confident until I saw the other girls in my class had waxed their arms. It made me feel a little uncomfortable,” shared Yugandhara Shinde, a 24-year-old graphic designer, as she tried to recall the first time she felt uncomfortable with her natural body. While Shinde blames social conditioning, unsolicited judgements from people and societal beauty standards for making her uncomfortable about her body hair until today, these standards have been perpetuated through advertising and media that expect women to be hairless all the time. Thin and fair-skinned models in ads across the world have made women like me feel uncomfortable with my body. We look in the mirror only to notice our flaws, turn to beauty products to fix ourselves and hide our body hair. Advertisements have been profiting from these vulnerabilities and feeding on our insecurities. They portray women achieving happiness and success after hair removal. <div type="image" title="Shaving" msid="82165665" hostid="261"></div> All shaving ads include a petite woman taking a bath in a tub full of bubbles, running a razor through their already shaven and almost flawless hands and legs. For example, look at the petite, fair-skinned and hairless women in Gillette Venus’ ads over the years. <div type="image" title="venus collage" msid="82165673" hostid="261"></div> Chances are, you will need a microscope to find a single strand of unwanted hair on their bodies, forget a hint of stubble! While it is absolutely okay to shave your bodies, this article is about those who choose not to. You would feel a penetrating gaze, full of judgement, coming from people around if you decide to just sport your body hair one day. We have spent years hiding our body hair under long sleeves and jeans or shaving every strand off our armpits before anyone else catches a glance. "Hww, log kya kahenge," has haunted us for years. While half this blame goes to our biased society, the rest is on unreal ads and cinema that have made us feel like less of a woman if we choose not to shave. Last week, we happened to stumble upon Hair Removal brand Veet’s advertisement starring actor Shraddha Kapoor and Digital Creator Ahsaas Channa. It is about a young school girl, played by Channa, feeling anxious about going to a salon because well, we all know how uncomfortable that is. She is wearing a full-sleeved uniform to hide her body hair. Kapoor comes to ‘her rescue’ and offers her Veet’s shaving cream. Much to our surprise (but frankly, not so much), she shaves her already-shaved armpits and hands. As per the brand’s ad, the product also gives you smoother and visibly ‘brighter’ underarms. <div type="Youtube" id="p8AeyIGEuVo" title="Veet Hair Removal Cream- Mini Pack |Shraddha Kapoor | Hinglish : 30 sec" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p8AeyIGEuVo/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Veet isn’t the first brand to sell us underarm lightening cream. There’s Dot &amp; Key, Sanfe, Nimaya and <a href="https://youtu.be/RP7SkFUCcLc">Venus</a> that help you ‘glow.’ According to ResearchAndMarkets, the Indian female grooming market stood at $152 million in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 26% to surpass $623 million by 2024. We reached out to Dr Tanaya Narendra, Doctor and Content Creator, aka Dr Cuterus to find out if hair removing creams can brighten your armpits. She said, “Unless the hair removal cream contains bleach, I wouldn't imagine it would be possible to actually lighten the skin. Even then, the effect would be temporary. Actually putting clinically effective skin lightening formulations in their OTC cream would not be permitted, so this is a blatant lie. It also feeds into the larger message of ‘lighter skin is better skin’, which, I do not need to point, is based on our colonial past and its associated hangups.” Elaborating on how having darker skin parts is completely normal, Dr Cuterus added, “We continue to idealise Eurocentric beauty standards, in people of non-European descent. It is perfectly normal for the skin of our genitals, underarms, and skin folds to be darker than the rest of our body. It's the result of hormones, constant friction, and our genetic skin type. Companies like Veet, Nimaya, Dot &amp; Key, Sanfe, etc capitalise on this insecurity and sell expensive skin lightening serums, which obviously don't work (as they don't contain any clinically effective ingredients), leading to more insecurity, and more sales for the companies.” While we are used to seeing hairless bodies on the big screen by now, Veet’s latest ad targets school girls this time. It is reaching out to young, impressionable minds, suggesting that you cannot go to a party unless you shave your body. Telling us how the ad made her feel, Akshara Vasavda, Creative Lead, Schbang, shared, “It makes me feel like we're devolving instead of evolving. It's like Indian advertising is still stuck in the past while the rest of the world is moving on. It's a bad ad, to begin with, even just creatively speaking, and on top of that, they've taken the most overused, mind-numbing route to showcase their product. 'Ghisa Pita' is the word we use in Hindi. That's this ad.” She also pointed out that we need more representation in our ads to help women accept their bodies, and even its darker areas. “In Veet's ad, we have a young student probably in high school who is more worried about waxing than whatever is going on in school? Because that's the only thing girls care about, of course. Then we have Shraddha Kapoor entering the picture, looking like she just stepped off a red carpet. Have SOME aspect of realism to your ads at least? And then there's the whole issue of colourism that these brands constanty reinforce. Most girls do not have smooth, even-toned underarms. Brown skins are bound to be pigmented and the entertainment industry is 100% responsible for making millions of girls conscious about their dark underarms. I think most of us spent our entire lives trying various methods to fight pigmentation and ingrown hair. We need more skin colours in these ads. We need pigmented underarms without the false promise of 'whitening' them because a) our skins simply do not work that way b) it's entirely unnecessary. These brands need to be held accountable for misinformation in my opinion,” added Vasavda. Sharing how DIY has become the need of the hour due the lockdown, Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design, said, “Selfcare &amp; DIY grooming products is absolutely the need of the hour. Hair removers, hair colours, pedicure kits, facial kits etc are here to stay. Grooming is also gaining popularity irrespective of gender. Boys seem equally concerned about their look as girls. I do not see all advertisements of grooming products as gender misappropriation issues. It is mostly about turning out well and feeling good/ confident about oneself. However, the didi giving a solution to the younger sibling in the latest VEET commercial is quite the beaten path. I don't believe GenZ is looking for advice from millennials. So the story just wasn't convincing for me.” Alpa Dedhia, Business Director, VMLY&amp;R India said, “The larger issue here is pushing younger girls to focus on these set beauty norms like she should look a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way. I also believe putting pressure on teens on how they should look or be a certain way impacts the overall confidence of young girls. No girl should have to worry about the way she looks. Brands should be taking the baton and training these minds to think beyond superficial beauty norms. Campaigns like #likeagirl have done a similar job in a great way.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="So, what should the brands do?" text="So, what should the brands do?">So, what should the brands do?</cmsannotation> While some people feel empowered by shaving or waxing their bodies, it is their choice to shave or not to shave. However, it is often considered that body hair is ‘unhygienic’, when it is in fact a natural gift and meant to protect us from bacteria. We also asked ad women and Content Creator Dr Cutreus about the kind of ads they wish to see now. “What I would like to be discussed more is how having body hair is not unhygienic, and this is a personal choice. I understand that this is difficult, as having such a disclaimer in ads would be weird. That said, it would be incredible to see more representation about body hair from more mainstream celebrities, rather than "radical" Instagram influencers. Another welcome change would be to see some actual body hair being removed in these ads. I mean, they're marketing a product whose efficacy has a giant question mark on it as we cannot see any body hair on these people anyway! They shave hairless legs! If we can have ads that show a man with a five o'clock shadow, and a fancy animation showing the blades slicing away his facial hair, why can't we see that with a woman's underarm hair,” asked Dr Tanaya. Dedhia said, “All hair removing brands have focused on the same messaging.. ‘Set yourself free from unwanted hair,’ ‘hairless arms will make you more attractive, beautiful and more feminine.' I want to see ads that are progressive in their thinking and approach. Instead of saying that you will miss out on all the fun if you don’t do this or that, maybe we could focus on hygiene?” Vasavda said, “When it comes to the target audience of these brands, the majority of women should not have an issue with slightly more realistic depiction of hair removal, even if we don't go all out like some international ads. And like I said earlier, there is zero excuse for these brands to continue propagating such harmful beauty standards. This is one issue that is completely in the hands of the media, and if they are still making such regressive content, it's because they want to. They want to maintain a certain aesthetic for their brand imagery because of personal biases, and that's it. Hair removal is a basic need. No one's going to stop buying their products. If I need to shave, I'm going to buy a razor and it's probably going to be Gillette because they own the market share and my chemist only stocks that up. They don't have the pressure of fighting for market share at this point, so what's stopping them? Nothing but the mindset of people running these brands on the client side.”

Leg hair, don’t care: Why showing women’s body hair in Indian ads is long overdue

<ul><li><keyword id="8003243" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="oththa-seruppu-size-7">Oththa Seruppu Size 7</keyword>, directed by Parthiban, an upcoming Tamil movie, will be the first India solo act in mainstream cinema since 1964.</li><li>The movie has already been selected for screening at the <keyword id="6957402" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Singapore-South-Asian-International-Film-Festival">Singapore South Asian International Film Festival</keyword> starting August 30.</li><li>Written, directed, produced and acted by the same person, Parthiban, a National Award Winner, this will be the 19th solo act movie in the world.</li><li>The movie boasts of a starry supporting crew that includes Academy Award-winning sound designer for Slumdog Millionaire, Resul Pookutty, and the young and masterly music composer Santhosh Narayanan.</li><li>Some of the country's biggest stars from Aamir Khan to Rajinikanth to Mohanlal are backing the movie for an Oscar nomination even before its release.</li></ul>A yet-to-be-released Tamil movie, 'Oththa Seruppu Size 7', will be the first solo act in Indian cinema since Sunil Dutt's 'Yaadein' 1964. And some of the country's biggest stars from Aamir Khan to Rajinikanth to Mohanlal are asking for the movie to be nominated for an Oscar. The movie has already been selected for the <a href="https://www.sgsaiff.com/product/oththa-seruppu-size-7/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF)</a> starting August 30. 'Oththa Seruppu Size 7' -- meaning 'a single slipper of size 7'-- will be screened at the Suntec venue on the second day of the festival at 4:10 pm. Watch India's biggest movie stars endorse Parthiban's 'Oththa Seruppu Size 7' in this video put out by Moviebuff. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="Youtube" id="ZbgCd6OGF18" title="Oththa Serupu - Moviebuff Trailer 02 | R Parthiban" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZbgCd6OGF18/mqdefault.jpg"></div>












 National Award winner Radhakrishnan Parthiban has written, directed and produced the upcoming Tamil movie-- in the lines of Tom Hanks' 'Cast Away' (2000), 'All is Lost' (2013) starring Robert Redford, 'Buried' (2010) with Ryan Reynolds in the lead role-- making it the 19th solo act film in the world, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/list/ls069176996/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">according to the IMDb</a>. 'Oththa Seruppu Size 7' is a non-linear tale of a middle-aged man Masilamani, a security guard at a popular sports and recreation club, who is being questioned as a murder suspect while his terminally ill young son waits outside the investigation room. Throughout the movie, Parthiban is the only actor seen on screen and the other characters are only voices that interact with him, as described by the SAIFF. 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="Youtube" id="SmD95qQx_fg" title="Oththa Seruppu - Radhakrishnan Parthiban's Teaser" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SmD95qQx_fg/mqdefault.jpg"></div>













 The movie boasts of an star-studded supporting crew that includes Academy Award-winning sound designer for 'Slumdog Millionaire', Resul Pookutty, and the young and masterly music composer Santhosh Narayanan who has charmed audiences with his earthy tunes that have played a big role in the success of some landmark feats in Indian cinema in recent years. This is not India's first solo act in mainstream cinema In 1964, Bollywood acting legend Sunil Dutt produced, directed, and acted in a soliloquy by the name 'Yaadein' that entered the Guinness Book of World Records. 'Yaadein' -- <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058759/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">rated 7.3 in IMDb</a>-- tells the story of a man who comes home to find that his wife and son are not at home. He assumes that they have left him and, in his loneliness, regrets his past indiscretions. Parthiban's career has been full of experiments The 61-year old Parthiban has spent over three decades in the Tamil film industry starting out as a personal assistant to director K Bhagyaraj and then went to be an assistant director before venturing out as a director, actor, and a producer himself in the late 1980s and 1990s. He has worked in 60 films in different capacities and directed 10 films. 'Puthiya Pathai' (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332338/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">IMDb rating 6.8</a>), his directorial debut-- the story of a rapist who gets reformed by his own victim-- won two National Awards and was remade in Kannada and Hindi (Benaam Badsha in 1991). His 1999 film 'House Full'-- the story of how the police tries to diffuse a bomb inside a movie hall without letting the audience know-- also won a National Award. 'Oththa Seruppu Size 7' will be his most ambitious venture so far. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/movies/watchlist-13-reasons-why-season-3-american-factory-and-every-other-show-you-can-binge/articleshow/70798663.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Watchlist: 13 Reasons Why season 3, American Factory and every other show you can binge</a>

From Aamir Khan to Rajinikanth to Mohanlal-- all want Oscar nomination for this upcoming Indian movie

<ul><li>Ayushmann Khurrana has been listed as one of the top 100 Influential People in the world by TIME today. </li><li>With his rising popularity and influential power, the actor seems to be on a winning streak in the advertising world. </li><li>He has bagged marquee brands like KitKat, Peter England, The Man Company, Bajaj Allianz, to name a few, in the past few months amid a global pandemic. </li><li>We speak to experts to find out what are some of the qualities that make him influential in the brandverse. </li></ul>Ayushmann Khurrana, the only Indian actor to be featured on TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World list, is also becoming India’s favourite brand endorser. Even during the on-going pandemic -- when brands have tightened their purse strings -- Ayushmann has managed to grab more attention from brands and bag endorsement deals from marquee brands such as JSW India, Nestle, Toyota, Bajaj Allianz, Sprite, The Man Company, UNICEF, to name a few. Despite not having done a single blockbuster movie this year, apart from Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan and the virtually-released Gulabo Sitabo, Ayushmann is on a winning streak in the branding world. 2020 is turning out to be a tipping point for his career as a brand endorser. Ayushmann has around 25 brands in his kitty and in Duff &amp; Phelps’ report released in 2019, Khurrana was a new entrant at rank 10 with a brand value of $40.3 million. In the times when everyone is talking about nepotism in Bollywood, associating with Ayushmann also seems like a safe and perfect bet for an Indian brand. He is the boy-next-door from Chandigarh who has made it on his own in the industry. After his first appearance in MTV Roadies Season 2, Ayushmann found his ticket to Bollywood as Shoojit Sircar offered him a leading role in Vicky Donor. Since the beginning of his career, Ayushmann has been very picky with his choice of movies. He has made a conscious effort to increase representation of different kinds of Indians in his movies by playing a homosexual man in Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan, someone who suffers from erectile dysfunction in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and a bald guy in Bala. He is also known for movies like Article 15, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Dream Girl and Badhaai Ho that have started a conversation around different social issues. It is his choice of films that Vani Gupta Dandia, Founder of CherryPeachPlum Growth Partners - a marketing-led business consultancy thinks makes him the ideal fit for all challenger brands. She said, “AK is an actor who comes across as someone with a very, very strong personality. He's chosen to do films which stood out for the stands they took, for the very 'difficult to speak about' subjects in society. The most appealing thing about Ayushmann Khurrana is that while he has chosen to do very offbeat films he still has a very mainstream appeal. His brand endorsements have also been in line with the offbeat actor he comes across as.” On what qualities does he stand for and which brands should he choose, Vani Gupta Dandia added, “Brands that are looking for halo values like intelligence, substance vs frivolous mass appeal, gumption to stand up for difficult causes, choose v/s be chosen, and strong-mindedness - are best suited for a tie-up with him. He must be careful to stay true to who he is and not fall into the trap of the typical bolly 'dance- around-the-trees' mould. His appeal is in being a 'deliberate' and intelligent actor. Not the mainstream hero. He should carefully nurture this positioning and associate with causes and brands that fortify his own imagery in the consumers’ mind.” Karthik Srinivasan, Independent Brand Consultant and Social Media Expert, calls Ayushmann the Amol Palekar of our times - a true 'everyman', but with extra panache. He explained, “Given his smart choice of film scripts where he plays 'everyman' without the extraordinary stunts that define our films' heroism, and convincingly pulls off seemingly 'normal' roles, and given the enormous success he has garnered in such narratives, he fits perfectly for any brand that wants a relatable super-celebrity.” Talking about what makes Ayushmann brands’ favourite, Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru &amp; Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. said, “He is not the big-boots star of Bollywood. Neither is he a peripheral actor, many of whom come, survive and leave. He is someone in-between. And that's the beauty of his success today. As an actor, he is a method actor of repute. He has under his belt a series of hits that few can boast. In many ways, he is the small-budget star who takes the entire ecosystem of the film that is made to success. Today, viewers of Hindi cinema are bored to death by the big stars and the bigness they represent. In many ways, this is a David versus Goliath liking that comes to the fore. The big star is just too big, unapproachable and just too far away physically and metaphorically. The smaller star is that much closer, and that much more to emote with as a persona. This is Ayushman's touchstone of success.” Ayushmann also bagged a deal with Bajaj Allianz Life this month. On why the brand chose him as its face, Chandramohan Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Bajaj Allianz Life, said, "Ayushmann outscores his new age peers on the attributes of relatability and likeability, across consumer profiles. Also, in context of his rise on back of the smart, unconventional and consistent choices he has made, his marketability has enhanced. He is seen as a role model and hugely talented across profiles of age, gender and income groups." Ayushmann can act, sing and dance. He also writes poetry. His versatility and boy-next-door image make him brands’ sweetheart. N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA said, “Ayushmann Khurrana is one of the multi-talented, multi-faceted actors who has a range of successes behind him in the movies. Without controversies, he is a stable bet for any brand. He has been considerably active in social media during the lockdown and combined with his earlier successes, this has increased his social media presence and salience. Ayushmann is versatile and he can endorse a range of categories, right from footwear to ice-creams, menswear to colas. His affable persona, boy-next-door looks gives him a wide range to choose from. Cost is a key driver for brands when choosing between endorsers, and his costs being lesser than superstar fees, makes him amenable to be the pick of brands, too.” Lately, we have seen endorsers who are more than a model but less than a nepotism-breed superstar like Vicky Kaushal and Ayushmann, get popular in the brandverse. With this, the definition of ‘superstar’ is also changing. Explaining what is driving this change in the industry, Srinivasan said, “Ayushmann is a bonafide superstar, by star value and films' success alone. As for the industry trend of more than a model, but less than a superstar, it could be mirroring the interest in tier-2 and tier-3 social media stars so that brands can tap into small user circles who are their followers. Similarly, given that mainstream, theater-led cinema was the only criteria to bill someone as a superstar at one point, there are now many other media platforms for someone to be called a budget-superstar or a different kind of superstar. Many actors have become big only by doing OTT shows, and many on TV alone. So there's a better range for that phrase 'superstar' now.”

Why Ayushmann Khurrana, the only Indian actor to feature on TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list, is also the blue-eyed boy for brands

<ul><li>‘Son of the soil’ heroes are finding a place in the hearts of audiences of today, says actor <keyword id="7637" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manoj-bajpayee" source="Orion">Manoj Bajpayee</keyword>.</li><li>Movies that tell local, rooted stories have a more universal appeal, comments film critic Anupama Chopra.</li><li>The face of storytelling is changing, says actor <keyword id="1634244" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pratik-gandhi" source="Orion">Pratik Gandhi</keyword> who portrayed <keyword id="75198" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="harshad-mehta" source="Orion">Harshad Mehta</keyword> in the web series Scam 1992. </li></ul>The phrase ‘movie star-like good looks’ is undergoing a massive transition, according to actor Manoj Bajpayee. The heroes of today now have to look like the audience, and not like Greek gods or goddesses who descended from the heavens. “People have realized it after the success of RRR and Pushpa. But <keyword id="95495" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jr-ntr" source="Orion">Jr NTR</keyword> and <keyword id="17473" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="allu-arjun" source="Orion">Allu Arjun</keyword> have always been popular with their dubbed movies being watched in the hinterlands. I was told by a person outside the industry that heroes like them can be found anywhere in Haryana and Bihar,” Bajpayee said, speaking at a panel discussion organized by Zee5 Global. The actor who completes 20 years in the industry this year, reminisced about times when movies were heavily aspirational, shot abroad etc. Actor <keyword id="6359106" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nawazuddin-siddiqui" source="Orion">Nawazuddin Siddiqui</keyword> had also addressed this issue in the past, refusing to accept that he had ‘unconventional looks’, claiming that 80% of India looks like him. “That’s true. Most of the country looks like Nawaz and me. I was once offered a movie character who lived in New York, I refused saying, I look nothing like them. Those were aspirational times, now it’s time for realism,” Bajpayee said. ‘Son of the soil’ heroes are finding a place in the hearts of audiences of today, as seen with the rip-roaring success of Gadar 2. “Its success is not because of Gadar 1 which came decades back. Many people in their 20s are watching it. It’s just that heroes should come from the masses and the audience. And, stories where common-man is the setting should be told,” Bajpayee said. ‘Mood of audience is changing’ Indian cinema has been transforming with movies like Kantara and more which are more rooted and local — and are gaining success too. “The more local a movie is, the more universal it is. But mainstream cinema tends to paint in broad strokes,” commented Anupama Chopra, a popular film critic. Most Indian movies, experts noted, are either potboilers or indulgent films which attract a niche audience which make distributors and producers develop cold feet, noted Bajpayee. He urged film makers to be less indulgent and choose middle-of-the-road cinema. Whether it’s the impact of OTT or the complexity of GenZ preferences, the mood of the audience has changed, experts noted at the panel discussion. The audience’s mood is scattered, with strong story backed-movies and potboilers with drama and emotion finding equal amounts of success. “If you see RRR, amidst all the larger-than-life stunts, the core of it is human emotion. Stories should empathize with the audience, create excitement with thrill and drama,” explained Bajpayee. Yet another fear that most filmmakers face is that the youth is getting disconnected from the large screens and there is a lot of fatigue in the world of entertainment. The younger audiences love their ‘shorts’ and more, and it takes a lot to bring them back to the big screens. Pratik Gandhi who is best known for portraying Harshad Mehta in the web series Scam 1992 said that movies that are rooted in soil always find their audience. He quoted the success of Gujarati movie ‘<keyword id="3632898" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="wrong-side-raju" source="Orion">Wrong Side Raju</keyword>’ which later went on to win a National Award, but also raked in the moolah at the box office. “The movie brought Gujarati youth back to the theaters, and broke all records. It also got entry into multiplexes. The face of storytelling is changing,” Gandhi added. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/the-dark-truth-behind-rbis-crackdown-on-easy-personal-loans/articleshow/105287366.cms">The dark truth behind RBI’s crackdown on easy personal loans</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/late-stage-deals-are-back-but-funding-winter-is-far-from-over-say-vcs/articleshow/105389287.cms">Late-stage deals are back but funding winter is far from over say VCs</a>

Family Man Manoj Bajpayee bats for movie heroes who look like ‘the common man’

<ul><li>Veteran star <keyword id="14505" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="zeenat-aman" source="Orion">Zeenat Aman</keyword> made her <keyword id="819905" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="instagram" source="Orion">Instagram</keyword> debut at 71 and amassed over 1.3 lakh followers in just a month. She will soon make her web series debut.</li><li><keyword id="1813" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neena-gupta" source="Orion">Neena Gupta</keyword>’s appeal for work on Instagram heralded a change in the way the industry looked at veteran actresses.</li><li>OTT platforms have not only revived careers of veteran stars, it has also brought to centre stage actresses long-sidelined by mainstream media.</li></ul>Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish that released in 2012, was considered a sleeper hit despite starring one of Indian cinema’s original female superstars, Sridevi. It took the industry by surprise because <keyword id="143" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bollywood" source="Orion">Bollywood</keyword> rarely backs female-led movies and even when it does, these movies – especially those starring veterans, aren’t expected to become commercial potboilers. However, the advent of over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney plus Hotstar etc, and the rise of social media has changed the scenario. In some cases, actresses of a certain vintage have begun to take centre stage – with some even landing hits far more popular than the ones delivered by mainstream heroes. In February 2023, the 70s heart-throb Zeenat Aman, 71, made her debut on Instagram. Within a month, she has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thezeenataman/">amassed </a>1.37 lakh followers and won over the audience with her articulate, unabashed and honest views — a far cry from the carefully-curated celebrity updates people are accustomed to. “The roles available to women are clearly not just ornamental anymore. What hasn’t changed though is the gender pay gap. In my time I was lauded as the highest paid female actor, but the disparity in the pay cheque between my male co-stars and myself was so vast it was laughable…it disappoints me that even today women in the film industry don’t have wage parity,” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CpFl3XoA8Un/">remarked </a>Aman in one of her many posts on the platform. Aman, who’ll soon make her <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/zeenat-aman-to-make-her-ott-debut-soon-already-has-two-web-series-in-her-kitty/articleshow/92560748.cms">web series debut</a> with <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/web-series/zeenat-aman-to-make-ott-debut-with-the-series-showsttopper-101677773391183.html">Showsttopper</a>, co-starring Shweta Tiwari, Rohit Roy and others, also walked the ramp for Shahin Mannan’s fashion show at the Lakme Fashion week. She’s the latest in a long list of veteran actresses who’ve taken to new-age entertainment platforms and social media channels like fish to water, and have managed to shatter the long-held Bollywood concept of ‘limited shelf life’ for female actors. But, it’s certainly not a new phenomenon. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The Bollywood stars who went to reality shows" comment="subhead" text="The Bollywood stars who went to reality shows">The Bollywood stars who went to reality shows</cmsannotation> There’s always been a clear divide between a TV and movie star in India, with television often seen as a stepping stone to movies — but only for a few. Most stars who start with TV shows, however, continue to remain there. However, when some of the stars from the 90s and early 2000s first made their comeback, it was as judges of reality shows on TV or in some cases, as contestants. For instance, Shilpa Shetty famously participated in Big Brother —- the British version of Bigg Boss, which catapulted her back to stardom. A few even took to TV shows, like Sonali Bendre in Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye (2014). Although superstars like Madhuri Dixit have managed to reinvent their careers and regularly land exciting roles, that wasn’t the case for many other veteran actresses. Until actor Neena Gupta decided to ask for work on social media, heralding a change in the way Bollywood views older stars. In 2017, Neena Gupta, the star of indie cinema in the 1980s, openly asked for work — a move that left a majority of the population within the industry, and even outside of it, surprised. After all, this is an industry where actors out of work for years still spout the excuse, “looking for the right script.” “I live in Mumbai and working, am a good actor looking for good parts to play,” wrote Gupta on Instagram. The result of Gupta’s request – since 2017, she’s starred in over 10 different movies and web series, including blockbuster hits like Badhaai Ho and crowd favourites like Panchayat. Her Badhaai Ho co-star, the late Surekha Sikri also won her third National Film Award for the film. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The other comeback: Sidelined by mainstream media but stars on OTT" comment="subhead" text="The other comeback: Sidelined by mainstream media but stars on OTT">The other comeback: Sidelined by mainstream media but stars on OTT</cmsannotation> The advent of OTT streaming has not only shone the spotlight on veteran stars but has also given actors sidelined by mainstream media a chance to showcase their acting prowess. Like actor <keyword id="18676" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shefali-shah" source="Orion">Shefali Shah</keyword>. Sidelined by mainstream cinema for years, 49-year-old Shah’s gritty performance in Netflix’s International Emmy-winner Delhi Crime was the perfect response to that mistreatment. Since then, she’s been on a roll, delivering hits across genres — romantic dramas like Netflix’s Once Again, thrillers like Prime Video’s Jalsa and Disney+Hostar’s Human or dark comedies, like Darlings (on Netflix). In fact, OTT brought back many millennials’ childhood divas, be it former Miss <keyword id="326110" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="universe-sushmita-sen" source="Orion">Universe Sushmita Sen</keyword> or the ‘tip tip’ girl, Raveena Tandon. And they didn’t return to play stereotypical mothers to actors who were as old or even younger than themselves — as Shefali Shah did for Akshay Kumar in the film Waqt: The Race Against Time. Shah is six years younger than Kumar. Rather they starred as protagonists in shows with gripping storylines that gave them a chance to flex their long-dormant acting muscles. The result — Sen’s mom-turned-mobster avatar in Aarya and Tandon’s small-town cop in Aranyak and the antagonist in KGF2. As Sen shared <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch">in an interview </a>with film critic Anupama Chopra for Film Companion, “What I like about Bollywood now is suddenly, content is king. It’s incredible how liberal the language of cinema is becoming. It’s allowing people to explore all different aspects — writing, execution, direction, actors getting that opportunity to go beyond the boy-meets-girl phase. It’s wonderful.” Long story short, the stars have finally aligned for Bollywood’s veteran and long-sidelined powerful actresses. And it’s a well-deserved comeback indeed! SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/how-is-gpt-4-different-from-chatgpt-and-what-makes-it-unique/articleshow/98688465.cms">How is GPT-4 different from ChatGPT, and what makes it unique?</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/googles-new-ai-features-for-docs-gmail-and-more-to-rival-microsofts-workspace-toolsheres-what-it-means/articleshow/98657324.cms">Google’s new AI features for Docs, Gmail, and more to rival Microsoft’s workspace tools—here’s what it means</a>

How stars like Neena Gupta, Zeenat Aman & Shefali Shah finally found their place in the sun via OTT

<ul><li>After the pandemic, many of us were stuck within the four walls of our houses and OTT platforms like <keyword id="128682" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="netflix" source="Orion">Netflix</keyword>, Amazon Prime and <keyword id="2739840" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hotstar" source="Orion">Hotstar</keyword> sometimes became the only source of entertainment in our lives.</li><li>The pandemic also gave a push to the regional <keyword id="9056838" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-industry" source="Orion">OTT industry</keyword> and saw the birth of native language streaming players like Hoichoi, aha, Sun NXT, Planet Marathi, Koode, and City Short TV.</li><li>As per experts, the regional OTT players have already captured 50% of the OTT market in less than 3-4 years.</li></ul>Kaiser, the homicide detective who tries to deal with double murders and his own demons side by side; then there is Three Roses – with young girls who are in the middle of to-be-married mess in the complex Indian juxtaposition of tradition and independence. Yes, you have guessed it right. They are all topics of superhit web series but you can’t find them on Netflix, Prime or even Disney Hotstar – they are from Hoichoi, Bengali OTT and aha, a Telugu and Tamil OTT, respectively. Apart from regional cinema taking over <keyword id="143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bollywood" source="Orion">Bollywood</keyword>, a silent revolution is underway where regional OTTs are taking away the eyeballs of Indians – by offering them quality content in their mother tongue. And, there are a lot of these. Of the total <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/a-cred-like-platform-is-what-indian-ott-users-want-to-juggle-multiple-subscriptions/articleshow/92570894.cms">60 OTT </a>platforms in India, around 12 of them are exclusively regional across languages like — Sun NXT, Planet Marathi, Koode, and City Short TV, which is a hyperlocal content OTT. One movie, every week According to a FICCI-EY <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/regional-ott-on-the-rise-as-subscribers-choose-native-language-over-hindi/2272860/">report</a>, the share of regional language consumption on OTT platforms will cross 50% by 2025 from the 30% share it held in 2019. As per FICCI-EY though, regional consumption is expected to surpass Hindi, which is predicted to touch a 45% consumption rate. But a few players are confident that it has already hit this number. “The regional OTT market today probably is 50% already of the total OTT market size in India, including all regional languages. It is set to grow faster than Hindi for sure,” Ajit Thakur, CEO of Telugu and Tamil OTT platform aha told Business Insider India. The OTT, which is adding one movie every week, has touched 10 million monthly active users (Maus) in two years. Its app saw 30 million downloads. It has also generated $2 million in non-subscription <a href="https://www.afaqs.com/news/media/telugu-ott-platform-aha-to-rely-on-avod-to-break-even">revenue </a>in the last six months and is considering adding gaming onto its platform and becoming a super app. Aha also intends to target Tamil-speaking viewers as well after winning the hearts of the people who speak the fourth most spoken <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45902204">language </a>in India and also one of the top 10 fastest-growing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45902204">languages </a>in America. The magic price point Apart from the content, the price points of these OTTs are attractive too — as it’s akin to subscribing for a regional TV channel pack as opposed to the full range with all genres and offerings across languages – like Netflix, Prime, Disney Hotstar or even Zee. Hoichoi however has ‘eased’ its subscription with a syndication deal with mainstream OTT players such as MX Player and Amazon Prime. Hoichoi, one of the earliest regional OTT platforms to launch in India, is trying to capture the 250 million Bengali speakers across the world. “The generic OTT market has grown at least 30-50% over the year and we've all outpaced that industry by a fair margin. We've got about 120 odd shows, in addition to about 600-700 movies. In fact, April, May and June were bigger than COVID months for us,” Vishnu Mohta, co-founder of the Bengali streaming platform told Business Insider India. Its extensive content library remains unmatched in the OTT universe. But Mohta says that it’s just ‘getting started’. “I see a stable growth trajectory for the next five years,” he said – which is much higher than the growth in ‘national’ OTTs. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">OTT platform </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Plan </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Netflix </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual mobile </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1788 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amazon Prime Video </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1499 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">aha </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹299 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hoichoi </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹999 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Planet Marathi </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹365 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Trending across 7 countries Planet Marathi was a pandemic baby as it was launched during the lockdown. As the name suggests it caters to Marathi-speaking audiences India and abroad. <div type="image" title="Planet marathi" msid="92795598" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Planet Marathi&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> It already has a superhit web show to its name – Raanbaazaar, which delves into the murky world of politics and two escorts and the mindgame involved. The show became the most-watched Marathi series on OTT and trended across seven countries – thanks to the state’s extensive expat population. “We launched 13 Planet Marathi originals and have another 24 planned out over the next year. Our viewership comes from India and across the world. There has been an increase in the stickiness of the content, with time spent by users increasing almost 350% after Raanbaazaar’s release,” said Akshay Bardapurkar, founder of Planet Marathi. In the meanwhile, top OTTs haven’t been ignoring these viewers either. In fact most of them release regional movies and shows with audio and subtitle options – thereby ‘extending’ the reach of regional content to non-regional players as well. The best example in this list is the recently launched Modern Love Hyderabad which has an original Telugu show dubbed across five languages including Hindi and English, for those who want to catch the flavour of the show in their own language. ZEE5 too has <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/zee5-plans-to-triple-investment-in-tamil-telugu-content-in-2022-328762-2022-04-05">tripled </a>its investment into regional content this year and international player <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/netflix-on-the-lookout-for-regional-language-content-in-2022/article37835172.ece">Netflix </a>is also looking to deeper inroads in India by zooming in on regional market — but whether they would be able to win the war in every regional turf across India is left to be seen – as India has 121 official <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/more-than-19500-mother-tongues-spoken-in-india-census-5241056/">languages </a>and 19,500 mother tongues.

Hoichoi, aha and Planet Marathi - regional OTTs challenging Netflix, Prime and Hotstar

<ul><li>Often Valentine’s Day is associated with the young, and love is marketed and celebrated as a young person’s thing. </li><li>We have developed an ageist perspective towards love, believing that one loses the ability to express and celebrate love as one grows older. </li><li>Breaking these stereotypes, OYO’s Valentine’s Day campaign stood out in the clutter of puppy love this year. </li><li>We caught up with Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand - OYO Hotels &amp; Homes to understand what encouraged the brand to feature a mid-age couple, the process of its casting, and discussed why Indian brands have been neglecting people in their mid-age while celebrating love. </li></ul>Imagine a cafe and a young couple on a date. You see a bunch of roses in the background, chocolate heart-shaped boxes on the table and the guy proposes. You don’t need to try too hard because that’s basically the template Indian advertisements have been following for their Valentine’s Day ads for years. We are seeing more representation of LGBTQ couples, intercaste marriages, live-in couples, young women taking charge but rarely do we see women in their late 40s or older, falling in love all over again or sharing a romantic moment with their partner in public. Often Valentine’s Day is associated with young people, and the idea of love is marketed and celebrated as something that’s mushy, young and sweet. We don’t often get to see mid-age couples on dates or in any romantic settings. Even in mainstream cinema and pop-culture, it is only now that we have movies like Once Again and Badhaai Ho with mid-age actors as their protagonist and ads like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/article/colgates-endearing-campaign-encourages-people-to-stop-worrying-about-whatll-people-think-and-just-follow-their-hearts/articleshow/77782264.cms">Colgate's</a> Remarriage. These movies and ads have nudged us to reconsider our attitude towards love. However, an old couple still in love or mid-age people falling in love is still treated as a different conversation - just as talking about LGBTQ+ is only remembered during pride month, it doesn't fit into the larger umbrella of love yet. With this, we have developed an ageist and limited perspective towards love, believing that one loses the ability to express and celebrate love as one grows older. So, we were pleasantly surprised when we saw a young hospitality brand, OYO, take a different route this Valentine’s. Its Valentine’s Day campaign is about a mid-age couple who is loyal to OYO and has a rather mature idea of love. Featuring a brilliant cast comprising <keyword id="1813" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="neena-gupta">Neena Gupta</keyword> and <keyword id="21050" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swanand-Kirkire">Swanand Kirkire</keyword>, the campaign celebrates the spark that keeps long-term relationships alive. Titled ‘Long-term relationship with OYO,’ it is a 4-film digital campaign. In the first film, the protagonists engage in playful bickering. Kirkire asks Gupta why she sticks to choosing the same hotel and room every time they travel. Gupta replies with another question ‘I am not bored, are you?’ subtly hinting at their long-lasting relationship. It is those adorable glances at the end between Gupta and Kirkire that stole our hearts and the sound of a playful tune of ‘Yeh Rishta Hai Thoda Khiska’ acts as a cherry on top. <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="25" retweetcount="5" status="Relationships are in a long term relationship with #OYO. Just like these two cuties.#YeRishtaHaiKhiska… https://t.co/xWLBtbH6qT" createdat="1612536531000" id="1357702732744806400"></div> The campaign is supported with social media posts and emailers. Each post brings in a pragmatic perspective and reminds the audience that love is not all mush, it is a little complicated. For example, OYO dropped a truth bomb on Teddy Bear Day saying that women don’t play with teddy bears anymore. The copy read, “Dear adarsh balak, sasta ho ya mehenga, she stopped playing with teddy bears when she was 10. This is un-bear-able. Love, Neena.” <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="11" retweetcount="0" status="Agli baar emoji se bhi kaam chal jayega 🧸🐻 Teddy was my chuddy buddy, buddy. #TeddyDay #YeRishtaHaiKhiska… https://t.co/UWOFyqMxGt" createdat="1612935766000" id="1359377248172732416"></div> Another realistic comment was on Chocolate Day, advising people to avoid cliches and not give heart-shaped Chocolate boxes to your loved ones because it is less chocolates, more air and lacks utility purpose. <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="24" retweetcount="1" status="Avoid cliches, swaad anusar 🍫@Neenagupta001 #ChocolateDay #YeRishtaHaiKhiska #Valentinesweek https://t.co/jTD19oGZ22" createdat="1612847985000" id="1359009068547903489"></div> On a day when brands neglect mid-age people, OYO has broken many stereotypes but it did not intend to make a statement by onboarding a mid-age protagonist, it all happened organically. Moreover, Gupta and Kirkire were the brand's first choice. Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand - OYO Hotels &amp; Homes said, “The best movies, the ones that leave a lasting impression on you, come from stories and faces that are lined with age and character. That's really where great cinema emerges from. Advertising sometimes tends to feature bright shiny objects. I'm not just talking about human beings, even food. So the food you see in ads, you don't necessarily see in real life. We have sculpted bodies, perfect faces, etc. OYO might feature young faces from time to time as well, but we just felt these stories were better told by a couple who are ageless. Time has no relevance to the stories we are telling. It could be anyone, anywhere. We know that we are talking to such a varied audience as ours. We know that the lead protagonist needs to have a certain amount of chutzpah as well as stature. So yeah, we decided let's go get an actor not lower in age because sure, puppy love is awesome but I think we have a winner here in Neena.” While we still continue to fight with a global pandemic, OYO aims to remind you with this campaign that some familiarity is comforting and gain its consumers' trust. After conducting a consumer research and chatting with a few of them one-on-one, OYO found that that in eight out of 10 cases, women drive the conversation and take the final decision around travel. It also highlighted consumers who visit OYO once, they tend to go back to the same hotel. And this insight fueled the idea and gave birth to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/yerishtahaikhiska">#YeRishtaHaiKhiska</a>. The first ad currently boasts 2,322,307 views. Telling how the brand stumbled upon this idea of celebrating long-lasting relationships, Hola said, “The starting point of any campaign for us is inclusivity. We’re a mass brand that is adopted by so many diverse sets of people; SMEs / corporate travellers, leisure travellers, couples, among others. This is an inclusive campaign that speaks to all, rather than an old vs young one. Secondly, over time our core customers see a very high repeat rate. To the same location and the same property. Our guests are literally in a long term relationship with OYO. Additionally when we spoke 1:1, woman to woman with a lot of our women guests we came across the fact that women were the key decision-makers when it came to booking a getaway, holiday, or vacation. So join the dots and the campaign comes together. Inclusion, relationships, consideration amongst women in particular.” Both, the concept of the campaign and script of the films were written by OYO’s in-house global brand team, with support from Oink Films on production. Hola said the brand aims to woo female audiences with its Valentine’s campaign. “We’re expecting greater consideration overall. And in general, likeability because this is just such a charming campaign. I think we don't necessarily need to feature your audience in your communication for them to like it. So in terms of interests and mindset, couples will relate with it, no matter what age group they are. I do think one of the intentions is to have greater likeability and affiliation with a female group. And I feel sure we’ll see that happen,” shared Hola. OYO will roll out a unified view across 45+ OTTs and apps programmatically. This includes platforms such as Inshorts, Sharechat, OTT platforms (Hotstar, MX Player, Sony Liv, Voot), music streaming apps (Gaana, Spotify, JioSaavn,) and dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid). It will further amplify the films through an influencer campaign based on the theme #RishtaThodaKhiskaHai via a mix of celebrity and lifestyle influencers such as Smriti Khanna, Meeth Miri, Natasha Singh, and Siddhi MahaJankati, among others. As a brand that caters to a large audience, OYO is also making a conscious effort to be more inclusive in their advertising and marketing campaigns. On whether we will see more sections and communities of our societies in OYO’s campaign, Hola said, “Absolutely, We’re a brand that is adopted by the world’s middle class. And we will look to do work that appeals to a large mass.”

OYO’s Valentine’s Day campaign with Neena Gupta and Swanand Kirkire stands out in the clutter of mushy, young love

Imagine watching a movie on the computer. The opening credits roll. There is a slight shakiness, a few “zoom ins” or “zoom outs” and the texture of the print is quite grainy, but eventually the monitor seems to fit in the entire frame of the movie screen. Welcome to the world of 'cam print' movies. It's prevalent all over the world, but in India, a film-crazy nation, it takes on a whole new persona of its own. 
 
In India, the Hindi and the Tamil movie industry have hegemony over the rest when it comes to numbers. The fact that these industries also churn out a massive number of movies every year, most of which are targeted to lower middle class income groups, or as the producers like to call it, the masses, make the piracy scene even more intriguing. Here's how – India does not make too many films that are visual extravaganzas. By that I mean, a movie that releases on a Friday and if it's not an Interstellar or an <keyword id="44111" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Avatar">Avatar</keyword>, won't really compel people to wait and get tickets a week later. They'd want to “check it out” as soon as a cam print is released. This way, they save a whole lot of money, which is a huge deal here. 
 
But here's the thing – with the rise of the multiplex culture in the country and a growing young earning class, most of the urban youth now has access to most films. About 4-5 years ago, the scene was different. Only the metros would get access to the blockbusters while tier-II and tier-III towns would usually have to wait three or six months before they could get any chances to screen the films. And this resulted in a higher demand for pirated copies. The main reason was that back then they used physical prints while today the theaters mainly use digital prints which cost about 1/5th of their reel counterparts. 
 So, yes, it is true that the frequency of <keyword id="77845" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="camcorder">camcorder</keyword> piracy in India has gone down. There has been a 16% drop in the entire Asia Pacific region from last year. In India, as opposed to 44 cases of camcorder piracy, there were 40 this year. One of the major breakthroughs this year was the arrest and subsequent shutdown of piracy teams like Yamraaj and NickkkDoN, both from Indore. It is interesting to know that Indore is a tier-II town, a place where the culture of camcorder piracy is not new. It's just that earlier they were mostly pirating Indian films, but now, with the arrival of multiplexes, they are pirating Hollywood films too. 
 How seriously is the camcorder piracy movement hurting the coffers of the film studios? As it turns out, and this is quite interesting, it's mainly the two extreme ends of the movie budget spectrum that are hurting the most. Small-time <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> filmmakers and some known names in the regional cinema business are struggling against it because unlike studios behind mainstream Bollywood titles, they are not exactly in a position to dictate terms with the distributors. Telugu film Manam was one of the most pirated Indian films this year. The studio behind it along with law enforcement officials have been trying to track websites which are streaming camcorder prints of the film. And on the other end, Hollywood films, for which India is one of the biggest international markets, also lose big money due to camcorder piracy. But they lose more money when they actually release blu-ray prints, because that's when the torrent sites come into play, almost annihilating the home-video business for these films. But that's a whole other story. 
 
In the middle of this cat and mouse game, only mainstream Bollywood films seem to not get too affected by the camcorder piracy hoopla. That's mainly because their approach to movie making is pretty much like the Blitzkreig – put some heavy money in to cast stars who draw in the crowds, price the tickets for the weekends (including the opening one) relatively high, and recover almost half of the money in the first three days, even before the verdict on the quality of the movie is out far and wide. 
 
For now, the biggest winner in India (if the fight against camcorder piracy is won) will be regional cinema studios and small time indie filmmakers—because unlike mainstream Bollywood or international studios, they have much to lose from pirates.

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