Cosmos-Maya secures coveted Diamond Button with 10 million subscribers for its anchor YouTube channel WowKidz

With individual videos clocking 100 million hits, the 26 million subscriber strong YouTube platform for kids is hitting the right notes and has surpassed the 10 million subscriber mark for its channel WowKidz

Cosmos-Maya, the frontrunner in shaping industry trends has added another feather in its cap. WowKidz, it’s YouTube network for kids now has more than 10 million subscribers on its anchor channel and is now a recipient of the coveted Diamond Button. It all started with this one channel and the brand diversified into several sub-channels catering to numerous geographies world over. The channel has seen a 6-fold increase in the number of subscribers in just 18 months.

WowKidz had humble beginnings and Cosmos-Maya saw it as a source of additional revenue. It was given a push by CEO Anish Mehta who envisaged a brand which viewers could bank upon for 24X7 quality entertainment. In just 18 months, it is now a full-fledged business entity raking in a substantial share of Cosmos-Maya’s revenue pie. The platform now has 10,000 odd videos of quality entertainment for the 3-14 year demographic produced in-house and acquired from top producers worldwide. Boonie Bears, Smurfs, Simba, Om Nom are only some of the big-ticket international shows that run on WowKidz. WowKidz also has the world’s largest Hindi language animation content catalogue today.

A jubilant Anish Mehta, CEO Cosmos-Maya said, “This is a great development. There are only a handful channels worldwide which have received the coveted Diamond Button and even fewer Indian channels. We are very grateful to our viewers for their love and appreciation. Our mission with WowKidz is to make it a two-pronged content window – showcasing the best Indian animation to the world and bringing the best of world content to Indian kids. This is a leap in that direction.”

This development comes on the back of Cosmos-Maya’s recent impetus on regional and vernacular content. Cosmos-Maya’s bouquet of 32 YouTube channels under umbrella brand WowKidz, which has more than 26 million subscribers and 12.5 billion views, now has its content available in all major languages, namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Nepalese.

Devdatta Potnis, SVP Revenue and Finance, further added, “Programming has played a major role in WowKidz’s success. We have videos which have clocked 100 million hits. Motu Patlu and ViR, two of our biggest IPs have garnered more than 6 billion and 4 billion views respectively. This when Motu Patlu is geo-blocked in India. We have a wonderful mix of homegrown and acquired content which viewers can watch anywhere anytime. Fresh content is added to the mix on a daily basis. Our creative prowess adds further zing to the localization of acquired international content.”

CULTURE MACHINE’S MOVIE AMOLI STARRING VIDYA BALAN, RAJKUMAR RAO, KAMAL HASSAN, NANI AND JISSHU SENGUPTA AS NARRATORS WINS THE 66TH NATIONAL FILM AWARD

The announcement of the most prestigious 66th National Film Awards took place at Rashtriya Bhavan - New Delhi for honoring the best films of 2018. Culture Machine’ a digital media company which runs some of India’s largest digital brands won the ‘Best Investigative Film’ award for its movie Amoli.

Starring the renowned stalwarts of the film industry - Vidya Balan, Rajkumar Rao, Kamal Hassan, Nani, and Jisshu Sengupta as the narrators, Amoli’ is a definitive documentary on the repulsive commercial sexual exploitation of children, a deep-seated and well-organized criminal industry.

Released in seven languages, the documentary is narrated in 4 chapters - Mol (Price), Maya (Illusion), Manthan (Internal conflict), Mukti (Liberation). Each chapter takes the audience on a journey that delves deep into the grimdark world of child sexual exploitation.

Speaking on the remarkable achievement at the 66th National Film Awards, Sameer Pitalwalla – Founder and CEO, Culture Machine said, “It is a proud moment for the company to have been honoured with such an esteemed award. Through Amoli, we tried to create an awareness among people on the scale and human cost of the sexual manipulation of children in India. We are glad to see the appreciation being showered on the documentary.”

The gorgeous and talented Vidya Balan, who narrated the English version of the movie said, “The film Amoli has a strong storyline and I am glad to have been associated with this documentary. It revolves around a heart wrenching story that exposes the ugly business of commercial sexual exploitation of children. I have narrated the English version of the movie. It gives me immense happiness to see it receive the prestigious 66th National Award, and this is definitely a proud moment for the entire team.”

Acclaimed documentary filmmakers Jasmine Kaur Roy and Avinash Roy who directed the movie, quipped on the spectacular win, “The award not only recognizes the hard work put in by the team but also celebrates the indomitable spirit of those who are fighting a constant battle to put an end to child sex trafficking. We hope that this National Award would further help to highlight these voices and bring a stronger law against this horrific crime.”

About Culture Machine: 

Culture Machine is a Digital Media company that uses technology and storytelling to build great digital brands that people love. By combining cutting edge technology with great content, it currently runs some of India’s largest digital media brands and also licenses its core technologies to advertisers, media companies and agency partner’s world-wide. 

Today, Culture Machine’s network includes several established digital media brands like Being Indian, Blush, Put Chutney, Viva and Awesome Sauce to name a few.

Tara from Satara actor Roshni Walia takes popular you-tuber Yes Theory on Mumbai Darshan

You-tube sensations are not rare in this world and while the list is full of people who came, rose to popularity and were suddenly lost, there are some who succeeded in building their names across the world. One such you-tuber channel is Yes Theory which has more than 4 Million followers from across the globe and while Sony Entertainment Television is coming up with a show Tara from Satara, the lead of the show Roshni Walia was recently seen roaming on the street of Mumbai with Thomas, the you-tuber from Yes Theory.

The you-tube channel recently came with a new challenge where they could not deny for any request of their fans and it was that time when Roshni invited them to visit India. The next day Thomas was seen exploring the streets of Mumbai with our girl, eating pani puri, chhole bhature and other Punjabi delicacies while travelling in Mumbai locals and rickshaws. He was seen bargaining with the local vendors, interacting with his India fans and when Roshni gave him a challenge to visit Mannat alone, he did that and even made friends who sponsored his day trip. Thomas called the trip the best spontaneous decision of his life finally as he left for the airport after exploring the famous Juhu Beach. This 48-hour trip to India was not only memorable for him but also for Roshni who was taken by surprise when he rang her doorbell.

Speaking about her experience with Thomas Roshni said, “It was just a random challenge I gave to the Yes Theory you-tubers never expecting them to actually accept it. In the morning when I really got a call from them, I was surprisingly happy and, on the call, they informed me that Thomas is the one who would be coming to Mumbai to explore the place with me. The moment I saw him outside the door of my house, I could not control my excitement and went on shouting with joy. As promised, I took him to all famous locations of our city Mumbai and made him eat Indian delicacies like Chhole Bhature and Pani puri. Even my mother cooked Aloo Parathas for him for breakfast. The next day I gave him a challenge to visit Mannat all by himself and to my astonishment he succeeded and made friends who took him to Mount Mary’s Church along with paying for his lunch. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience for me. I have been a fan of their you-tube channel and it was a dream come true to get to meet Thomas.”

Watch Tara from Satara from 19th August, every Monday to Thursday 10:30 PM only on Sony Entertainment Television

Gully Boy, Andhadhun bags big; as Tabu, Vijay Sethupathi and Shah Rukh walk off with top honours at IFFM Awards 2019

It is that evening of the year in Melbourne, when the annual awards night marked its gala presence in the cultural melting pot. 2019’s award function at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne was a special one for many reasons.

Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy walked away with the top gong of Best Film honour, whereas Vijay Sethupathi won the Best Actor for his widely acclaimed film Tamil film Super Deluxe and Tabu was named Best Actress for her performance in Andhadhun.

Zoya said, “I am so excited. I am not going to forget this evening. This is my first award in the capacity of a producer. Gully boy was our first production. This is a good start. No one makes a movie alone and this wouldn’t be possible without my producers, my co-writer, my incredible actors and every member of my cast and crew. 54 invincible artists worked on this album. I owe this night to all of them.”

Sriram said on his win as best director, “I am thankful and overwhelmed with the response to Andhadhun and this award. A French short film inspired this movie. It was 7 years ago and the movie took a long time to make.”

Upon receiving her award, Tabu said, “It’s my first time in Australia but I will remember it for the rest of my life. Thank you Sriram for writing this for me.  This character is catalyst for change of roles for women that are being written and will be written in future. Thank you for trusting me with this character”.

Additionally, IFFM bestowed upon superstar Shah Rukh Khan - the  'Excellence In Cinema' award.

Shah Rukh Khan, in his usual candour, said, “Thank you all of you in Melbourne. It’s an honour and privilege for me. Awards are odd because to me an art form be judged for its quality feels counter intuitive. Art is an expression and cinema is the ability to create emotions and share experiences through stories. To be an actor, is to live to know that each one is a mere illusion. When you are making a movie you can change a lot by changing the angle of the light and it strikes you that life is a lot like that as well. It’s the simple things that can alter your journey and pondering makes your story worth telling. I shot a film here 12 years ago and it was a straightforward film about a man who has lost hope in life picks on a team of girls and then they go on to win a world championship. This city had the simplicity I had seen nowhere else. When you get older like me, you realise things. I realised that film changed my life. It’s not the awards you get, it’s just the part of creating process that is an exhilarating experience for an artiste.”

Here’s a complete list of winners -

IFFM Best Short Film : MY NAME IS MOHAMED AND RAGHAD, WE DON’T EXIST HERE ANYMORE by Ali Mousawi

BE MY BROTHER by Genevieve Clay

IFFM Diversity Award: Onir

Telstra People’s Choice Award: Simmba

Celebrating 20 years of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai: Karan Johar

IFFM Best Director : Sriram Raghavan for ANDHADHUN

IFFM Best Actor : Vijay Sethupathi for SUPER DELUXE

IFFM Best Actress : Tabu for ANDHADHUN

IFFM Best Indie film : BULBUL CAN SING

IFFM Best Film : GULLY BOY

PWC Equality in Cinema award an honorary award) - CHUSKIT & SUPER DELUXE

IFFM Excellence in Cinema - Shah Rukh Khan

Deepshika dons a Khaleesi inspired to look for her character in &TV’s Main Bhi Ardhangini

Shedding the royal and vibrant traditional attire that once defined Nilambari’s strength and power in &TV’s Main Bhi Ardhangini, Deepshikha Nagpal is all set to essay a new powerful character after the show moves into a supernatural narrative. The royal, smart yet sly Nilambari will now be the powerful and overambitious Mahamaya, an evil woman who has inhibited supernatural powers from Chitra (Anjali Priya) and is now out to control the entire world with these powers.

With a keen interest in styling and designing and taking inspiration from Khaleesi from Game of Thrones, Deepshika has styled her look in all-black sultry attire to bring alive her character. Talking about it, Deepshika said “Although Khaleesi has quite a westernized look to her character, I decided to give a slight indo-western appeal to my look. Considering Mahamaya has a dark and evil nature, I felt black would best represent this side keeping in mind the glamour quotient of the character. The accessories were handpicked to match the shades of the dress and although I am not a fan of dark nail colours, I decided to wear blue to match the personality of my character. My interest in styling and designing came about after assisting in Nilambari’s looks and thus decided to take up this character as a challenge.”

Where once Nilambari depicted grace and elegance in her appearance, Mahamaya brings forth power and control in her attitude. Deepshikha’s new character makes a rather sizzling entry into the show. Delivering a carefree extempore performance, the actress made her entry to the popular sizzling track, Dilbar Dilbar that was choreographed by the actress herself. Speaking about the same, Deepshikha said, “Despite shooting this sequence at 3 am in the night after a long working day, I was high on energy and quite excited to shoot this sequence. It was something different and interesting that had come my way in this show. I didn’t want the performance to look choreographed or restricted to certain movements. Mahamaya is one to control and that had to be represented in her stance and style. I took inspiration from Ranveer Singh’s performance in Binte Dil to depict the same flow and movement in my dance. I personally love this track a lot and performing on it, in a style comfortable to me was an exciting experience.”