iWorld
Royal Stag Barrel Select Large presents Short ‘Mama’s Boys’
MUMBAI: After the recent success of Sujoy Ghosh’s Ahalya, Jaydeep Sarkar’s Nayantara’s necklace and Adhiraj Bose’s Interior Café, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has hit the digital screen again withyet another short film, ‘Mama’s Boys’. Starring the bold and mysterious Neena Gupta and the versatile Aditi Rao Hydari along with the young heartthrob of Bollywood Arunoday Singh, the new release has been directed by Bollywood’s critically acclaimed actor, writer and director, Akshat Verma.
Themed on the objective of “keep perfecting”, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is a platform for independentdirectors to showcase their film making skills and create a niche for themselves in the industry. The platform gives a stage to storytellers to showcase their artistic creativity and reach out to their target audience in through the online world.
Commenting on the release, Raja Banerji, Assistant Vice President, Marketing, Pernod Ricard India, said “As creativity has no boundaries and filmmakers are constantly innovating to perfect their method of artistic expression, being digitally connected has also become extremely important for them to reach out to the new age audiences. The whole idea of Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is to enable them to continue to express themselves as great story tellers. Resonating with our core philosophy, this platform is meant to help them keep perfecting their skills and establish themselves in the market. In line with this thought, we are very thrilled to associate with the persistent innovative genius of AkshatVerma’s new film- Mama’s Boys”.
The man behind Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films’ new release, ‘Mama’s Boys’, Akshat Verma is credited to be the creative force behind movies like ‘Delhi Belly’, ‘Ek main aurEktu’ and ‘The Ode’. With this new short film, Akshat Verma hastried exploring to portray his thought in a modern formin an epic like Mahabharata. The story is an inspiration from director’s believe about the unfairness in Arjun’s marriage and the position he is heaved in where he charms the beautiful Draupadi and wins her hand only to find out later that he has to share her with the rest of his brothers. This excerpt is depicted in the Pandava’s residence and the story intriguingly unfolds where Arjun has to finally compromise despite his unwillingness.
Talking about his film, director,Akshat Vermasaid, “’Mama’s Boys’ is a reflection of my childhood memories when Amar Chitra Katha fascinated me and Mahabharata enthralled me with its multiple nested stories. I had an amazing time shooting with some of the industry’s most talented actors.Neena Gupta was a delight to work with, Aditi’s versatility was commendable and Arunoday Singh possesses an incredible comic timing where the audience only knows him for being a tough guy onscreen. Royal Stag Barrel Select large Short Films has indeed presented me this great opportunity to me to connect with my audience through the digital platform and it has overall been a remarkable experience”.
About Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films:
Royal stag Barrel Select Large Short Films (LSF) is a portal that is the hub of Indian short films. It gives the audience the window to enjoy short films made by large directors. It gives budding film makers a platform to showcase their short films with large ideas. It is a vehicle to submit Indian short film makers to the international festival circuit. LSF is a parallel platform for indie films that can take co-creation with social media to the next level. The platform Pioneered under the aegis of Royal Stag Mega Movies, and Royal Stag Large short Film gains the first mover advantage in a medium that will be the future of entertainment. LSF has released films of well-known Bollywood directors and gives opportunity to upcoming directors. In recent times, Platform has been built on identified core attribute of RSBS – ‘Keep Perfecting’ and hence now targeting a more refined and evolved RSBS audience. Adhiraj Bose is the face of the platform and platform already showcased a digital film on how to make “perfect films”.
iWorld
Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour generates Rs 943 crore impact
EY report says 14 concerts across 13 cities sparked jobs, tourism and spending
MUMBAI: What began as a music tour quickly turned into an economic crescendo. The India leg of Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour has generated a measurable economic impact of nearly Rs 943 crore, according to a socio-economic impact report prepared by EY.
Spread across two months in late 2024, the tour travelled through 13 cities with 14 performances, drawing more than 3.2 lakh fans and selling out shows in roughly 10 minutes on average.
The concerts began in New Delhi on October 26 and wrapped up with a New Year’s Eve finale in Ludhiana, the singer’s hometown. In between, the Punjabi superstar turned stages across cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati into high-energy gatherings where music, fandom and travel blended into a nationwide spectacle.
According to the EY analysis, the tour generated Rs 276 crore in direct revenue for organisers through ticket sales, sponsorships and food and beverage spending at venues. Indirect spending by fans pushed the economic ripple effect even further, contributing an estimated Rs 553 crore through travel, accommodation, tourism and shopping.
Government revenues added another Rs 114 crore, including Rs 111 crore in GST and around Rs 2.5 crore in local permissions and fees.
Ticket sales were the main driver, accounting for about 80 per cent of direct revenue, with prices ranging from Rs 2,499 for silver tickets to as much as Rs 60,000 for premium lounge access. The gold category emerged as the most popular, generating more than half of the ticketing revenue.
The concerts were not just local gatherings. Nearly 38 per cent of attendees travelled from other cities to catch the shows, turning the tour into a travel magnet. Many extended their trips by two to three days, boosting hotel stays, dining and tourism activities in host cities.
Air and rail travel together accounted for around 70 per cent of inter-city travel costs linked to the concerts, while nearly half of travelling fans stayed with friends or family.
Cities hosting the tour also saw noticeable spikes in travel bookings. Flight bookings to Chandigarh, for instance, rose by about 300 per cent year on year around the concert dates, while cities such as Delhi, Ahmedabad and Indore saw booking growth of roughly 100 per cent.
Beyond the stage lights and thumping speakers, the tour also created a significant employment surge. The report estimates that more than 118,000 man-days of work were generated, including about 69,000 direct man-days and over 48,000 indirect man-days across sectors such as security, logistics, hospitality and technical production.
Security, safety and crowd management alone accounted for roughly half of the direct employment created during the concerts, reflecting the scale of operations required to stage such large events.
More than 15 brands partnered with the tour, turning concerts into a playground for creative marketing. From themed merchandise drops to experiential campaigns and exclusive ticket access deals, companies tapped into the singer’s massive fan base to amplify their reach.
The official ticketing platform recorded over 62.5 lakh visitors during the sales window and processed more than 1.2 lakh ticket orders, underscoring the intense demand for live events anchored by home-grown artists.
The tour also doubled as a cultural roadshow. At each stop, Dosanjh embraced local traditions, sampled regional cuisine and showcased India’s diversity through his social media posts and stage interactions, turning concert stops into mini travel diaries.
For the wider entertainment industry, the Dil-Luminati tour is being seen as a marker of how large-scale live concerts can drive economic activity well beyond the stage. The report suggests that India’s live music sector could grow rapidly in the coming years as demand for large events continues to surge.
In other words, the Dil-Luminati tour did more than fill stadiums. It moved crowds, boosted city economies and showed that when live music hits the right note, the ripple travels far beyond the final encore.
