MAM
Colors, Life OK gain in TAM week 21; Star Plus continues to lead
MUMBAI: Week 21, TAM’s ratings. Colors was the highest gainer amongst Hindi GECs as it added 10 GRPs to increase its total to 184 for the entire week. Life OK was the next highest gainer, clipping on an additional eight GRPs to take its score to 130 GRPs, according to ratings provided by a TV channel.
Zee TV and Colors shared the No 2 position with 184 GRPs each. Sony Entertainment was at No 3 as it shed three GRPs to end the week with 149 GRPs.
Life OK had its special Maha episode of – Savdhan India which added 1.1 TVR to its chart. It even aired a Hindi feature film on Sunday titled ‘Dhammu’ that got 0.6 TVR.
Star Plus held on to its pole position this week, gaining only four points to take its tally to 238 GRPs. Its chart topper Diya Aur BaatiHum retained last week‘s TVRs of 3.7 TVR. Pyaar ka Dard was the second most popular Star Plus show with 2.9 TVR (3.0 TVR last week). Its long running Yeh Rishta lost eyeballs as the show rated 2.8 TVR (2.9 TVR last week). The channel‘s new talent hunt-cum-reality show India‘s Dancing Superstar witnessed a fall to 1.8 (2.8 TVR last week) on Saturday and a slight fall on Sunday with a 2.6 TVR (2.8 TVR last week).
Colors leading fiction series Balika Vadhu saw a minor fall to 2.6 TVR (2.8 last week) and Madhubaladropped to 2.3 TVR (2.5 last week). Another daily, Uttaran continued to stay put at its last week‘s TVR of 2.6. Sasural Simar Ka ended the week with 2.5 TVR (2.4 TVR last week). What added muscle to Colors GRPs was the 1.6 TVRs that indiantelevision.com‘s The Indian Telly Awards notched up on 25 May at 9 pm. Overall, The Indian Telly Awards added seven GRPs to Colors‘ total tally to help it get level with Zee TV this week.
Zee TV‘s ficitonal shows seem to be shedding viewers if one goes by the fact that Qubool Haidropped to 2.5 TVR (2.8 last week), Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke fell to 2.0 TVR (2.4 last week),PunarVivaah which fell to 1.8 (1.9 TVR). The only gainers were Hitler Didiwhich rose to 1.3 TVR (1.2 TVR) and Pavitra Rishta which rose to 1.9 TVR (1.8 TVR) and the Mahasangam Qubool Hai episode, which generated 2.8 GRPs on 20 May. That along with Hindi feature film ‘Hum Saath Saath Hai’ which notched up a 1.0 TVR, and its reality talent show India‘s Best Dramebaaz which generated 2.5 TVR (2.0 TVR) on Saturday and 2.0 TVR (1.8 TVR) on Sunday which helped Zee hold on to its position this week.
Third placed, Sony Entertainment‘s long running crime series CIDwitnessed a fall to 1.8 TVR (2.4 last week); whereas Crime Patrolshowed a marginal 0.1 improvement as it registered a 1.8 TVR (1.7 last week). Finally, Comedy Circus showed a drop of 0.2 taking Sony‘s tally to 1.4 TVR (1.6 last week). Other fiction shows either held on to their viewership or dipped marginally during the week.
Fourth placed, Sab gained three GRPs ending the week with 135 GRPs and the No 4 spot. Its fiction show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah continues to be the channel lead with 2.8 TVR (2.9 last week).
Sahara managed to gain two GRPs but still continued to be at the bottom of the heap with 15 GRPs.
Since the cash rich league was nearing its qualifier stage, the number of matches played trickled down to a match every two days, and that reflects in Max chopping off 59 point taking its GRPs down to 170 GRPs (229 last week).
Movie channels too witnessed marginal increases: Zee Cinema stayed stable with 102; Star Gold rated at 110 GRPs (105 last week) and Movies OK was at 56 GRPs (54 last week).
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
