MAM
Rajasthan Royals collaborates with Provogue as ‘Official Fan Wear Partner’
MUMBAI: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals announced the signing of leading fashion label Provogue as the team’s ‘Official Fan Wear Partner’ for the upcoming sixth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
This is the franchise’s 16th partner. The earlier partner in this category was Puma and that was a four-year deal. The new deal is for a year. The franchise will also announce two more partners in the coming days. Rajasthan Royals and Provogue organised a fashion extravaganza to mark the association.
Interestingly, one of the franchises co-owners Shilpa Shetty Kundra collaborated with the brand’s designers and has unveiled her creations for Provogue that are specially crafted for the franchises fan community. The collection aims to embody the best of suave and sophisticated yet youthful and fun dressing at the same time.
Taking a break from their on-field performance, the entire Royals brigade including, Captain Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaun Tait, Brad Hogg and Kevon Cooper, walked the ramp displaying Provogue’s range of merchandise adding to the extant oomph factor.
The high point of the evening for Provogue’s grand collection was Shetty sashaying down the ramp with panache in the fan wear designed by her. Provogue CEO Tim Eynon said, “We are very thrilled to be associated with a team like Rajasthan Royals as Official Fan Wear Partner for this season of the IPL. Tonight we‘ve showcased among the very best in our specially created Spring Summer 2013 collection and we’re sure fans will love the ensembles. Cricket and fashion on one grand stage in a one-of-a-kind event, we really can’t ask for more!”
Rajasthan Royals CEO Raghu Iyer said, “Provogue saw that if the IPL was used at a price point there would be a business opportunity for a lifestyle brand like it. There will be a lot of on-the-ground activation in malls. The products will be available initially in Rajasthan, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, and contests will be organised. Provogue’s activities will result in the Rajasthan Royals brand name being hyped. The deal involves a licensing fee as well as revenue sharing. Our aim is to create meaningful connect and excitement with our fans which is how our licensing and merchandising business will grow. Our fans are truly the brand ambassadors of Rajasthan Royals and carry the team’s spirit wherever they go.”
Shetty said, “We are excited about this new venture with Provogue. Designing clothes has been a wonderful experience and I am delighted to have had a chance to do it for our fans. The collection is innovative, high quality, originally designed and priced to suit the taste and desires of our fan community.”
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
