MAM
Coke plans festive bonanza
MUMBAI: With the brouhaha over the pesticide controversy having died down for the cola majors, Coca Cola has announced a number of on-ground activities for the ongoing festive season.
A release issued by Coca-Cola informs that business is back on track now that its products received a clean bill of health from all sources. These ranged from the Indian government’s Central Food Technology Research Institute to Great Britain’ s Central Science Laboratory.
Elaborating on the marketing and promotional campaign Coca Cola vice president Sunil Gupta said, “A number of on ground activities are planned for the festival season. Nationwide poster campaign at retail outletsis being organised. We will also be organising meet-your-favourite-star programme which will bring our young consumers and our popular brand ambassadors together. We will also be arranging plant visits for school children, special offers, attractive packaging and various contests are some of these activities to be pursued in the coming weeks.”
A report in the Financial Express informs that Pepsi has tied up with at least 200 puja mandals in Kolkata and Howrah. The beverage conglomerate is also said to be looking at a countrywide promotion which would coincide with Diwali, which falls towards the end of next month.
It goes without saying that the rejuvenation is great news both for print and television channels. A large part of their advertising revenue comes from the Cola majors. In fact when the pesticide controversy was going on the marketing heads requested the editorial of some companies to tone down their content on the issue and focus on other issues
Earlier this month, Coca Cola introduced 200ml Maaza in Maharashtra and 200ml Thums Up in West Bengal, at Rs 5 each. Coca-Cola India, which is among the largest foreign direct investors in India claims to have been a major driver of the country’s rural economy and market. Its affordability strategy selling 200ml packs at Rs five has vastly grown the rural market.
Digital
Galleri5 launches India’s first AI cinema OS at India AI Summit
Collective Artists Network unveils end-to-end production platform powering Mahabharat series and Hanuman teaser.
MUMBAI: India’s cinema just got an AI operating system upgrade because why settle for tools when you can have a full production command centre? Collective Artists Network and Galleri5 today unveiled Galleri5 AI Studio at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, billing it as the country’s first cinema-native production technology platform. Launched on 20 February 2026, the system acts as an end-to-end orchestration layer for film and television, integrating generative AI, LoRA-driven character architecture, controlled shot pipelines, 3D/VFX tools, lip-sync, upscaling, quality control, and delivery, all tuned for theatrical and broadcast standards.
Unlike piecemeal AI tools, Galleri5 controls the entire stack from script and world-building to final master output. Filmmakers retain creative authorship, continuity, and IP security while slashing timelines from years to months.
The platform is already in live use at scale. Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh, an AI-powered series produced under Collective’s Historyverse banner, is airing on Star Plus and streaming on JioHotstar, ranking among the top-watched shows in its slot. Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi Hanuman – The Eternal (produced by Star Studios 18) dropped its teaser on IMAX screens, leveraging Galleri5’s infrastructure for the visuals.
Collective Artists Network founder and group CEO Vijay Subramaniam said, “For India to lead in the next era of storytelling, we have to think beyond tools and start building systems. This is about putting durable production infrastructure in place so creators can dream bigger, producers can execute faster, and our stories can travel further.”
Galleri5 partner at Collective and CEO Rahul Regulapati added, “Cinema requires precision, repeatability, and control. Off-the-shelf AI doesn’t solve that. Orchestration does. We built an operating system where technology bends to filmmaking, not the other way around.”
Under Historyverse, Collective Studios is developing a slate including Hanuman, Krishna, Shiva, and Shivaji blending advanced AI systems with traditional craft. The summit session featured directors from Hanuman, Krishna, and Shiva alongside Collective leaders, diving into real-world case studies: what delivers on screen, what glitches, and how production economics are shifting.
At a summit packed with global tech brass and policymakers, Galleri5 stakes a bold claim, cinema’s future belongs to integrated systems, not isolated gadgets and India is building one right now. Whether you’re a filmmaker eyeing faster workflows or just curious about AI remaking epics, this OS could be the script-flip the industry didn’t see coming.
