MAM
Shop 24 Seven to introduce real time interactivity before week is out
Shop 24 Seven, the media commerce venture of the Hinduja Group’s convergence arm HTMT and US-based Planet E-Shop, is about to bring in more interactivity into the channel.
It will be introducing a live phone facility for prospective buyers before the week is out, says Eric Mausolf, CEO, Shop 24 Seven. Mausolf said the channel would be screening callers before putting them through to prevent crank calls. The system was still being fine tuned but at the basic level, a caller who has made a purchase before would immediately be cleared, Mausolf said.
Live content on the channel is currently at six hours a day, five days a week, in a tapeless format, Mausolf said. Elaborating on the reasons for the live element in the show, he said that the effort was to bring the product as close to the customer as possible. “We’re here to show real people showing real products,” he said.
Mausolf said once the channel has established itself, the live content would be gradually increased from the present six hours to eight, 10 and finally capped at 12 hours.
Asked to comment on how far the channel had progressed since its launch in the beginning of November 2001, Mausolf said the channel was still in what he termed the pre-operative stage. “Our focus has primarily been Mumbai, which is our test ground,” Mausolf said, adding that he expected the channel to be ready for a countrywide push by May or June.
Commenting on growth in terms of actual sales, Mausolf while offering no actual numbers, said it had settled to about a nine per cent growth month-on-month. He however pointed out that, comparing December sales figures with November, a five fold-jump was seen. January saw a two-fold jump over December and since then it has levelled off at the present level, he said.
Queried as to what would be offered to other MSOs as an incentive for carrying the channel, Mausolf said it was essentially a revenue sharing model that was being proposed. The MSO would be offered 10 per cent of sales revenues. The main goal on that front was to increase carriage and get the channel on a good band, Mausolf said.
Another aspect of the Shop 24 Seven rollout plan is the franchise point-of’-presence outlets which will be used to push the products. Mauser said that five such outlets were already up and running in Mumbai (Marine Lines, Lamington Road, Borivali) and adjoining Thane district (Thane, Badlapur). Another 10 locations are in the process of getting finalised in Maharashtra. He clarified that these were not exclusive Shop 24 Seven outlets. What has been done is that floor space has been taken up in the five outlets and it is the retailers themselves that decide the inventory on display.
As for viewer profile, Mausolf said the target was primarily housewives. As far as buying patterns are concerned, 45 per cent of sales are being recorded in the 1 pm to 4 pm and 7 pm to 10 pm bands, he said. Mumbai accounts for over 80 per cent of these sales, he added.
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.
