News Broadcasting
Padmalaya Telefilms gets a new CMD
MUMBAI: Adiseshagiri Rao, one of the founder members of Padmalaya Telefilms, has officially taken over as chairman-cum-managing director of the company after the resignation of GSR Krishna Murthy.
The appointment was made official yesterday at the Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms’ annual board meeting. Padmalaya is now majority-controlled by Zee Telefilms after Chandra bought into the Southern organisation few years back.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Rao stated that this year Padmalaya Telefilms would be expecting a turnover of Rs 1,400 million, which would mean an anticipated jump of Rs 300 million. He also stated that the company would be moving on to the digital cinema platform also soon.
Incidentally, Murthy, who resigned with effect from 2 February 2004, is the brother of Rao.
On the feature film front, Padmalaya has its hands full with about eight films. Three of them are in Hindi and the rest being in regional languages.
With regards Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd. having bagged orders worth over $24 million from three global animation majors, Rao confirmed the development, but added that only a memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed till date with an Italian company.
“The formal contract will come through next month,” he added. One of the business deals involves Italy-based Mondo TV, which will be involved in all the pre and post production work for the television series that will cater to the western market. The series is estimated to be a total of 104 episodes.
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
