News Broadcasting
Bollywood gets technology savvy with ‘Chal Hutt’
MUMBAI: Technology today has made possible for the first time in hindi cinema an item number in a live-action, animation combined format. Shaadi Ka Laddoo, a feature film directed by Raj Kaushal, starring Mandira Bedi, Sanjay Suri & Aashish Chaudhary offers this unique proposition in the item song called “Chal Hutt.”
The song features actress Negar Khan and animated characters similar to the Who Framed Roger Rabbit technique. MTV and Nickelodeon have already started airing the promos of the movie and the song.
“Although the technique is not new in the west, its being used for the 1st time in an Indian feature film” remarks 2nz Animation director Kireet Khurana, the company responsible for conceiving and creating the the animated characters and blending it with Negar Khan.
The film also has some interesting animated transitions interspersed in between some of the scenes, which lends the film a unique storytelling motif. Shaadi Ka Laddoo is scheduled to release tentatively on the 15th April this year.
2nz Animation is one of the foremost animation and special effects companies in India, which was formed in 1996. 2nz Animation has also just completed the execution of another live-action animation song for feature film Detective Nani, directed by Romilla Mukherjee, due for release this summer.
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.
