iWorld
Telugu Zee5 brings Sankranthi home with Manchu Manoj
MUMBAI:Sankranthi comes home before the sweets this year, riding in on a bus and settling down in the manduva. Telugu Zee5 has rolled out its festive brand film featuring Manchu Manoj, tapping into nostalgia, family banter and rural warmth to underline a simple message: when it comes to festival viewing, homegrown stories still rule the screen.
Built around the line ‘Mana Pandaga, Mana Entertainment, Mana Telugu Zee5’, the film unfolds in a traditional village household during Sankranthi. From Manoj’s cheerful bus ride back home to teasing relatives, noisy laughter and a full-throttle festive gathering, the narrative leans into recognisable Telugu family moments. The tone stays light, humorous and rooted, positioning Telugu Zee5 as the default entertainment companion not just for the festival week, but for the year ahead.
Directed by Sai Marthand with cinematography by Suriya Balaji, the duo behind the series Little Hearts, the film blends old-school festive nostalgia with contemporary pacing. It also cleverly mirrors the platform’s broader content strategy, spotlighting a diverse slate that already includes popular titles such as Beauty, Nayanam, Bhairavam, Sankrantiki Vasthunam, Kishkindapuri and Hanuman, each catering to different viewing moods and age groups.
The campaign also sets the stage for what’s next. Telugu Zee5 is lining up major releases featuring Chiranjeevi, Nayanthara and Ravi Teja, signalling a steady pipeline of star-driven and mass-appeal content. Telugu Zee5 business head Anuradha Guru said the focus remains on culturally rooted storytelling that reflects Telugu tastes, while Manoj noted that the campaign brought him back to the light-hearted, family-centric space that audiences continue to enjoy.
As OTT platforms jostle for attention, Telugu Zee5’s Sankranthi pitch is refreshingly straightforward. Celebrate your festival, watch your stories, in your language. Sometimes, the simplest ideas travel the farthest.
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
