MAM
R Ashwin teams up with Colgate to talk about oral care for diabetics
Mumbai: Colgate India has roped in cricketer R Ashwin for it’s awareness campaign about oral health for people dealing with diabetes. The campaign has been conceptualised by VMLY&R, in partnership with Redfuse Media.
In the campaign film, Ashwin speaks from his experience of witnessing his father’s experience after being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. The film aims to create awareness of how gum infections can complicate diabetes management.
Run in Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali languages, the campaign will be visible across digital platforms.
The cricketer gives a glimpse of the changes his family had to incorporate into their daily life following the diagnosis. It brings to the forefront the relatively unknown connection between diabetes and its oral complications and highlights the importance of oral health management and the benefits of Colgate’s special oral care toothpaste for people with diabetes.
“Few people realise that diabetes and oral health are very closely related. In fact, nine out of 10 diabetics suffer from oral health problems and these oral health problems further complicate diabetes management. Colgate has launched a special toothpaste for diabetics and an information campaign to educate diabetics about this connection. We are committed to reach millions of people across the country with this educational campaign and make the Colgate for diabetics toothpaste available across the country,” said Colgate-Palmolive (India) vice president marketing Arvind Chintamani.
Research done in India and around the world suggests that people with diabetes are three times more likely to get gum infections as compared to the non-diabetic population. Colgate has launched a special toothpaste for diabetics to address these specific problems, said the statement.
Speaking about the idea behind the campaign, VMLY&R chief creative officer Mukund Olety said, “Colgate toothpaste for the oral health of diabetics is an ayurvedic solution designed with diabetes experts to help with better diabetes care. While the product is clinically proven, we wanted to keep the storytelling warm and emotional. For this campaign, we picked a celebrity not only for his popularity but also because he is a genuine care giver. Ashwin’s father has type-2 diabetes and Ashwin, despite his busy schedule, takes time out to help his father in diabetes care. They have made changes in their lifestyle as well. And all of this can be seen in the film. The film is a slice of their life, a day in their household.”
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
