GECs
‘DID L’il Masters Season 5’ is all set for buzzy launch
Mumbai: Zee has always been proactive in providing Indian youth with a global platform to showcase their talent. The channel is all set to welcome another season of its immensely popular franchise for the youngest dancing talent in the country, “Dance India Dance (DID).” The fifth season of “DID L’il Masters” is set to premiere on 12 March and will air on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 p.m, only on Zee TV.
The channel has come up with an interesting marketing strategy to ensure that the new season creates mass hysteria of an unforeseen magnitude. Catering to more than one lakh people per day, the channel also used floating OOH in key Mumbai sites like Bandra Worli Sea Link and Juhu Beach for high-impact visibility.
The highlight initiative was the biggest and first-of-its-kind fan-sourced 360-degree dance video mosaic on the streets of Mumbai. The idea provided passionate dancers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to express their undying love for dance while being captured by a 360-degree rotating camera.
Each such 360-degree dance video of a DID buff dancing their hearts out made its way into a 30 feet x 11 feet video mosaic. The three-day activity that commenced on 5 March at Bandra’s Carter Road Promenade, witnessed a total of 1500+ entries by 7 March, thus paving way for the channel to make a spectacular entry into the International Book of Records. The gorgeous judge of the show, actor Sonali Bendre too participated in this activity by recording the final video to register a world record of the ‘World’s biggest 360-degree video mosaic’ using maximum, unique 360-degree videos sourced within 72 hours.
Taking the joy of dancing into the by-lanes of India where dreams often do not find avenues, Zee TV collaborated with GiveIndia to host dance workshops for underprivileged kids supported by the giving platform in Varanasi, Ahmedabad, and Nagpur. While the three talented DID L’il Masters skippers- Vaibhav Ghuge, Vartika Jha and Paul Marshal demonstrated simple choreography for the kids to follow, it was the unbridled joy and innocent love for dancing on each of their faces that made the workshops such a huge success! As part of this noble initiative, DID L’il Masters is raising funds to educate and empower underprivileged children.
GECs
Sony ties up with EU for MasterChef India finale
GI-tagged European ingredients headline finale week
MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has struck what it calls a landmark association with the European Union for the finale week of MasterChef India, marking the first such collaboration between the bloc and an Indian television format.
The tie-up will culminate in the “European Union mystery box challenge”, which opens the much-anticipated finale week. The task will see the top six contestant pairs cook with a curated basket of ingredients bearing geographical indications (GIs) from across EU member states: a nod to provenance as well as palate.
Chef Ajay and Chef Guntas, introduced as chef ambassadors to the European Union, will present the mystery boxes and set the brief: use the fewest ingredients from each category and produce a MasterChef-level dish that marries European produce with Indian flavour sensibilities. Precision and restraint, rather than extravagance, will be tested.
For Sony, the move signals a push towards high-value integrations that blur the line between sponsorship and storytelling. The network said the association underscores the show’s growing global stature and its ability to attract world-renowned institutions to Indian screens.
Chef Ajay Chopra, food ambassador in the European Union, described the collaboration as a strategic opportunity to spotlight the heritage and authenticity of GI-tagged European products to India’s vast food-loving audience.
Over the years, MasterChef India has positioned itself as a gateway to global cuisines. The EU partnership sharpens that pitch, turning the finale into a stage for cross-continental culinary diplomacy.
The finale week will air from 2 March, 2026 at 8 pm on Sony Entertainment Television and stream on Sony Liv.
