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Made in Bharat goes global as HiTech Animation powers a mythic leap
MUMBAI: Once upon a timeline not in Hastinapur, but in Kolkata, a creative revolution took root. What began as a modest dream inside a small studio in 2012 has today turned into one of India’s most compelling success stories in animation. HiTech Animation Studios, the homegrown powerhouse behind Kurukshetra, is showing the world that the next wave of visual storytelling is proudly Made in Bharat.
From the land known for art, music and literature, HiTech emerged with a clear vision to create world-class animation from India, for the world. Over the past decade, the studio has worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Sony Yay, Nickelodeon, Byju’s, Cartoon Network, and Pogo. Each project honed its craft, blending technical precision with creative flair, and proved that Indian animators could hold their own against global giants.
The studio’s crowning glory arrived this year with Kurukshetra, a two-part animated epic that reimagines the Mahabharata through the eyes of 18 warriors. Released on Netflix on 10 October and 24 October 2025, and produced in collaboration with Tipping Point, the digital arm of JioStar, the series took three years and over 250 artists and technicians to create.
Rendered in cutting-edge 3D animation, motion capture, and photorealistic visual design, the 18-episode series is available in 34 global languages and streaming in 190 countries. For Indian storytelling, Kurukshetra is more than a milestone, it’s a declaration of creative intent, proving that homegrown myth and modern technology can together craft a cinematic spectacle with universal appeal.
“Our focus has been on building an integrated ecosystem, where talent development, technology, and production excellence work in sync to deliver content that creates impact beyond borders,” said HiTech Animation managing director and founder Subrata Roy. “We’ve always approached animation as both a creative pursuit and a scalable industry.”
HiTech’s rise mirrors a larger cultural moment India’s transformation from a content service hub into a storytelling powerhouse. By combining state-of-the-art infrastructure with its own in-house training programmes, the studio not only creates premium content but also shapes the next generation of animators powering India’s creative economy.
Roy believes that the foundation for this artistic growth lies deep within India’s culture itself. “Art and craft have always been integral to our education and identity. Combine that with our socio-cultural diversity, and we have the stories and the talent to captivate audiences across countries and cultures something the global success of Kurukshetra clearly shows,” he said.
From a single floor in Kolkata to the world’s biggest streaming platform, HiTech Animation’s journey is a story of vision meeting velocity, of tradition reimagined through technology. As Kurukshetra takes Indian mythology to millions of screens worldwide, one truth stands tall when Bharat dreams in pixels, the world watches in awe.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
