iWorld
Royal Stag Barrel Select Large presents Short ‘Mama’s Boys’
MUMBAI: After the recent success of Sujoy Ghosh’s Ahalya, Jaydeep Sarkar’s Nayantara’s necklace and Adhiraj Bose’s Interior Café, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has hit the digital screen again withyet another short film, ‘Mama’s Boys’. Starring the bold and mysterious Neena Gupta and the versatile Aditi Rao Hydari along with the young heartthrob of Bollywood Arunoday Singh, the new release has been directed by Bollywood’s critically acclaimed actor, writer and director, Akshat Verma.
Themed on the objective of “keep perfecting”, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is a platform for independentdirectors to showcase their film making skills and create a niche for themselves in the industry. The platform gives a stage to storytellers to showcase their artistic creativity and reach out to their target audience in through the online world.
Commenting on the release, Raja Banerji, Assistant Vice President, Marketing, Pernod Ricard India, said “As creativity has no boundaries and filmmakers are constantly innovating to perfect their method of artistic expression, being digitally connected has also become extremely important for them to reach out to the new age audiences. The whole idea of Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is to enable them to continue to express themselves as great story tellers. Resonating with our core philosophy, this platform is meant to help them keep perfecting their skills and establish themselves in the market. In line with this thought, we are very thrilled to associate with the persistent innovative genius of AkshatVerma’s new film- Mama’s Boys”.
The man behind Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films’ new release, ‘Mama’s Boys’, Akshat Verma is credited to be the creative force behind movies like ‘Delhi Belly’, ‘Ek main aurEktu’ and ‘The Ode’. With this new short film, Akshat Verma hastried exploring to portray his thought in a modern formin an epic like Mahabharata. The story is an inspiration from director’s believe about the unfairness in Arjun’s marriage and the position he is heaved in where he charms the beautiful Draupadi and wins her hand only to find out later that he has to share her with the rest of his brothers. This excerpt is depicted in the Pandava’s residence and the story intriguingly unfolds where Arjun has to finally compromise despite his unwillingness.
Talking about his film, director,Akshat Vermasaid, “’Mama’s Boys’ is a reflection of my childhood memories when Amar Chitra Katha fascinated me and Mahabharata enthralled me with its multiple nested stories. I had an amazing time shooting with some of the industry’s most talented actors.Neena Gupta was a delight to work with, Aditi’s versatility was commendable and Arunoday Singh possesses an incredible comic timing where the audience only knows him for being a tough guy onscreen. Royal Stag Barrel Select large Short Films has indeed presented me this great opportunity to me to connect with my audience through the digital platform and it has overall been a remarkable experience”.
About Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films:
Royal stag Barrel Select Large Short Films (LSF) is a portal that is the hub of Indian short films. It gives the audience the window to enjoy short films made by large directors. It gives budding film makers a platform to showcase their short films with large ideas. It is a vehicle to submit Indian short film makers to the international festival circuit. LSF is a parallel platform for indie films that can take co-creation with social media to the next level. The platform Pioneered under the aegis of Royal Stag Mega Movies, and Royal Stag Large short Film gains the first mover advantage in a medium that will be the future of entertainment. LSF has released films of well-known Bollywood directors and gives opportunity to upcoming directors. In recent times, Platform has been built on identified core attribute of RSBS – ‘Keep Perfecting’ and hence now targeting a more refined and evolved RSBS audience. Adhiraj Bose is the face of the platform and platform already showcased a digital film on how to make “perfect films”.
iWorld
JioStar revenue hits Rs 9,784 crore as cricket fuels 22 per cent growth
A surge in digital viewership and sports dominance fuels a blockbuster quarter for the media giant
MUMBAI: JioStar is batting on a flat pitch. The media titan’s fourth-quarter results for the financial year 2026 reveal a business scaling new heights, propelled by an unprecedented appetite for premium sports and digital-first storytelling.
Gross revenue for the quarter soared by 22.15 per cent to Rs 9,784 crore, up from Rs 8,010 crore in the third quarter. Operationally, the momentum was equally strong; revenue from operations climbed 21 per cent to Rs 8,372 crore. These figures underscore the firm’s successful integration following the Reliance and Disney merger, creating a dominant force in the Indian market.
The annual performance has been nothing short of a spectacle. Full-year gross revenue reached a massive Rs 36,248 crore, while annual profit after tax hit Rs 3,210 crore. This rapid expansion reflects JioStar’s ability to capture and monetise the massive growth in India’s media consumption.
Cricket proved to be the ultimate growth engine. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and TATA IPL 2026 delivered “record-breaking viewership” across both television and digital screens. The World Cup final alone drew a global peak concurrency of 72.5 million on JioHotstar, cementing its status as the nation’s premier streaming destination. On television, JioStar maintained a commanding 34.2 per cent viewership share, reaching a staggering 810 million viewers nationwide.
The digital numbers were just as impressive. JioHotstar averaged 500 million monthly active users, driven by consistent subscriber growth and innovative AI-led content discovery tools. These advancements are ensuring that JioStar remains at the cutting edge of the global “Race for Attention.”
With a firm grip on the country’s most valuable sporting rights and a rapidly growing digital footprint, JioStar is perfectly positioned for the future. It has built the ultimate content powerhouse—one that is ready to dominate the Indian living room for years to come.
