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Asian Paints Sharad Shamman turns 40
MUMBAI: Kolkata’s iconic taxi has just been given the ride of its life, thanks to ‘Asian Paints Sharad Shamman,’ which this year celebrates 40 colourful years of Pujo pride. Marking the milestone, Asian Paints has unveiled ‘Choltey Choltey Chollish,’ a cinematic campaign and travelling installation that transforms the city’s beloved yellow cab into a rolling time machine. The film zips through four decades of Durga Pujo, blending nostalgia and newness in equal measure.
The journey begins in the 1980s, with bamboo pandals and radio melodies, cruises into the ’90s with the rise of themes, steers into the 2000s spotlight of global attention and social messaging, and finally parks in today’s world of AR, VR and digital-first celebrations. Each era is splashed across the taxi’s changing surface: hand-painted motifs and designs shining in royale glitz, capturing the essence of Kolkata’s creativity.
Music, too, gets a seatbelt moment. From retro tunes to modern beats, every decade’s soundtrack weaves into the storytelling, making the cab not just a carrier of memories but a jukebox of Pujo.
“Festivals mirror their times, showing how societies evolve,” said Asian Paints, md & ceo, Amit Syngle. “With ‘Choltey Choltey Chollish,’ we wanted to honour 40 years of artistry while resonating with today’s generation. The yellow taxi embodies that timeless journey.”
Ogilvy North, chief creative officer, Sujoy Roy added, “This is more than a tribute. It’s a love letter to Kolkata: its traditions, its imagination and the enduring spirit of Pujo.”
With its stylised visuals, vibrant music and a fresh, youthful tone, the campaign doesn’t just celebrate ‘Sharad Shamman,’ it reaffirms Asian Paints’ place as Pujo’s unofficial custodian, turning art, culture and community into a living, moving canvas.
Because in Kolkata, even a cab ride can feel like a festival.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
