MAM
Maa TV to host celeb cricket match to score higher TRPs
MUMBAI: National level cricketers will take on South Indian film stars at a cricket match that will be aired live on Maa TV on 7 September.
The channel has roped in the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, captain Saurav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan to pitch in friendly battle with Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Srikant and Tarun. A 50 over one dayer, the match will be telecast live on Maa as well as Jaya TV fom 9 am to 5 pm from the municipal stadium in Vizag.
The channel currently has promos running on its channel with Sachin, Chiranjeevi and the other players talking about their enthusiasm and eagerness to meet and play together.
According to the channel, with Jaya TV also getting the feed from Maa TV, viewership is likely to be enhanced, covering a large part of South India.
Maa TV had earlier this year undertaken a similar exercise with the Tollywood Trophy, a cricket match that had major screen stars participating. The event put Maa TV in the top 100 shows during the first week of February, averaging TRPS of 15+ on all TGs across all dayparts from 9 am till 12 am, claims the channel.
Brands
Kansai Nerolac tests paint in stratosphere for durability proof
Excel Everlast sent to 86,000 ft, survives -64°C and extreme UV exposure
MUMBAI: If walls could talk, this one would say it’s been to space and back. Kansai Nerolac has taken product testing to dizzying new heights quite literally by sending its exterior paint into the stratosphere in a bid to prove durability beyond the lab. In what the company calls a first for the Indian paint industry, a stratospheric balloon carried a payload coated with its Excel Everlast paint to an altitude of 86,000 feet above Earth. Up there, conditions are less “extreme weather” and more “near space”: temperatures drop below -64°C, ultraviolet radiation hits unfiltered, and atmospheric pressure is only a fraction of what it is at sea level.
Most materials struggle to survive such a hostile environment. This one didn’t. According to the campaign, the painted surface returned intact no visible damage, no compromise effectively turning a marketing claim into a high-altitude experiment.
The initiative, conceptualised by ULKA, moves away from simulated lab tests to something far more theatrical and verifiable. The campaign film documents the entire journey, positioning the exercise as proof rather than promise.
The test also doubles as a showcase for the Excel Everlast range, which includes features such as nano-silica-based protection, 30 per cent higher toughness and crack-bridging capability, along with a 20-year warranty claims now dramatised under conditions few buildings will ever face.
For Kansai Nerolac, the stunt is less about spectacle and more about signalling intent: in a category often dominated by functional messaging, it’s an attempt to turn durability into something tangible and memorable.
Because when your paint survives near-space, the neighbourhood monsoon suddenly feels like a very small test.
