MAM
METRO SHOES URGES YOU TO GO LOCAL
The COVID 19 Pandemic has made countries across the globe realize the importance of being self-reliant. While most may fathom the impact of COVID 19, it also gives us an opportunity to step up and showcase our capabilities to the world. Today, it has become more important than ever to support ‘Make in India’. Keeping this sentiment in mind, Metro Shoes , the contemporary Indian fashion footwear and accessories brand, released a digital campaign urging customers to get vocal about going local!
Make in India initiative by Metro Shoes echoes the sentiments of every Indian- to produce locally, and to wear what is local so that more and more Indians get jobs at the grass-root level. Started in the year of liberation, 1947, Metro Shoes, opened its doors to the public in Colaba, Mumbai. Since then, it has catered to the diverse footwear needs of India and become a household name with over 218 stores across 115 cities. In its latest digital campaign, Metro Shoes, thanks the Indian artisans for being a part of its Swadeshi journey and urges customers to support local homegrown Indian brands during these trying times
Over the past seven decades, the company and the brand have become synonymous with unmatched quality, skilled craftsmanship, and high-fashion products in the footwear industry. As a brand that was established in the post-independence era, Metro holds the Swadeshi movement very close to its core. Speaking about going local, Alisha Malik, Vice-President-Marketing and E-commerce, Metro Shoes said, “We at Metro Shoes are very proud of our Indian heritage. We have always believed in the beauty of Indian art and the skills of our karigars. Today, it is important for all of us to support each other to come out strong from the pandemic and going local is a crucial step in being sustainable, equitable, and scalable. We request our customers to walk along with us and support us in our journey ahead.”
On the retail front, the safety of customers and employees remains the top priority for Metro Shoes. They have set up special health helplines that are monitored on a real
time basis. All the warehouses, stores, office premises, and even footwear are being sanitized. They have also set up special teams to train front-end and back-end staff on adopting all necessary safety measures and made provisions for sanitizers, masks, and gloves for all employees at the retail stores. The brand has also taken similar measures for all the e-commerce driven sales as well.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
