MAM
Prank for a cause; Ola banks on April 1st phenomenon to crowdfund toilets for 20,000 people
MUMBAI: Ola, one of the world’s largest ride-hailing platforms, today launched a nationwide crowdfunding campaign to enable building toilets across India to positively impact over 20,000 people across India. Launched under Ola’s ‘My Ride. My Cause’ program, users will be able to contribute Re. 1 per ride from April 2nd until October 2nd, 2019. Ola has partnered with Gramalaya, an approved key resource centre from the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, who will use the proceeds in their on-going efforts to build toilets for the underprivileged across India.
The announcement follows the launch of Ola’s April Fool’s video, “Ola Restrooms”, which aimed at building awareness around the need for accessible and hygienic lavatories in India. Highlighting the need for more public toilets in the country, the digital campaign introduces ‘Ola Restrooms’, a new solution that seeks to address the dearth of facilities. Known for its unconventional campaigns, Ola used the occasion to draw attention to a social issue and turn it into a cause based initiative.
Speaking about the initiative, Anand Subramanian, Sr. Director – Marketing Communications said, “Since inception, Ola has been committed to supporting causes that deeply impact our cities and citizens. Access to toilets and sanitation can significantly improve hygiene and quality of life for people. Through this campaign, we aim to heighten awareness amongst educated audiences and enable them to contribute meaningfully.” He further added, “We are proud to partner with the team at Gramalaya who have been leading efforts to build sustainable sanitation infrastructure for the past 30 years in rural India.”
S.Damodaran, Founder & CEO of Gramalaya, said, “Sanitation provides safety, security and privacy for women and adolescent girls and we envision a society where everyone has access to safe sanitation facilities that empower individuals and communities. Gramalaya has successfully demonstrated sustainable sanitation models over the past 30 years and plans to expand these facilities to other parts of India. We are grateful to Ola for facilitating the crowdfunding campaign to help us achieve the goal of making India cleaner and healthier.”
There is a dire need to eliminate open defecation and urination in India, which is a leading cause of diarrheal infection affecting women and children in rural India. Lack of adequate toilets that adhere to the scientific sanitary standards is detrimental to India’s mission to be free of Open Defecation by 2019. Through this initiative, Ola aims to bridge the gap with the support of millions of users that take rides on the Ola platform every day.
Here’s how customers can start contributing:
Step 1: Once a ride is booked, customers will be able to see an option to contribute INR 1 on the ride booking screen
Step 2: Upon clicking ‘see how,’ customers will be able to see detailed information about Gramalaya and how their contributions will be used
Step 3: The button at the bottom of the screen that says ‘Donate INR 1 on every ride’ enables the contributions
Step 4: Once accepted, customers will see their contribution towards the initiative in the ride details screen for every ride. Customers can choose to opt in and out at any point of time
Step 5: Alternatively, customers can activate contributions from the ‘Donations’ section, under Profiles in the global menu
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.
