Brands
Rannvijay shifts gears with Madcap Luxe lunch
MUMBAI: Fasten your seatbelts, luxury just hit the fast lane. Rannvijay Singha, along with co-founders Arvind Balan and Rohit Jha, has launched Madcap Luxe Travel Experiences, India’s first cultural powerhouse that merges motorsport, heritage, and high-end adventure into one roaring movement.
Born from the thrill of the open road, Madcap Luxe redefines travel as an emotion rather than an itinerary. The brand blends self-drive expeditions with world-class hospitality, taking travellers from private F1 paddocks and Dakar rally zones to royal palaces and Michelin-starred dining tables, all wrapped in an unmistakable spirit of Indian luxury.
“Madcap Luxe is not about itineraries, it’s about emotion engineered,” says Rannvijay Singha. “It’s for those who live boldly and want to drive their own legend.”
The venture also introduces a second vertical, Madcap Lifestyle & Adventure IPs, with its debut property, Blackout 40, India’s first 40-hour non-stop biker festival in the deserts of Rajasthan. Designed as an immersive cultural celebration, it unites bikers, artists, and adventurers in a heady mix of music, craftsmanship and desert soul.
“We are creating formats that go beyond festivals, these are cultural movements,” says Arvind Balan. “Blackout 40 celebrates India’s roots and modern identity in one frame.”
Powered by experiential marketing giant Maxperience, the creative force behind 500 plus campaigns for Porsche, Hyundai, and Royal Enfield, Madcap Luxe is positioning itself as a global experiential brand built in India for the world.
The 2026 global luxe drive calendar revs up the experience with curated international expeditions, from the Saudi Grand Drive – Dakar Edition to the Grand American Drive – Route 66 Centennial Edition. With its bespoke “Curate Your Own” journeys and “Rare Experiences” offering everything from F1 laps at Monza to desert glamping in Arabia, Madcap Luxe is redefining how India travels, where adrenaline meets elegance, and every mile tells a story.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
