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Royal Enfield Art of Motorcycling returns with Season 4
Mumbai: Building on the success of its last three seasons, Royal Enfield’s #ArtofMotorcycling is back with Season 4. Designed to give artists, designers, and creative enthusiasts a platform to showcase their passion and celebrate the motorcycling way of life, this year’s #ArtofMotorcycling is expanding its reach globally, spreading the spark of creativity through Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico.
Dubbed the ‘Y3K edition’, season 4 is themed around the year 3000 A.D., and reimagines the relationship between mankind, technology and the unyielding pursuit of freedom on two wheels. Artists are encouraged to envision a world where motorcycling transcends the ride, exploring new galactic landscapes, uncharted terrains and unheard adventures.
A big part of the #ArtofMotorcycling proposition is to create an inclusive space for artists across levels of expertise, to share their ideas with the community and showcase their work to celebrated creative minds. Adding to the exciting developments under the Season 4 banner, participants can now create and submit designs under four categories: Gen AI, Digital Art, Handcrafted, and Comic Art-a special category that celebrates the dynamic intersection of art and motorcycling through illustrative and sequential storytelling.
This year, entries will be reviewed by a league of global judges, alongside dedicated regional juries that will bring their varied expertise to the table. Featuring some of the most incredible creative minds, the global panel includes Aaquib Wani, an experiential designer known for his immersive approach to design. Some of his most notable collaborations include Lollapalooza, India Cricket team, Spotify Rap91 and JSW Olympics ‘24; Debjyoti Saha, a celebrated animation filmmaker and visual storyteller, founder of Goppo Animation: Haruka Satonaka, a Japanese Manga artist and Varun Gupta, a popular artist and filmmaker whose storytelling merges the worlds of Gen AI and visual artistry. With representation from across the eleven regions, notable names on the regional panels include; Mao Gronewold, an art and creative director from Mexico and Takrit Krutphum, a well-known artist from Thailand.
All artworks on the country and regional level will be evaluated by social polls, giving the global creative community a voice in the decision-making process. The top eight designs (across regions) will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Royal Enfield’s annual community event, Motoverse, where their artworks will be displayed on exclusive #ArtofMotorcycling apparel. Winners will also have the opportunity to be featured on The Royal Enfield – Ride Pure Podcast, giving them a forum to share their stories and passions with the world. In addition to this, one winner from the Comic Art category will receive the opportunity to work with Royal Enfield on special projects.
Interested candidates can head over to the #ArtOfMotorcyling section on Royal Enfield’s website post 6:00 p.m. today to register in their preferred category and download the design toolkit. They can then create their unique design and share it on Instagram, tagging @royalenfield using the hashtags #ArtOfMotorcycling #ArtOfMotorcyclingY3K. The last date to participate is October 20, and the winners will be announced between November 1 and November 10.
Along with newer categories and exciting rewards, season 4 will also feature virtual masterclasses with leading design colleges and graffiti activations. Royal Enfield will also be collaborating with creative homegrown powerhouses Daily Objects– a lifestyle brand for well-designed everyday essentials–and FARAK–a premium streetwear brand that is redefining Indian artisanal luxury–to create #ArtOfMotorcycling-inspired limited edition collections.
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
