MAM
Star Movies takes new marketing steps to promote Oscars
MUMBAI: Star Movies is looking to build up the excitement and anticipation for the Oscars® with initiatives across the country with the ‘Star Movies Oscar tour‘, along with the 11 pm film festival, Oscar Fever, showcasing the most acclaimed winning and nominated films, all month long.
Star Movies is organising an Oscar tour that will give fans across the metros an opportunity to get up, close and pose with a ‘Real’ Oscars Trophy. Star Movies will present the golden statuette won by Bhanu Athaiya, the first Indian to have won the Oscars in 1983 for best costume design for Gandhi, to Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai. The Oscar® Tour is unique in that no one – let alone a broadcaster – has undertaken an initiative of this nature. In addition, the channel will also be conducting enjoyable on ground Oscar® Quiz in each of these cities to engage with their fans.
On air, the broadcaster will have ‘Oscar® Fever‘. Every Monday to Friday, fans can catch movies like ‘127 Hours’, Schindler’s List, Toy Story 3, ‘The Fighter‘, ‘Crazy Heart‘. The movie of the month is ‘Black Swan’.
Star India GM, senior VP, English Channels Saurabh Yagnik said, “This is an exciting opportunity for viewers and it gives us great pleasure to bring this once in a lifetime Oscars® experience for the true Hollywood fans across the country. We are proud to present a ground-breaking, modern and captivating consumer experience that will not just allow consumers to be a part of the Oscars experience on Star Movies, but give them an opportunity to actually feel the thrill of touching and feeling a real Oscars® Trophy when it arrives in their city. We are quite certain that our fans across the country will enjoy the line-up of activities (on air and on ground) that we have in store for them.”
The channel will air the 84th Academy Awards on 27 February at 6 am with a repeat at 8 pm.
Brands
Wipro hires 7,500 freshers, withholds FY27 hiring outlook
Profit rises to Rs 3,522 crore, Rs 15,000 crore buyback announced.
MUMBAI- Hiring may be on, but visibility is off, Wipro is adding talent even as it pauses the crystal ball. The company hired 7,500 freshers in FY26 but stopped short of offering any hiring outlook for FY27, underscoring the uncertainty gripping the IT services sector as it pivots towards an AI-led operating model.
The disclosure came alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, where management flagged volatile demand conditions and refrained from committing to future workforce expansion. Chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil noted that over 3,000 of the total hires were onboarded in the March quarter alone, signalling continued intake despite a lack of clarity on deployment pipelines.
This divergence active hiring without forward guidance reflects a broader industry pattern where talent acquisition continues even as deal conversions remain uneven and client spending cycles stretch. Wipro expects its IT services revenue for the June quarter to range between a decline of 2 per cent and flat growth sequentially in constant currency terms, reinforcing near-term caution.
Chief executive officer Srini Pallia pointed to artificial intelligence as both a disruptor and an opportunity. He said evolving client priorities are pushing the company towards outcome-driven engagements, with Wipro increasingly focusing on a services-as-software model through its AI Native Business and Platforms unit. The shift marks a structural change from traditional headcount-led growth to AI-enabled delivery frameworks.
The company has already committed over $1 billion to its AI ecosystem, with investors closely watching how these investments translate into revenue. For now, the numbers present a mixed picture. Net profit rose sequentially to Rs 3,522 crore, while revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 24,236 crore. However, core IT services performance remained under pressure, with full-year revenue declining 0.3 per cent in dollar terms and 1.6 per cent in constant currency.
Large deal bookings offered a counterpoint, rising 45.4 per cent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, highlighting a widening gap between deal wins and actual revenue realisation. On a quarterly basis, IT services revenue slipped 1.2 per cent sequentially, signalling continued softness in execution.
Margins, however, told a more optimistic story. Operating margins expanded to 17.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting improved cost discipline. That said, the company cautioned that upcoming wage hikes and the ramp-up of large deals could exert pressure going forward.
Attrition stood at 13.8 per cent in the March quarter, indicating stabilisation after periods of elevated churn. Alongside its earnings, Wipro also announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback, reinforcing its focus on shareholder returns, with a payout ratio of 88 per cent over the past three years.
Taken together, the numbers capture a company in transition investing in AI, maintaining hiring momentum, but navigating a demand environment where growth is uneven and visibility remains limited.
