Hindi
iLabs acquires 60% in Lehren Entertainment, to launch first Bollywood news channel
MUMBAI: iLabs Capital, a venture fund which has among other investments a controlling interest in the TV9 chain of channels, has acquired 60 per cent stake in Mumbai-based Lehren Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. to launch the first Bollywood news channel.
iLabs is also expanding its broadcasting presence in Mumbai through the launch of TV9 Mumbai, a city-centric channel in Hindi language. This will be through Associated Broadcasting Company Pvt Ltd (ABCL), the company which is 80 per cent owned by iLabs and Unified Group and houses the TV9 channels.
In Lehren Entertainment, iLabs is making the investment through its wholly own subsidiary, Affiliated Media Company (AMC). Besides the TV channel, Lehren will have its other assets including a broadband portal and 10,000 hours of archival video.
Lehren TV has obtained the uplinking licence and plans to launch in April. “We are eyeing 14 April as the launch date. The dry run should start in mid-March,” says Lehren Entertainment founder and MD Mritunjay Pandey.
The Bollywood-centric free-to-air news channel will also have a small portion of its content for other films across the country. Besides news, it will have chat and gossip formats. “It will be a Hinglish (predominantly Hindi but also have English language) channel,” says Pandey.
The ad sales and uplinking will be handled by ABCL to drive in the synergies with the TV9 group of channels.
“We decided to join hands with Lehren because it has an old relationship with the film industry. With the other Hindi channel covering Mumbai, it will offer us a good bundle,” says ABCL vice president operations KVN Murthy.
Lehren‘s engagement with Bollywood dates back to the pre-satellite era when it started film-based entertainment shows in 1987. The videos packaged film scenes, songs, interviews and magazine content in the kaleidoscopic format of Bollywood.
Hindi
Dhurandhar returns to theatres worldwide on March 13 ahead of Dhurandhar The Revenge release
Jio Studios re-releases blockbuster across 500 screens globally before sequel
MUMBAI: The spy saga of Dhurandhar is gearing up for a big-screen encore before its next chapter arrives.
Ahead of the release of Dhurandhar The Revenge on March 19, Jio Studios and B62 Studios are bringing the original Dhurandhar back to cinemas worldwide in a rare international theatrical re-release.
The global blockbuster is returning across nearly 500 screens, including around 250 in India from March 12 and another 250 overseas beginning March 13.
For fans of the franchise, the move offers a chance to revisit the film that ignited the high-octane spy-action universe just days before the sequel lands in theatres. It also sets up a rare back-to-back big-screen experience, allowing audiences to relive the original before diving straight into the next chapter.
While re-releases of popular films are occasionally seen in India, international re-runs of Hindi films remain uncommon. The scale of the rollout reflects the growing global appetite for the franchise.
In North America alone, Dhurandhar will return to theatres across nearly 185 screens, highlighting the strong anticipation surrounding the upcoming sequel.
The excitement is set to build further with special Wednesday premiere shows of Dhurandhar The Revenge scheduled across the US and Canada on March 18, a day ahead of its global release. Many of these premieres will be hosted on premium large format screens, featuring wall-to-wall displays, immersive sound systems such as Dolby Atmos, enhanced projection and luxury seating.
These formats are typically reserved for major Hollywood event films, and early bookings suggest strong demand with several shows already sold out.
The recently released trailer of Dhurandhar The Revenge has also sparked buzz among exhibitors and trade circles, with expectations running high for the film’s international performance.
Dhurandhar The Revenge is written, directed and produced by Aditya Dhar. The film is produced by Jyoti Deshpande and Lokesh Dhar.
Jio Studios presents a B62 Studios production, an Aditya Dhar film.
The spy-action thriller will release worldwide on March 19, 2026, in five languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
The film arrives in theatres globally on the occasion of Gudi Padwa and Ugadi, just ahead of Eid, setting the stage for a festive box office run.
