iWorld
Agra police arrest IIT engineer for uploading Disney Star content illegally
Mumbai: Agra police arrested an IIT engineer for illegally uploading content from Disney Hotstar on his OTT platform, Supermat. Star India Pvt. Ltd. had complained to the Agra police commissioner on 11 January against the illegal practices of the Supermat application.
Since December 2020, the Agra Cyber Cell has been looking for the main accused, Ashish Dixit, who has been running the Supermat application with his brother, co-accused Akash Dixit.
Both accused registered their company, Dream Stake Pvt. Ltd., in 2020, where both of them are directors.
According to Agra police, Supermat has 17,000 subscribers, and they have partnered with a Netherlands-based cloud server with a Rs 10 lakh contract under which they used to take downloaded content from the Torrent and Telegram applications. Supermat, a third-party app, was running on a subscription-based model with VIP and gold subscription packages for Rs 478 and Rs 978, respectively.
The accused had collected Rs 67 lakh in the last two years from its customers, and currently, they have Rs 6 lakh in their bank, which has been seized by police.
Shahaganj Agra Police have arrested Ashish Dixit under IPC Act 420, IT Act 68 C & D, and the Copyright Act 1957. Ashish Dixit is an alumnus of IIT Jodhpur, where he completed his bachelor of technology studies.
As of now, Disney Hotstar has declined to comment on the matter.
iWorld
Subedaar puts Indian original cinema on the global map with record-breaking Prime Video debut
MUMBAI: Prime Video has a runaway hit on its hands. Subedaar, the gritty action drama starring Anil Kapoor, has stormed to become the most-watched Indian original movie on the platform in its opening weekend, cracking the Top 10 across 31 countries and landing in 91 per cent of India’s pin codes within days of its March 5 premiere.
The film, a visceral, emotionally-charged story of a retired soldier, Subedaar Arjun Maurya, wrestling with civilian life amid crime and corruption, has struck a nerve. Directed by Suresh Triveni and co-starring Radhikka Madan, Mona Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Rawal, Faisal Malik, and Khushboo Sundar, the film is already being hailed as a showcase for what Indian original storytelling can achieve on the world stage.
“Subedaar’s success is a reflection of the growing scale and global resonance of Indian storytelling,” said Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India. “The film’s emotional narrative, its rooted portrayal of a soldier confronting his toughest battles beyond the battlefield, has struck a chord. Anil Kapoor delivers an acting masterclass, while Suresh Triveni’s solid direction and great performances from the ensemble cast have resulted in love and appreciation from customers across the world.”
Kapoor, 62, has been here before, but rarely at this altitude. Written by Triveni and Prajwal Chandrashekar, with dialogues by Triveni, Saurabh Dwivedi, and Chandrashekar, the film is a production by Opening Image Films in association with Anil Kapoor Film & Communication Network (AKFCN), produced by Vikram Malhotra, Kapoor, and Triveni.
Subedaar streams exclusively on Prime Video in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu across India, and in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.
For Prime Video, the numbers tell the real story: one weekend, one film, a global footprint, and a very loud signal that Indian original cinema is no longer just travelling well. It’s arriving.
