iWorld
Asian Paints hits the right note with Spotify I-Pop collab
MUMBAI: When pop met paint, sparks and colours flew. In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Asian Paints teamed up with Spotify for its flagship musical property I-Pop, transforming a night of beats and bops into a feast for the senses. The exclusive, invite-only event wasn’t just about music, it was a full-blown celebration of India’s pop revival, dipped in shades of creativity, colour, and cultural energy.
Spotify’s I-Pop has been instrumental in giving India’s fast-rising pop scene its moment in the spotlight, taking the genre from trending reels to real-world stages. This year’s edition levelled up, as Asian Paints, a brand long associated with turning life into a canvas splashed its signature vibrancy across the venue, creating an experience that looked as stunning as it sounded.
The brand’s artistic flair came alive through a specially commissioned mural, inspired by the spirit of music and celebration. The piece showcased the brilliance of Chromacosm, Asian Paints’ world’s largest architectural colour system boasting 5,300 plus shades. Each brushstroke mirrored the rhythm of the night, marrying melody and hue in perfect harmony.
Guests also found themselves drawn to an interactive photo booth crafted from Asian Paints’ iconic paint buckets, where they could pose and capture Polaroid keepsakes in Love Song, one of the brand’s popular shades ensuring every memory of the night was framed in colour and joy.
The evening’s mood was set ablaze by a star-studded lineup led by Armaan Malik, whose performance sent waves of excitement through the crowd. The pop sensation, charmed by the brand’s mural, received a surprise gift, a custom guitar painted in his favourite Asian Paints shades, echoing the design’s vibrant palette. Other crowd favourites King, Jonita Gandhi, Aditya Rikhari, Hansika Pareek, Sanju Rathod, and Kushagra brought the house down with high-energy performances, each act adding a new splash of sound to the night’s sonic canvas.
For Asian Paints, the collaboration was more than a partnership, it was a statement of intent. From art and cricket to pop culture and digital collaborations, the brand has continually reimagined how creativity connects people. With I-Pop, it extended this ethos into the music space, using its language of colour to complement Spotify’s language of sound.
The result was a night that blurred the lines between visual art and performance, between seeing and feeling. It was as if every beat had a colour and every shade had a song, a perfect duet of design and decibels.
In the end, I-Pop 2025 proved that pop isn’t just a genre, it’s a mood, a movement, and in Asian Paints’ case, a masterpiece in the making.
iWorld
Samay Raina returns with Still Alive, confronts 2025 controversy in bold comeback special
Comeback set tackles controversy, blending humour with raw storytelling
MUMBAI: Samay Raina is set to release his new stand-up comedy special, Still Alive, on YouTube on April 7, 2026, marking a high-profile return following a turbulent year.
The trailer for the special dropped on April 5, offering a glimpse into what Raina describes as a raw and unfiltered set that leans as much on honesty as it does on humour.
Positioned as a comeback of sorts, Still Alive draws heavily from the controversy surrounding his show India’s Got Latent in early 2025. The episode led to legal trouble, multiple FIRs, and a lengthy six-hour interrogation by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell, placing the comedian at the centre of intense public scrutiny.
Rather than sidestep the episode, Raina leans into it. The special reflects on the fallout and his personal journey through it, blending observational comedy with moments of emotional candour. Early audience feedback from live performances suggests the tone is less about rapid-fire punchlines and more about storytelling with bite.
The special was filmed during his global Still Alive & Unfiltered tour, which ran from August 2025 to early 2026. The tour saw Raina perform across major international venues, including the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York, a milestone that places him among the youngest Indian comedians to take that stage.
The title itself signals resilience. “Still Alive” is a nod to navigating both legal and public backlash while choosing to remain unapologetically authentic, a theme that appears to anchor the set.
With the special set to premiere online, all eyes are now on how audiences respond to a performance that promises equal parts reflection and wit. For Raina, the message is clear. He is not just back, he is ready to be heard on his own terms.
