iWorld
Asian Paints returns with Season 9 of Where The Heart Is
MUMBAI: When doors open and guards drop, homes tend to speak louder than words. That idea sits at the heart of Asian Paints’ long-running storytelling property, Where The Heart Is, which has returned with its ninth season marking more than a decade of chronicling how India’s most recognisable faces actually live when the cameras are no longer rolling.
Launched at an event that blended reflection with quiet nostalgia, Season 9 was positioned not as a reinvention, but as a natural evolution of a platform that has steadily grown alongside changing lifestyles. Opening the season, Asian Paints MD and CEO Amit Syngle traced the origins of the property to the brand’s long-held belief that homes are emotional spaces rather than physical structures. Long before décor trends became social currency, Asian Paints had framed the home as a place of memory, identity and continuity, an idea that later crystallised into its iconic Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai philosophy.
That belief, Syngle noted, has only become more relevant with time. As lives get faster and more fragmented, homes remain the one space where people pause, reflect and express who they really are. Where The Heart Is was born from that insight, offering audiences a rare chance to see public personalities in their most private setting away from scripts, applause and performance.
Over the past decade, the digital-first series has grown into one of the brand’s most enduring content properties. It has crossed over 1.5 billion cumulative views, featured more than 50 personalities and opened the doors to over 60 homes across India and abroad. What began as an experiment in long-form digital storytelling has since become a reference point for branded content that prioritises emotion over interruption.
Season 9 builds on that legacy while introducing subtle but significant shifts. This year’s edition opens five distinctive homes, each rooted in a different geography, profession and phase of life. The new line-up includes Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal, Gautam Gambhir, Keerthy Suresh with Antony Thattil, Archana Puran Singh alongside Parmeet Sethi, and entrepreneur Aman Gupta with Priya Gupta.
While the personalities may be familiar, the stories are deliberately intimate. The season leans away from celebrity spectacle and towards everyday details shared meals, favourite corners, inherited furniture, walls layered with memories. Homes are presented not as styled sets, but as living spaces shaped by routine, compromise and affection.
One of the most notable shifts this season is the focus on families. Previous editions often centred on individual journeys; Season 9 places equal emphasis on partners, children and shared decision-making. Viewers see how décor choices become conversations, how renovations reflect evolving priorities, and how personal taste is often negotiated rather than imposed.
The storytelling continues to be helmed by Motion co-founder Joshua Karthik Stories in who has been associated with the property since its early years. Speaking at the launch, Karthik described the series as an exercise in peeling back personas. Once the lights, makeup and public roles are stripped away, what remains is a quieter, more relatable version of the person revealed through the way they inhabit their home.
This year, that intimacy is heightened by a strong theme of transformation. Several episodes explore how spaces change over time through repainting, redesigning, or simply reimagining how a room is used. Rather than showcasing grand makeovers, the series highlights achievable changes: a wall turned into a memory archive, a neglected corner given new purpose, or textures and finishes used to reflect emotional milestones.
That focus mirrors a broader cultural shift. Indian homeowners today are increasingly invested in personalisation, seeing décor not as a one-time project but as an ongoing expression of self. Season 9 taps into this mindset, subtly positioning homes as evolving narratives rather than finished products.
Digitally, Where The Heart Is continues to straddle formats with ease. Designed for relaxed, on-demand viewing, the episodes lend themselves equally to OTT platforms and social feeds, where shorter clips travel widely. Asian Paints has deliberately kept the tone unhurried allowing stories to unfold organically, without the urgency or gloss of traditional advertising.
The result is content that feels observational rather than promotional. The brand’s presence is embedded in the process of transformation and storytelling, not foregrounded as a sales pitch. For viewers, the appeal lies in recognition, the quiet sense that while the homes belong to celebrities, the emotions within them are universal.
As Season 9 rolls out, Where The Heart Is reinforces its place as a cultural archive of sorts, documenting how Indian homes and the people within them continue to evolve. In doing so, Asian Paints once again underscores a simple but enduring truth: trends may change, platforms may shift, but the emotional language of home remains timeless.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
