iWorld
Bollywood should explore superhero films with long-term licensing: Cosmos-Maya’s Anish Mehta
Mumbai: Anish JS Mehta started his career as an accounts executive in 2003, and over time, he has managed to reach new heights. In 2010, he became the chief operating officer of Cosmos-Maya, a leading animation studio in India. Two years later, Mehta was promoted as the chief executive officer (CEO) and since then, he has been a key player in the Indian animation industry catalysing the production of noted anime shows that include the iconic Motu Patlu.
Cosmos-Maya has recently launched Salman Khan’s Dabang as an animation series Dabanng-The Animated Series, which is now available for streaming on Disney+Hotstar VIP, in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. This animated series is also being streamed on Cartoon Network.
As the series receives rave reviews from audiences and critics, Indiantelevision.com’s Nirmal Narayanan got into a conversation with Cosmos Maya CEO Anish JS Mehta to track the journey of Cosmos Maya in creating the animated avatar of Chulbul Pandey, and the future of the animation industry in India.
Edited Excerpts
On collaborating with Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan for Dabanng-The Animated Series
Dabangg-The Animated Series is one of the biggest film franchise extensions executed for Indian TV. We have released the show with CartoonNetwork as our TV broadcast partner and Disney+Hotstar as our streaming partner. Since the start of the pandemic, we have been working to create more original animated content titles in greater volumes to suit the increased consumption by kids staying at home. We spoke to Arbaaz Khan the owner of the franchise and created our vision of the animated series. Both the channel partners loved the concept and provided the backing to bring the show before the audience.
On the audience response to the series
It’s been a week since the series went live on TV and OTT, and we have received a great response to the characters and their new colourful world. There has been a decent amount of buzz, especially within the franchise’s existing fanbase, and it’s been liked by kids and their families alike. We have also been getting a lot of queries for the licensing & merchandising extension for Dabangg across the categories such as gaming, Apparel, Toys & Promotional licensing. We have some exciting associations lined up.
On choosing a character like Chulbul Pandey
The Dabangg series and its lead Chulbul Pandey has been a mega-franchise in India for the past 11 years and adapting the super cop to a kids’ format was a creative challenge, but it was also a fun opportunity. But, the principal challenge was to do justice to the source material. When we are adapting a pre-existing template into a new look, we need to capture the quirks and the idiosyncrasies of the characters as they were originally brought to life by their actors and filmmakers. Also, Dabangg is one of the few Indian animated shows to feature the same adult version of the lead character, unlike most series that go with a child-like avatar of their source character. Our creative team captured the likeness and the ticks of not just Chulbul but also his entire posse including Makhi, Rajjo, and Tiwariji.
On the future of animated series on OTT platforms
The industry is witnessing growth on every platform and across a plethora of genres. The genre has a consistently growing presence on domestic TV, and with the OTT boom during the past few years, animation producers have utilized the mutual coexistence model, where the content releases with a TV and OTT partner simultaneously. Pay-TV usually works on a volume and sequential storytelling system, especially in areas with lesser internet penetration, and OTT audiences get to watch and choose and binge the episodes in their time and convenience. Balancing and blending the show’s presence on both formats was a creative challenge in itself.
On creating an Indian animated superhero for global audience
We have a bevy of superheroes from the Indian film and comic book ecosystem that have immense business potential to emerge as individual franchises. However, most commercial Indian films have audiences, which is used to their regular film heroes having superhero status. Until Bollywood decides to venture into superhero flicks with a long-term licensing and merchandising plan, we should not expect any such projects out of India in the foreseeable future.
On the impact of Covid pandemic on the animation industry
We had over a year to synergize our work processes from home, and it worked out. We have released seven new shows since April 2020. The animation industry collectively did not face a severe impact, like the live-action entertainment industry. The entire team at Cosmos-Maya adapted to the status quo extremely well which helped us to accelerate the workforce like before and pace up the production to deliver content on time.
Gaming
India’s new online gaming rules take effect today, banning money games and creating a regulator
The rules, in force from today, separate e-sports from gambling and impose jail terms and stiff fines on violators
NEW DELHI: India’s online gaming sector woke up this morning to a new reality. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026, came into force today, May 1st, turning a year of legislative intent into enforceable law. The message from New Delhi is blunt: e-sports and social games are welcome; online money games are not.
The rules operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025. Together, they represent the most sweeping regulatory intervention India has made in its booming digital gaming market, one that generated Rs 23,200 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent to reach Rs 31,600 crore by 2027. The stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.
A sector out of control
The urgency behind the legislation is not hard to find. An estimated 45 crore Indians have been affected by online money gaming platforms, with losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Addiction, financial ruin, money laundering, and suicides have all been linked to the sector. Seventy-seven per cent of the market’s revenues came from transaction-based games, a figure that made regulators deeply uneasy.
The government’s response, effective as of today, is categorical. Online money games, whether based on chance, skill, or any mix of the two, are banned outright. So is their advertising, promotion, and facilitation. Banks and payment processors are barred from handling related transactions. Unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
The penalties are designed to sting. Offering or facilitating online money games can attract up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, or both. Repeat offenders face a minimum of three years, extendable to five, with fines between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. Advertising such games carries up to two years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, with repeat violations attracting higher penalties still. Cyber cell officers at state and union territory levels, including at police station, district, and commissionerate levels, are empowered to investigate offences.
The new sheriff in town
At the centre of the new framework sits the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator constituted as an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, headquartered in Delhi. It is chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY and includes joint secretary-level representation from home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice, a deliberately multi-sectoral design built for a complex sector.
The authority’s powers are broad. It will maintain and publish lists of online money games, investigate complaints, issue directions, orders, and codes of practice, hear appeals on user grievances, and coordinate with financial institutions and law enforcement to ensure effective and timely action.
Its decisions on game classification are to be completed within 90 days, a time-bound commitment that industry players have welcomed after years of regulatory ambiguity. Classification can be triggered by the authority acting on its own initiative, by an application from a service provider, or by a notification from the central government. Games will be assessed on objective factors: whether stakes are involved, whether players expect monetary winnings, the revenue model, and whether in-game assets can be monetised outside the game. The outcome is recorded in a determination order specific to the game and provider.
E-sports gets its moment
While the crackdown on money gaming dominates today’s headlines, the rules also carve out a structured path for e-sports and online social games. Registration, required when notified by the central government, applies to all games offered as e-sports and is based on factors including risk to users, scale, financial transactions, and country of origin. A successful application yields a digital certificate of registration with a unique number, valid for up to ten years. Service providers must display registration details, designate a point of contact, comply with data retention requirements, and follow directions on facilitating payments.
Online money games are explicitly ineligible for recognition or registration as e-sports under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The separation is deliberate, and the industry has noticed.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, called today’s operationalisation “encouraging,” pointing to publisher-led registration of esports titles and a time-bound determination process as creating “much-needed certainty for all stakeholders.” He added that the “continued emphasis on clearly separating esports from online money gaming is critical in preserving the integrity of competitive gaming as a skill-driven discipline.” He described it as “a proud moment to see official acknowledgement of the broader benefits of responsible esports and gaming, from building confidence, discipline, and teamwork to creating new career pathways for young talent,” and said the framework sets “a strong foundation for the ecosystem to scale in a more structured and globally competitive manner.”
Animesh Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive of S8UL, was equally bullish. “This clarity is critical in unlocking investor confidence and attracting multi-genre brands, while also enabling organisations to take a more long-term view, whether in investing in talent, scaling teams, or building globally competitive formats,” he said, adding that it “strengthens trust among audiences and mainstream stakeholders, positioning esports not just as a sport, but as a fast-growing youth entertainment category in India.”
But Agarwal urged caution on several fronts. There remains limited clarity around financial frameworks, particularly in how esports earnings are treated by banks and financial institutions. A well-defined pathway for the formal recognition or registration of esports teams is still evolving, as are structured player protections. He also called for smoother visa processes for esports athletes competing in international tournaments and for government support in developing infrastructure, including bootcamps, training facilities, and access to high-performance equipment across titles.
Vishal Parekh, chief operating officer of CyberPowerPC India, pointed to downstream effects on education and careers. “With formal recognition and policy backing, colleges and institutions are more likely to take the sector seriously, whether through dedicated esports infrastructure, training programmes, or curriculum integration,” he said, adding that this helps students view gaming as a viable career spanning roles across competitive play, content, game development, and allied industries. He noted that as esports gains prominence in global multi-sport events, the framework strengthens India’s position in international competitive gaming, and called on the ecosystem to provide the right infrastructure and access to high-performance hardware to unlock opportunities in talent development and job creation.
Protecting users, one safeguard at a time
The rules introduce a layered system of user protections calibrated to the risk profile of each game. These include age verification, age gating, time restrictions, parental controls, user reporting tools, counselling support, and fair-play and integrity monitoring. Service providers must disclose their safety features and internal grievance mechanisms when applying for determination or registration.
A two-tier grievance redressal system sits atop these safeguards. Users who are dissatisfied with a platform’s resolution can escalate to the authority within 30 days. The authority aims to dispose of such appeals within a further 30 days. A second appeal lies before the secretary of MeitY, who must also endeavour to resolve matters within 30 days. Enforcement proceedings will be conducted in digital mode wherever possible, with cases targeted for resolution within 90 days from receipt of a complaint.
Penalties under the framework are proportionate, taking into account gain from non-compliance, loss to users, the gravity of the offence, and whether violations are recurring. Mitigation efforts by service providers will also be considered when determining penalties. All penalties imposed under the Act will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The money follows the rules
For investors and founders, the implications are immediate and significant. Sagar Nair, head of incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, a 100-day sprint designed to accelerate early-stage gaming startups across India, argues that with real-money gaming now prohibited, capital will shift “away from transaction-driven models toward content-led, IP-driven, and global-first gaming businesses.” He acknowledged trade-offs: for operators with exposure to real-money formats, the market becomes more restrictive in the near term. But he argued that by clearly separating esports and non-money gaming from online money gaming, “India is positioning itself as a hub for responsible, creative, and scalable game development.” The opportunity, he said, is “to view India not just as a monetisation-first market, but as a talent, IP, and scale market,” adding that “for founders and investors willing to adapt, this shift could ultimately strengthen India’s position in the global gaming landscape.”
The government frames the wider impact in equally ambitious terms: a boost to India’s creative economy and digital exports, new career pathways for young people, protection for families from predatory platforms, and a stronger voice in global digital governance. India, it argues, offers a model for other countries grappling with the same tensions between gaming’s economic promise and its social risks, one that shows innovation and strong safeguards need not be mutually exclusive.
Whether the framework delivers on those promises will depend on enforcement, always the hardest part. But from today, the architecture is firmly in place: a regulator with teeth, a classification system with deadlines, penalties designed to deter, and a clear dividing line between games that build careers and games that destroy finances. For a sector that has grown fast and governed itself loosely, May 1st, 2026 is the day the free ride ends.
