iWorld
Celebs share what drew them to romance audio series this Valentine’s Day
Mumbai: While romance has always been a popular genre, Audible India’s 2023 wrap highlighted that romance and fiction stole the spotlight as one of the top three favourite genres among Indian listeners this year. This Valentine’s Day, let’s take a peek at some of the most popular titles on the service and hear what their celebrity narrators have to say about them. Get ready to be swept away by passion, drama, and love stories that captivate both hearts and minds only on Audible!
Written by: Malavika Asthana, Gaurav Singh, Shruti Tiwari; Starring: Varun Sharma, Sanya Malhotra
Set in Delhi, this Audible Original follows the journey of Prashant, a young doctor from a progressive family running a sex clinic in Delhi, as he navigates the challenges of finding love. With a blend of humour, romance, and a hint of taboo, this podcast starring Sanya Malhotra and Varun Sharma, offers a refreshing take on relationships. Why wait? Dive into it right away!
Sanya Malhotra said, “In ‘Sasural Wonder Phool’, my character Ashima gets married to a sex therapist (the inimitable Varun Sharma) who runs a sex clinic with his entire family. Need I say more? The show is bizarre, hilarious, incredibly entertaining and so different from anything I have ever done before – I just know my fans are going to love it! This has been my first brush with audio and I am hooked – I can’t wait to do more!”
Little Things: Jab Dhruv Met Kavya
Written by: Pocket Aces; Starring: Dhruv Sehgal, Mithila Palkar
This is an Audible Original podcast series, where Mithila Palkar and Dhruv Sehgal take you on a tale of a beautiful love story that is defined by the little moments of serendipity. From a chance movie date that ignited the spark to shared bhaji outings that added flavour to their love story, you get to follow the timeline of their lovely moments that transformed an awkward, sensitive guy and a girl-next-door into a love-struck duo. So what are you waiting for? Here’s your cue to tune into this epic podcast.
Mithila Palkar said, “This is a really sweet special story about how Dhruv and Kavya met, and I know fans are going to enjoy listening to it.”
Written by: Jaya Misra; Starring: Sriti Jha, Shabir Ahluwalia
If you’re seeking to experience a rollercoaster journey of emotions this V-Day, Darmiyaan is definitely the ideal choice. It is an Audible Original podcast narrated by the popular duo Sriti Jha and Shabir Ahluwalia! Sakshi Dewan (Sriti Jha) is undergoing a troubled marriage, wary of the truths that her husband kept from her. The distraught Sakshi encounters Ridhaan (Shabir Ahluwalia), a young man who motivates her to discover her genuine purpose and helps her in living life on her terms. Nothing less than an epic romantic saga, tune in to Audible to discover if Sakshi will take an opportunity with the newfound connection with Ridhaan and take a chance at love.
Ekta Kapoor said, “Conceptualizing entertainment content in audio has been an experience of a lifetime and has helped me push the creative envelope further than ever before. “‘Darmiyaan’ (and first audio show!) has everything Balaji fans love – love, unbelievable scandals, shocking twists and much, much more. I’m sure listeners are going to love it, and become audiophiles for life!”
Permanent Roommates: He Said, She Said
Written by: The Viral Fever; Starring: Sumeet Vyas, Nidhi Singh
Experience the rollercoaster of love with Permanent Roommates: He Said, She Said, a beautiful 20-episode series perfect for this Valentine’s Day! Follow the journey of Mikesh and Tanya as they navigate the highs and lows of living together, from house-hunting woes to the complexities of marriage, showing you a glimpse into the realities of modern relationships. Tune in for a charming exploration of everyday life and love that’s sure to resonate with couples celebrating the season of romance.
Sumeet Vyas stated, “I was ecstatic when I got the call that we would be doing something new with Permanent Roommates. Mikesh and Tanya are both very close to my heart and it’s amazing to be able to portray them in a new format. Audio is such a powerful tool for storytelling and I’m so excited for everyone who has loved and supported Permanent Roommates to experience new moments in such a relatable and engaging way.”
The Last Girl to Fall in Love (English and Hindi)
Written by: Durjoy Datta; Starring: Prateik Babbar, Rasika Dugal (English) and Anupriya Goenka, Akshay Oberoi (Hindi)
The story, set in a world that is a rip-off of the earlier patriarchal system in Durjoy’s previous work, ‘The Last Boy to Fall in Love,’ flips the narrative on the meaning of culture. Women write the rules, while men follow them. In this podcast, you will witness a boy named Amartya who meets a girl named Erika in a world on the brink of extinction due to the Kali virus. Whether their meeting is a coincidence or something else, amidst this chaos, a love story unfolds between them. The question is, can love that blossoms suddenly amidst destruction, along with the strange coincidence of hope and revenge, turn into a complete love story? To find out, listen to it on Audible!
Durjoy Datta said, “Writing for the audio medium has been an incredible experience and it’s surreal to see how characters are brought to life solely through voices and sound. Prateik Babbar, Rasika Dugal, Anupriya Goenka and Akshay Oberoi have narrated the books and have brought my vision to life so beautifully!”
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.
