iWorld
Disney+ Hotstar forges partnerships with health and fitness leaders Brilliant Wellness, Cult.Fit and Sarva
MUMBAI: Disney+ Hotstar is now offering global health and wellness content to its subscribers. With the aim to strengthen the health and fitness category, Disney+ Hotstar has entered into a strategic alliance with Brilliant Wellness to introduce value-added content from top fitness experts, yoga and spiritual gurus, along with celebrity nutritionists spread across more than 100 fitness programs. Additionally, Indian start-ups and game-changers Sarva and Cult.Fit, known for their state-of-the-art workout models, have also come on board with Disney+ Hotstar to instil a healthy lifestyle and fitness regime among audiences bound by social distancing and lockdown restrictions.
According to industry studies of the Indian fitness market in December 2019, India spent $350-400 towards fitness services, which amounted to a market size worth $2.6 billion. As per estimations by Brilliant Wellness, there are about 200 million people in India seeking fitness services and this market is growing at a CAGR of ten per cent. There has been a significant shift in outlook when it comes to health due to the Covid2019 pandemic. People are now more inclined towards virtual workouts and are on a constant lookout for interactive sessions.
With the endeavour to increase access and enhance the consumer experience with regards to high-intensity interval training, yoga, gym workouts, and other forms of cardio exercises, Disney+ Hotstar, along with Brilliant Wellness, Cult.Fit and Sarva, has introduced a wide variety of content to choose from the all-new health and fitness library. Disney+ Hotstar will bring 3,000 pieces of content in English, Hindi and Telugu on the platform. The category and offerings are aimed at helping viewers monitor and maintain their wellness quotient while quarantining at home, and even after, as and when they resume their normal lives.
On partnering with leaders in the health and wellness domain, Disney+ Hotstar spokesperson said, “The alliance with these three industry leaders in health and fitness has provided the necessary impetus to our mission to connect with our audience in ways that help them lead happier lives. Health and fitness has become extremely important in our stressful lives, and never more so than today. With free access to video offerings tailor-made to suit the staying-at-home population, workout regimes that can be done through the day and fitness mantras to suit the current times, we want to help people to be healthy. To make this relevant across India, our content will be available in English, Hindi as well as Telugu. Going forward, we will also provide content in Kannada.”
Celebrity Malaika Arora said, "Now more than ever, people are excited about trying new modes of working out because they have realised that this is the new normal. Sarva's app is a huge step in this direction and our association with Disney+ Hotstar is to fuel this fire. We hope it'll help us reach a wider set of audience and open them up to consuming daily content on an everyday platform. We're excited to see how it'll perform and the reaction to it.”
Speaking about the strategic alliance with Disney+ Hotstar, Brilliant Wellness found and director Adarsh Gupta said, “The current pandemic has really brought fitness and immunity building to the top of the agenda. Our current estimate is that India has an addressable market of over 200 million people, who are at various levels in their journey to fitness. Over the last five years we have worked tirelessly to create the most definitive library of do-it-along home-based workout content with India’s leading experts that addresses every conceivable need of people in the space of yoga/fitness/celebrity fitness/nutrition and gym workouts. We are happy to announce a strategic tie up with Disney+ Hotstar to power this category with the intention of making a positive difference in the lives of their subscribers.”
Cult.fit growth and business head Naresh Krishnaswamy said, “With the Covid-19 induced lockdown, we have seen a surge in the number of users on our platform. Since we also conduct online live fitness sessions, we have witnessed a 3x increase in the amount of time its users spend on cult.live. At a time when there is such a demand for health and fitness, the partnership with Disney+ Hotstar will prove to be strategically viable for both businesses. Together our objective is to expand the reach and help users avail the best content we have to offer from the comfort of their homes.”
Elaborating on the collaboration, Sarva founder Sarvesh Shashi said, "The past two months have only shown us the opportunity for health and fitness as an industry and this association with Disney+ Hotstar is a huge step towards tapping that opportunity. Yoga as a category and Yoga for immunity specifically has seen a huge surge in the last two months, given the increased importance in building immunity amid the global pandemic. We're excited to see where this association is headed and how many new doors it opens for us.”
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.
