iWorld
Disney+ Hotstar to release Aarya Season 3 on 3 November
Mumbai: Make way as Aarya Sareen (Sushmita Sen) flaunts her claws and takes on the throne as the new don in town in Aarya Season 3. After receiving an International Emmy Award Nomination for Season 1 and two successful seasons, the wait ends as the fan favorite franchise returns with its third season with newer challenges, newer enemies and with a newer ambition. Created and co-directed by the visionary Ram Madhvani and co-produced by Amita Madhavni, Ram Madhvani Films and Endemol Shine India, the dawn of a fearless reign unfolds with Aarya Season 3 exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar on third November
Sushmita Sen, added “Aarya Sareen has now become a very integral part of my life. Her experiences across seasons have touched my heart. It’s an honor to step back into her shoes for ‘Aarya’ Season 3. This season explores the profound power of Aarya, as she strikes down her enemies and begins to create an empire of her own, while grappling the threats to her loved ones. Aarya’s story is a testament to a woman who defies life’s constraints and will go to any lengths to protect the ones close to her. Aarya’ Season 3 isn’t just a show on Disney+ Hotstar; it’s an emotional journey that fills me with love and pride.”
Disney+ Hotstar head – content & Disney Star HSM entertainment network Gaurav Banerjee said, “It brings us such joy to announce season 3 of Aarya, a marquee franchise from the Disney+Hotstar content slate. This series has been a winner since Season 1, we never anticipated the incredible love and acclaim it’s received not just in India, but also the world over. It’s been a phenomenal collaboration with Ram Madhvani and Sushmita Sen who have created such a powerful series. We are confident that Season 3 takes the legacy of this title many notches higher and we are looking forward to sharing this with our viewers.”
Creator, co-producer and co-director of Aarya (S1, S2 and S3), Ram Madhvani added, “After the immense love that we have received from audiences over the last two seasons, we present to you a new era of Aarya where she leaves no stone turned. Season 3 will keep audiences on their toes with the exciting journey of Aarya to emerge as the ultimate don. Aarya will shock you. The emotional graph of her journey is exhilarating. She will own her power. Is this her final chance? You will soon find out. Collaborating alongside with Disney+ Hotstar and Sushmita Sen to narrate this story has been incredible and I hope audiences and fans receive this season with the same love.”
Endemol Shine India CEO Rishi Negi said, “Endemol Shine India along with Ram Madhvani Films and Disney+ Hotstar is proud to have brought to audiences across the globe the phenomenon of Aarya.. Gripping, relevant and hard-hitting, Season 3 will take this franchise and the story of Aarya forward. We hope the audiences will enjoy this exciting and thrilling season. ”
Get ready to embark on an exhilarating new journey with Aarya Season 3, set to stream only on Disney+ Hotstar on 3 November!
e-commerce
Visa report tracks rise of India’s affluent, experience-led spending
Affluent base doubles to 130 lakh, travel 58 per cent of elite spends.
MUMBAI: In India’s new luxury playbook, it’s less about owning more and more about living better. A new whitepaper by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) maps a decisive shift in India’s affluent economy, where spending is becoming more intentional, experience-led, and closely tied to personal identity rather than pure income growth.
Titled India’s Affluent Economy 2025–2026, the report draws on a Visa-commissioned Yougov study and VisaNet data across travel, dining, retail and lifestyle categories. The headline number is hard to miss: individuals earning over Rs 10 lakh annually have nearly doubled from 69 lakh to 130 lakh, significantly expanding the country’s discretionary spending base.
But it’s not just about scale, it’s about behaviour. As consumers move up the affluence ladder, discretionary categories are taking a larger share of credit card spends, positioning cards as key enablers of premium, lifestyle-driven consumption.
The geography of wealth is shifting too. Affluence is no longer confined to metros such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow increasingly mirroring metro consumption patterns.
The report highlights a clear pivot from ownership to access. More than 50 per cent of affluent consumers now use cards for elite memberships, while 7 in 10 are drawn to limited-edition drops and curated collections. Increasingly, luxury is defined by seamless access be it concierge-led travel or curated dining where time saved is as valuable as money spent.
Spending patterns reinforce this shift. Among the ultra-elite, travel accounts for 58 per cent of discretionary spends, far outpacing retail and luxury combined at 28 per cent. Cross-border spending penetration stands at 63 per cent, signalling a growing global outlook among India’s affluent.
Closer home, indulgence is becoming routine. Nearly 4 in 5 affluent consumers dine at premium establishments at least three times a year, while 1 in 4 visit luxury venues more than five times annually. Dining spends are also climbing, with Rs 20,000 emerging as a new entry-level benchmark per experience and Rs 50,000 marking premium territory.
Retail, meanwhile, is becoming more selective. Three in four affluent consumers make a high-end purchase at least once a quarter, while one in four shops premium every two weeks. Luxury retail intensity is also rising, with 2 in 5 consumers spending over Rs 5 lakh annually, and a smaller but significant segment exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
Technology and wellness are carving out new roles in this ecosystem. High-end gadgets now see average spends of Rs 60,000 or more per purchase, while ultra-elite consumers are eight times more likely to visit spas and show five times higher engagement with cosmetic stores than non-affluent groups.
The broader takeaway is structural. Affluent consumers are no longer buying products, they are buying ecosystems. Integrated experiences across travel, dining, wellness and payments are becoming central to how this segment lives and spends.
As India’s affluent base expands beyond metros and aligns more closely with global consumption patterns, the real opportunity lies not just in size, but in speed. For brands, the message is clear: relevance will be defined by how early and how seamlessly, they plug into this evolving lifestyle economy.
