iWorld
Eros Investments and Xfinite partner with Calvin Cheng to launch XelebX
Mumbai: Eros Investments and Xfinite have partnered with veteran entertainment and tech entrepreneur Calvin Cheng to launch XelebX, a web 3.0 members-only celebrity fan club.
With the use of NFTs and fan tokens, the alliance will introduce over 200 million existing followers of global influencers and celebrities linked to the Eros ecosystem and its group companies to the new metaverse.
Only NFT members will be able to access XelebX. They will have access to a number of advantages, such as exclusive access to virtual meet-ups with influencers, exclusive material, virtual backstage passes, and celebrity NFT collectibles.
Speaking on this partnership, Eros Investments chairman Kishore Lulla said, “Over five decades, Eros has built one of the largest media and entertainment businesses, enthralling millions of fans and launching some of the biggest stars in India. One of the key reasons for our success is our ability to embrace change—from film to TV to the Internet and now web 3.0 and the readiness to lead it from the front. The metaverse and the immersive Internet are the technological tides that will carry us forward for the next 50 years. Eros is committed to being at the forefront of its adoption.”
Furthermore, XelebX will introduce fan tokens that measure an influencer’s popularity and can be traded on significant exchanges, enabling holders from various fandoms to freely trade and swap value. As a result, influencers and celebrities will be able to work together and expand their fan bases in a manner that is naturally compatible with web 3.0 interoperability and composability. Xfinite’s Mad Influence, a well-known influencer marketing business, has joined XelebX.
Xfinite CEO Swaneet Singh said, “With Xfinite, Eros has already gained invaluable experience in media built upon virtual assets and the blockchain. XelebX is the next natural innovation to bring the global community of entertainment fans into the metaverse and unlock immersive interaction with the influencers they follow.”
Calvin Cheng added, “Web 3 is all about community building. Other platforms have tried this in the past. They built the tech but struggled to build the community—the key to web 3’s success. We already have the tech expertise and an amazing community of hundreds of millions of fans. We will now onboard them into the metaverse using the latest digital asset and web 3 technologies.”
iWorld
Subedaar puts Indian original cinema on the global map with record-breaking Prime Video debut
MUMBAI: Prime Video has a runaway hit on its hands. Subedaar, the gritty action drama starring Anil Kapoor, has stormed to become the most-watched Indian original movie on the platform in its opening weekend, cracking the Top 10 across 31 countries and landing in 91 per cent of India’s pin codes within days of its March 5 premiere.
The film, a visceral, emotionally-charged story of a retired soldier, Subedaar Arjun Maurya, wrestling with civilian life amid crime and corruption, has struck a nerve. Directed by Suresh Triveni and co-starring Radhikka Madan, Mona Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Rawal, Faisal Malik, and Khushboo Sundar, the film is already being hailed as a showcase for what Indian original storytelling can achieve on the world stage.
“Subedaar’s success is a reflection of the growing scale and global resonance of Indian storytelling,” said Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India. “The film’s emotional narrative, its rooted portrayal of a soldier confronting his toughest battles beyond the battlefield, has struck a chord. Anil Kapoor delivers an acting masterclass, while Suresh Triveni’s solid direction and great performances from the ensemble cast have resulted in love and appreciation from customers across the world.”
Kapoor, 62, has been here before, but rarely at this altitude. Written by Triveni and Prajwal Chandrashekar, with dialogues by Triveni, Saurabh Dwivedi, and Chandrashekar, the film is a production by Opening Image Films in association with Anil Kapoor Film & Communication Network (AKFCN), produced by Vikram Malhotra, Kapoor, and Triveni.
Subedaar streams exclusively on Prime Video in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu across India, and in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.
For Prime Video, the numbers tell the real story: one weekend, one film, a global footprint, and a very loud signal that Indian original cinema is no longer just travelling well. It’s arriving.
