iWorld
#fame is an amalgamation of technology and content: Saket Saurabh
MUMBAI: The staircase to fame is less steep and wider today than it used to be a couple of decades ago. In the era of digital adeptness, a person sitting in Bangalore or Bokaro, Jalandhar or Jamshedpur, Mumbai or Mussoorie, Delhi or Daman has an equal opportunity to showcase talent and content to the world at the click of a few buttons.
Over the years, from hoardings to cinema to television, the medium through which fame can be achieved has changed drastically. Today, with the emergence of the digital medium, talent no longer needs to follow the long and tedious process. The ‘funda’ is simple: If you if have quality content, all you need is a hashtag to become famous.
At a time like this, armed with the motto of providing a platform to talent that has the quality content, To The New Ventures’ (TTN Ventures) platform – #fame is making waves in the digital world.
With the launch of its new app a couple of months back, #fame enabled users to stream content live, which can be consumed real time.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, #fame CEO Saket Saurabh says, “We started our journey as an entertainment network by creating digital first content, which was exclusively for digital. The app, which is India’s first live-streaming app, has seen half a million downloads since launch and that is very encouraging. The app is dedicated to talent where anyone can live beam their performance, find an audience, interact and create a marketplace.”
“As a company we are focused on talent. Our aim is to ensure that we discover emerging talent using the power of digital and give them a platform to showcase their skills and find an audience. We have two fundamentals: one is content and the other is tech. The #fame app is an amalgamation of both,” Saurabh asserts.
Currently, the company’s main focus is to create a quality wave of supply, which can meet consumers’ demand. “We have more than 15000 unique performers and we’re adding 500 new performers every day. In this business, supply is most important and hence having good supply was always our priority,” adds Saurabh.
Forging multiple tie-ups since inception, #fame’s biggest association so far has been with the IIFA Awards. “We are getting a lot of engaging content. This year we partnered with IIFA and with that we changed IIFA from a two hours prime time show to a three-day entertainment gala. We created content that would never find a television spot and consumers lapped it all up. From the green carpet to behind the scenes, the who’s who of Bollywood were chatting with subscribers and that’s the power of the app,” Saurabh explains.
Today, the Indian youth is constantly interacting across various mediums while consuming content and constant partial attention has become a primary discussion for the ad fraternity. In the age of real time interaction and trending hashtags, consumers are giving their opinion across social medium. The digital medium, be it over-the-top (OTT) or video-on-demand (VOD) platforms, has the infrastructure to provide brands an opportunity to be a part of the real time interaction.
Saurabh is of the opinion that this phenomenon is poised to get a major impetus in India due to various factors, technological advancement being one of them. “The primary reason for real time interactive mediums to grow is the overwhelming penetration of smartphones. Secondly, the impending launch of 4G will play a pivotal role in ensuring feature phone users’ move towards the smartphone. Last but not the least, access cost will come down while the intensity and quality of streaming will enhance. So interactive mediums will enhance their base and become more mass. The digital medium gives marketers the option to target and analyse specifically because of its interactive nature,” he says.
A key reason for the digital medium’s success is its ability to catapult a person to instant fame. Moreover, according to Saurabh, it definitely has the potential to sustain in the long run. “There is a sea of content creators who are looking towards digital to communicate, which in return is spelling success for the likes of YouTube, Facebook or even #fame for that matter. Talent like All India Bakchod and The Viral Fever are coming to the forefront gaining national and international attention thanks to the medium. What this phenomenon tells us is that there is a wave of talent using digital to come to the fore and connect directly with the audience, which has never happened before. A couple of decades back when television and films were the only medium of exposure for talent, the success ratio of people making it big was very small. The digital medium has multiplied the ratio by 100x if not more. Now all people need to do is shoot and upload. If it has quality, it will get the wings to fly. Digital made things more meritocratic and reduced the reluctance on luck,” Saurabh adds.
#fame, which follows the advertising revenue model, is not looking at the subscription based revenue model as of now. The venture’s focus is to create exclusive content, which can be a great platform of promotion for brands too and help in creating a value proposition for advertisers.
“We have had a very strong relationship with advertisers right from the beginning. Being a talent management company, we indulge in creating a lot of properties, which helps us to discover talent. We created a fashion property where Karan Johar was a mentor and editor. We recently launched a musical property called Web Singer with Pritam Chakraborty, where the focus is on discovering young singing talent. Being an interactive medium, we interact with audiences in many different ways and brands associated with us also become a part of the interaction,” informs Saurabh.
Speaking on the growth of digital medium, he says, “The time of digital boom has come. We have to follow consumers wherever they are going and they have now moved towards the mobile medium. There’s always a debate about whether mobile is the second screen or the third screen. Well, I think mobile is the first screen. The line between television and digital has blurred over the time. All we need to do is create specialized content for consumer to consume in digital mediums.”
With the influx of new players like HOOQ, Hotstar and Ditto TV amongst others, India has become a battlefield of OTT and VOD platforms. Moreover, with the speculated launch of Netflix in India by 2016, the competition is only set to get tougher. Speaking on the same, Saurabh says, “The players that are already present will spur the ecosystem and competition will only go on to ensure that better quality is presented to consumers. So I don’t think one will demolish the other. Rather in my opinion, one will subtly compliment the other and at the end of the day, it’s the survival of the fittest.”
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.
