iWorld
Filmfare OTT Awards 2020: Paatal Lok, The Family Man take top honours
KOLKATA: The Indian OTT industry has grown by leaps and bounds this year, and has been a force to be reckoned with in fostering innovation and creativity in the country. Celebrating the indelible mark of the streaming industry and lauding stellar performances, Filmfare hosted the inaugural edition of the Flyx Filmfare OTT Awards on 19 December at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai.
It was a starry night filled with glamour and brilliance as the Black Lady was bestowed on the finest OTT content creators, actors, and their creations.
The gala event witnessed the most-recognisable names from the Indian entertainment industry, including Pratik Gandhi, Nora Fatehi, Alaya F, Rajkummar Rao, Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani and many more who raised the glam quotient on the red carpet. The event was hosted by comedians Varun Thakur and Danish Sait, who kept the audiences entertained with rib-tickling humour and zestful jibes.
Making a clean sweep, Paatal Lok won the most awards across categories in addition to bagging the Filmfare for Best Series. Raat Akeli Hai won the Best Movie (web original) award. The winners of the night – Jaideep Ahlawat (Best Actor in a Drama Series Male), Rahul Bose (Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Web Original Film Male), and Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Best Actor in a Web Original Film Male) culminated the ceremony on an emotional note with their heart-warming acceptance speeches that reminisced their journey leading up to the grand night. Popular actors Sushmita Sen (Best Actor in a Drama Series Female) and Neena Gupta (Best Actor in A Supporting Role in a Comedy Series Female) lit up the extravaganza virtually by delivering endearing messages of love and acceptance.
The first edition of the ceremony also saw internet personalities such as Mithila Palkar, Dhruv Sehgal, and Sumukhi Suresh make their Filmfare debut by winning Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Female) for Little Things Season 3, Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Critics) for Little Things Season 3 and Best Actress in a Comedy Series (Critics) for Pushpavali Season 2 respectively.
The award ceremony also lauded and celebrated talented artists in the critics category with The Family Man bagging the Best Series (Critics); Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru (The Family Man) won Best Director (Critics), Manoj Bajpayee bagged the trophy for Best Actor in a Drama Series (Critics) and Best Actress in a Drama Series (Critics) went to by Priyamani (The Family Man).
The sponsors for this year included title partner Flyx, co-powered by Tata Pravesh and Bosch Home Appliances, driven by Skoda, associate partner LIC and more partners including Sugarbox.
iWorld
Epic Company launches unified Epic Studio for films and OTT
Vivek Krishnani to head films business; Samar Khan leads OTT & Television.
MUMBAI: Epic just merged its creative superheroes under one cape because when films and OTT need to fight for attention together, you don’t keep them in separate universes. The Epic Company has launched Epic Studio, a next-generation creative and production powerhouse that unites Juggernaut Productions and Movieverse Studio under a single banner. The move creates a streamlined, scalable platform for premium storytelling across theatrical films, OTT originals, television, digital-first formats and branded content.
Vivek Krishnani has been appointed chief executive officer, Epic Studio (Films), overseeing the theatrical and film business with a focus on culturally resonant narratives across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and Malayalam cinema. Samar Khan continues as chief executive officer, Epic Studio (OTT & Television) and retains his role as chief content officer for Docubay and Epic On.
The Epic Company managing director Aditya Pittie said, “Epic Studio brings together our entire creative ecosystem under one unified studio vision. This is not just an integration of verticals, but the creation of a collaborative environment where writers, filmmakers, creators, and brand partners can seamlessly develop and scale stories across formats and screens.”
Vivek Krishnani added, “We are building an audience-focused mainstream film studio committed to delivering fresh, engaging, and innovative stories for both theatrical and streaming platforms.”
Samar Khan commented, “This alignment allows us to approach storytelling with a unified studio mindset. We are building IP under one creative umbrella, with scale and longevity in mind from inception.”
The unified structure eliminates silos, enabling ideas to flow fluidly from concept to screen while adapting to evolving audience behaviour. Epic Studio positions itself as a creator-led ecosystem championing purposeful, resonant storytelling with commercial strength.
In an entertainment landscape where stories now leap between screens faster than plot twists, Epic isn’t just building a studio, it’s crafting a single launchpad where every tale gets the best shot at soaring across every platform.
