iWorld
Hungama OTT ramps up 2025 slate with bold, binge-ready originals
MUMBAI: Hungama OTT has stepped firmly into the big league in 2025, strengthening its reputation as one of the fastest-growing Hindi-speaking streaming platforms. Backed by a steady stream of thrillers, crime sagas, psychological dramas and boundary-pushing narratives, the platform delivered a slate designed to keep audiences glued all year.
The year opened with Personal Trainer, a dark Mumbai-set thriller led by Tinaa Dattaa. It followed an affair gone wrong and a death that unravels a dangerous maze of betrayal. February brought Pati Patni Aur Padosan, a psychological crime drama where Yukti Kapoor’s character becomes dangerously obsessed with a mysterious neighbour.
March delivered two heavy hitters. Kab Kyun Aur Kahan explored a chain of brutal murders pulling the CBI into a high-profile investigation, while Khadaan, set in a mining village, blended folklore with crime as Aly Goni’s inspector probed a chilling family mystery.
April saw the return of Hasratein 2, the platform’s most-watched original, expanding its anthology of bold, emotional stories centred on women’s desires and inner conflicts. May’s Mona Ki Manohar Kahaniyan kept the tension high with Srishty Rode as a murder suspect spinning stories inside an interrogation room.
June doubled down on deception. Judwaa Jaal featured Monalisa in a gripping dual role, while Badass Begum put Divyaa Agarwal at the heart of a gritty rise-to-power drama set in Mumbai’s underworld.
In July, Rose Garden brought mystery and romance to a Punjabi village, and August’s Let’s Play Blind took viewers into the high-stakes world of elite gambling and revenge.
September’s Rishton Ka Chakravyuh traced the transformation of a timid housewife forced into danger, while October’s Yeh Hai Sanak served a heady mix of desire, rivalry and family secrets.
November’s Dirty Scams featured five standalone stories of cons helmed by bold female leads, and the year closed with Vinny Ki Kitaab, a December drama about a housewife whose accidental literary fame sparks a powerful personal reinvention.
With a line-up spanning small towns, big cities, shadowy secrets and sharp twists, Hungama OTT’s 2025 slate shows a platform eager to take risks and ready to claim its place in India’s crowded streaming arena.
Gaming
DPIIT partners with Krafton to boost tech-media startups
New MoU aims to accelerate innovation in gaming, esports and AI-driven entertainment.
MUMBAI: When government meets gaming, sparks are bound to fly and this time, the partnership promises to level up India’s startup scene in more ways than one. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Krafton India Pvt. Ltd. to support early-stage startups working at the intersection of technology and media. The agreement, formalised on Thursday, reflects a growing effort by policymakers to harness private-sector expertise for the country’s booming digital entertainment ecosystem.
Under the partnership, selected startups will gain access to mentorship, industry networks and structured opportunities to engage with established players. The initiative is designed to help young companies move from prototype to market-ready products, test concepts, secure market access and integrate into larger industry ecosystems.
Sanjiv, a joint secretary at DPIIT, described the collaboration as part of a broader strategy to strengthen India’s digital and creative economy. He emphasised that such alliances are essential for helping startups develop globally competitive solutions in emerging sectors such as online gaming, esports, interactive media and artificial intelligence.
The programme will feature innovation challenges under the government’s startup initiatives, along with hackathons, workshops and masterclasses covering game design, animation, immersive technologies and AI applications. Selected startups may also be considered for pilot projects with industry partners based on their performance.
In a sector where ideas move at the speed of a battle royale, this partnership could be the ultimate power-up giving promising startups the mentorship and exposure needed to turn creative sparks into sustainable success stories.
