eNews
IFP season 14 concludes on a high note
Mumbai: IFP’s 14th edition, held on 12-13 October 2024, at Mehboob Studios, Mumbai, attracted a footfall of over 15,000 attendees. The event celebrated creativity across films & OTT, music, literature, writing, storytelling, photography, design, art, and comedy, featuring a range of sessions, workshops, masterclasses, live performances, mixers, debate rings, and challenges.
Day one opened with Hollywood actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rajkummar Rao discussing the art of character embodiment and Gordon-Levitt’s HitRecord platform. Other notable sessions included a roundtable on film production with Aparna Purohit, Guneet Monga, and Ronnie Lahiri; Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s insights on becoming an auteur; and a conversation on reviving comedy with Rajesh A Krishnan and Kunal Kemmu. A special session, Making of Man Woman Man Woman, featured Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Imaad Shah, Sanah Abbott, and Tarun Dhanrajgir. Additional sessions included ‘The Comic Battle: Anybody Can Boing!’ with Aparshakti Khurana and Sayani Gupta, ‘Inside the Mind of a Music Supervisor’ with Ankur Tewari and Dot, ‘Aesthetics of the Gram: Vertical Cinema’ with Maroof Culmen, Dolly Singh, Sejal Kumar, and Mansi Ugale, ‘Journey of a Joke’ with Saurabh Shukla and Abish Mathew, and ‘Crew Cut’ with Jim Sarbh, Zoya Hussain, and Bosco-Caesar.
Day two began with Shoojit Sircar’s session on crafting subtlety in cinema. Other highlights included ‘Qisse with Kopal’ featuring Sharvari Wagh and Kopal Khanna, ‘Many Shades of Kartik Aaryan’ with Kartik Aaryan, ‘On Subverting Narratives’ with Chhaya Kadam, and ‘Collaborative Creation: Harnessing AI in Art and Cinema’ with Rob, Kabir Khan, and Toosid. Kanika Dhillon and Taapsee Pannu discussed ‘Making of a Modern Pulp’, while William Dalrymple spoke on ‘Walking the Golden Road’. The ‘Musicians Who Broke the Internet’ session featured Nikhita Gandhi, Sai Abhyankkar, Yashraj, and Chaar Diwaari, while the ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ panel included Sparsh Shrivastava, Tanya Maniktala, Abhay Verma, and Pratibha Ranta, and ‘Brut Generation’ featured Aditi Rao Hydari.
The festival also honored winners of IFP’s 50-hour challenges across filmmaking, music, design, performing arts, writing, and photography, with over 54,000 participants globally. In addition to the sessions, the event featured debate rings, open mics, mixers, and live acts, capturing the festival’s creative spirit.
IFP founder Ritam Bhatnagar expressed, “We are thrilled to announce that the fourteenth season of IFP has been truly extraordinary, marking a significant milestone in the festival’s history. Over the past thirteen years, we have consistently witnessed exceptional engagement from both participants and attendees. This year, however, surpassed our highest expectations. A standout moment was the inaugural visit of acclaimed actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt to India specifically for IFP. Furthermore, remarkable speakers from various creative fields greatly enriched the conversations. It’s worth noting that participants from 42 countries and attendees from nine countries joined us, making this a truly global festival.”
eNews
Swiggy sees record orders during India vs New Zealand T20 final
Chicken biryani tops match-day menu as fans order 7,500 times per minute at peak.
MUMBAI: India’s T20 final didn’t just break stumps, it broke Swiggy’s delivery records, proving cricket fans celebrate victories with plates, not just flags. Swiggy, India’s leading on-demand convenience platform, reported a sharp spike in food orders during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final between India and New Zealand. On 8 March 2026, overall orders rose 23.2 per cent year-on-year compared with the same date in 2025, driven by fans turning living rooms into mini stadiums complete with match-day feasts.
Key highlights from the evening:
- Orders during peak match hours (7–10 pm) were 2.1 times higher than pre-match levels.
- The highest order rate hit 7,500 orders per minute at 19:45.
- Chicken biryani reigned supreme as the most-ordered dish, followed by masala dosa, chicken fried rice, garlic breadsticks and paneer butter masala.
While metros such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad led volumes, the cricketing fever spread nationwide. Among emerging cities, Thiruvananthapuram, Surat and Rajkot recorded the strongest order growth. Smaller markets including Shillong, Agartala and Port Blair also showed significant appetite, underlining the expanding footprint of quick-commerce food delivery across India.
The surge reflects a growing trend of pairing major sporting events with doorstep delivery, turning big matches into shared, convenient celebrations. In a night where every boundary mattered, Swiggy proved the real MVP might just be the delivery partner who kept the snacks and the vibes flowing without missing a single wicket.
