iWorld
Jackie Thakkar joins Nikhil Kamath’s WTF as Lead Creative Producer
Mumbai: Jackie Thakkar is on the move again, and the timing is telling. As digital studios race to mint scalable intellectual property, the creative producer known for marrying brands and storytelling has joined WTF as lead creative producer, tasked with developing and executing new-age content IPs at Nikhil Kamath’s content studio.
Thakkar arrives with a résumé built for the attention economy. At JioHotstar, where he served as supervising creative producer for branded content, he led and created India’s Ultimate MotoStar, a Castrol Power1-backed reality show that ran on MTV and JioHotstar in 2024. He steered it from script to screen, working on anchor links, contestant diaries, edits and final delivery. The show drew strong reviews and added to his credentials as a builder of advertiser-funded entertainment.
His stint also included shaping title marketing and branded projects across marquee channels such as Colors TV, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Campaigns with Amazon miniTV, Garnier and Castrol Power1 ranged from integrations to full web series. An early win included cracking a brief for Imperial Blue’s “Men Will Be Men” communication and helping craft a Holi campaign around Bigg Boss stars.
Before the broadcast scale came digital muscle. At Pocket Aces’ FilterCopy, first as senior creative associate and later as creative director, Thakkar led writers and directors while pushing new video IPs. His breakout script, When Your Boyfriend Puts You in Awkward Situations, became FilterCopy’s most viewed video of 2020 with more than 20 million views. Projects under his watch collectively crossed 100 million-plus views on YouTube.
Earlier, at Arré, he was part of the four-member team that grew the channel from 300,000 to 2 million subscribers in two years. The platform’s presence expanded nearly sevenfold. His If Gaitonde… spoof series won a 2019 Talentrack Award, and he wrote sketches featuring Vidya Balan, Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao and Kartik Aaryan, alongside more than 100 articles spanning pop culture, politics and relationships.
The backstory stretches from copywriting at Merry Men to assistant directing in Los Angeles after a filmmaking and creative-writing course at UCLA. Even his teenage years included film criticism for BookMyShow and campus pieces for AOL.
The through line is clear: branded stories that travel. As platforms blur the lines between advertising and entertainment, creators who can sell without seeming to sell are in demand.
New studio, bigger canvas. In the content arms race, Jackie Thakkar is betting that sharp ideas still cut through the noise. And in a market hooked on views, brands and virality, the next hit is always one script away.
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.
