iWorld
Jagran Film Festival reveals star-studded jury for features and shorts
Mumbai: The 11 editions of the Jagran Film Festival (JFF), recognised as the world’s largest travelling film festival, have revealed its panel of judges for the feature film and short film segments. In a distinctive approach, the festival will have distinct jury members for each category – Feature Films and Short Films. With its 11 seasons, the festival has enlisted highly experienced figures from the industry as jury members. The distinguished jury for this year comprises celebrated Indian directors, editors, screenwriters, and film critics.
The ‘Best Feature Film Award category’ will have its feature films evaluated by a panel consisting of Rahul Rawail, known for directing and editing Indian classics like Love Story, Betaab, Arjun, Dacait, Anjaam, Arjun Pandit, and the recent release Jo Bole So Nihaal. Additionally, Girish Kasaravalli, a well-established Kannada film director with a remarkable tally of fourteen national awards, and Juhi Chaturvedi, the accomplished screenwriter behind acclaimed Bollywood hits such as Vicky Donor, Piku, October, and Gulabo Sitabo, will be part of the panel.
The assessment of short films will be undertaken by a distinguished panel of jurors, including A. Sreekar Prasad, a renowned film editor from the Telugu and Tamil film industry, with a remarkable nine national film awards to his credit. Joining him is Haobam Paban Kumar, an accomplished filmmaker honoured with the National Film Award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation, and Baradwaj Rangan, a respected film critic and editor-in-chief of Galatta Plus, who formerly served as an editor at film companion (South). Following their review of the films, the jurors will proceed to select the recipient of the Best Short Film award category.
Both categories are dedicated to honouring and celebrating the outstanding achievements of directors and filmmakers who bring remarkable narratives to life through the medium of feature and short films. It’s a platform designed to recognize the exceptional storytelling and creative prowess that these artists exhibit within their respective formats, highlighting their significant contributions to the world of cinema.
Jagran Prakashan Sr VP, strategy, brand and business development Basant Rathore, said, we are thrilled to extend a warm welcome to our esteemed jury, entrusted with the challenging task of choosing the best amongst equals. Anticipating some exciting times as the festival marches ahead in its journey.
Jagran Film Festival has gained immense popularity and each year it attempts to present a treat for cinema lovers by showing unique and popular movies during the show. Some prominent sections of the festival are In conversation, World Panorama, Homage, Country Focus, Asia Premiere, World Premiere, and the Retrospective of Films.
The world’s largest travelling film festival is all set to enrapture audiences with an exceptional array of world-class films from all around the globe. The Jagran Film Festival started in Delhi on 3 August and has travelled through Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Bareilly and will travel to, Dehradun, Hisar, Gurgaon, Ludhiana, Patna, Darbhanga, Ranchi, Raipur, Indore, and Siliguri. For registration log on to: www.jff.co.in. The award ceremony will happen in Mumbai on 15 October 2023.
e-commerce
Visa report tracks rise of India’s affluent, experience-led spending
Affluent base doubles to 130 lakh, travel 58 per cent of elite spends.
MUMBAI: In India’s new luxury playbook, it’s less about owning more and more about living better. A new whitepaper by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) maps a decisive shift in India’s affluent economy, where spending is becoming more intentional, experience-led, and closely tied to personal identity rather than pure income growth.
Titled India’s Affluent Economy 2025–2026, the report draws on a Visa-commissioned Yougov study and VisaNet data across travel, dining, retail and lifestyle categories. The headline number is hard to miss: individuals earning over Rs 10 lakh annually have nearly doubled from 69 lakh to 130 lakh, significantly expanding the country’s discretionary spending base.
But it’s not just about scale, it’s about behaviour. As consumers move up the affluence ladder, discretionary categories are taking a larger share of credit card spends, positioning cards as key enablers of premium, lifestyle-driven consumption.
The geography of wealth is shifting too. Affluence is no longer confined to metros such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow increasingly mirroring metro consumption patterns.
The report highlights a clear pivot from ownership to access. More than 50 per cent of affluent consumers now use cards for elite memberships, while 7 in 10 are drawn to limited-edition drops and curated collections. Increasingly, luxury is defined by seamless access be it concierge-led travel or curated dining where time saved is as valuable as money spent.
Spending patterns reinforce this shift. Among the ultra-elite, travel accounts for 58 per cent of discretionary spends, far outpacing retail and luxury combined at 28 per cent. Cross-border spending penetration stands at 63 per cent, signalling a growing global outlook among India’s affluent.
Closer home, indulgence is becoming routine. Nearly 4 in 5 affluent consumers dine at premium establishments at least three times a year, while 1 in 4 visit luxury venues more than five times annually. Dining spends are also climbing, with Rs 20,000 emerging as a new entry-level benchmark per experience and Rs 50,000 marking premium territory.
Retail, meanwhile, is becoming more selective. Three in four affluent consumers make a high-end purchase at least once a quarter, while one in four shops premium every two weeks. Luxury retail intensity is also rising, with 2 in 5 consumers spending over Rs 5 lakh annually, and a smaller but significant segment exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
Technology and wellness are carving out new roles in this ecosystem. High-end gadgets now see average spends of Rs 60,000 or more per purchase, while ultra-elite consumers are eight times more likely to visit spas and show five times higher engagement with cosmetic stores than non-affluent groups.
The broader takeaway is structural. Affluent consumers are no longer buying products, they are buying ecosystems. Integrated experiences across travel, dining, wellness and payments are becoming central to how this segment lives and spends.
As India’s affluent base expands beyond metros and aligns more closely with global consumption patterns, the real opportunity lies not just in size, but in speed. For brands, the message is clear: relevance will be defined by how early and how seamlessly, they plug into this evolving lifestyle economy.
