iWorld
OTTplay Awards 2025 takes centre stage with a star-studded celebration
MUMBAI: Mumbai’s entertainment scene sparkled brighter as the OTTplay Awards 2025 rolled out the red carpet at JW Marriott on 22 March, bringing together the finest in digital storytelling under its ‘One Nation, One OTT Award’ banner. The third edition of the only pan-India OTT awards was a grand spectacle, uniting stars and creators from across languages and regions to honour the best in streaming content.
The night was a triumph of storytelling, with major accolades going to Panchayat, Paatal Lok, Girls Will Be Girls, Poacher, Freedom at Midnight, Black Warrant, and IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack.
The acting honours saw Manoj Bajpayee (Despatch) and Anupam Kher (Vijay 69) take home Best Actor (Popular and Critics, respectively), while Kajol (Do Patti) and Parvathy Thiruvothu (Manorathangal) claimed Best Actress titles.
The web series category delivered emotional highs, with Jyotika (Dabba Cartel) winning Best Supporting Actor (Female) and presenting the Critics’ Best Actress award to Nimisha Sajayan (Poacher) in an on-stage moment that radiated camaraderie.
Other winners included Jaideep Ahlawat (Paatal Lok 2) and Raghav Juyal, bagging Best Actor (Male) in the Critics’ and Popular categories, respectively, while Aditi Rao Hydari earned recognition for her performance in Heeramandi.
The evening also saw a blend of generations, with industry veterans Anupam Kher and Shekhar Suman cheering on Patralekha, who won Breakthrough Performance (Female) Series for IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, while her husband Rajkummar Rao led a standing ovation.
Adding a touch of nostalgia, Kunal Kohli presented Kajol with her award, reigniting Fanaa memories for Bollywood buffs.
The night was filled with iconic reunions, including The Family Man trio Manoj Bajpayee, Priya Mani, and Neeraj Madhav, sharing the stage for the first time since Season 1. They were joined by Jaideep Ahlawat, the antagonist of the upcoming season, making for a momentous OTT crossover.
Regional representation shone bright, with Sriimurali and Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar receiving special felicitations, while Miheeka Daggubati accepted the Best Talk Show Host award on behalf of her husband, Rana Daggubati.
Commenting on the significance of the event, OTTplay, CEO and co-founder Avinash Mudaliar said, “At the OTTplay Awards, we honour the creators who challenge convention, the performers who redefine excellence, and the stories that resonate across languages and regions. With our ‘One Nation, One OTT Award’ vision, the OTTplay Awards are designed to transcend linguistic, regional, and platform-specific boundaries—recognising the finest in web series, OTT films, and digital storytelling from every corner of India’s dynamic entertainment ecosystem. This is more than an awards ceremony for me; it is a celebration of a cultural shift—a tribute to a golden era of streaming that is not arriving but already here. OTTplay Awards – Where India’s stories find their spotlight.”
As the curtains closed with Raghav Juyal’s signature slow-motion hook step, the OTTplay Awards 2025 stood as a powerful testament to India’s ever-evolving digital entertainment landscape, where creativity knows no borders.
The event was co-presented by Real Juice and Kuhl, powered by StockGro, and held in association with HT City. With Zoom as the official broadcast partner, and Flipkart Spoyl, D Pauls, Amante, and Propshop among key sponsors, the evening was a seamless blend of entertainment and industry excellence.
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.
