iWorld
Rajeev Siddhartha talks about being part of Badi Heroine Banti Hai, ‘Everything just fell into place’
Mumbai: – Amazon miniTV – Amazon’s free video streaming service recently released its rom-com series, Badi Heroine Banti Hai. With a captivating narrative, the series follows the story of Kajal who moves from Ludhiana to Bombay to pursue her dreams. As she gets fired on the first day of her job, her life takes a turn with her being tangled in a game of love and blame with her boss, Advait Singhania. Set against the backdrop of the shimmery world of fashion, the series takes a thrilling route with an unexpected murder mystery as Kajal ends up in a tangle with the murderer. Amalgamating romance, drama, thrill, and comedy, the series creates a gripping storyline that binds together complex and raw characters. Rajeev Siddhartha, who is seen portraying the role of the heart-throb CEO, Advait Singhania, candidly spoke about the series and shared his thoughts on its narrative.
Talking about Badi Heroine Banti Hai and its intriguing narrative, Rajeev Siddhartha explained the context behind the title of the series, “I just loved it, and as I always say, a series or film at the very least must be entertaining; otherwise, it shouldn’t be made. And while this seemed like a lot of fun, I also think that there should always be a message for the viewers to think about. The series Badi Heroine Banti Hai traces the journey of a young girl overcoming challenges to achieve her goals and, with love, positively impacting the hearts and lives of those around her.”
He further expressed his delight in being part of the show by adding, “The story is so beautiful, and my character also has such a nice arc throughout the series that I had to say yes to it. In my conversation with Gul, the creator, I discovered her sensibility, which resonated perfectly, and everything just fell into place.” I am grateful and fortunate to be a part of this series.”
Created by Gul Khan, Badi Heroine Banti Hai features Prerna Lisa, Rajeev Siddhartha, Nehal Chudasama, and Utkarsh Kohli in pivotal roles. The series is streaming exclusively on Amazon miniTV for free, available on Amazon’s shopping app, on Fire TV, and on the Play Store.
iWorld
Bill Ackman makes a $64bn bid for Universal Music Group
The hedge fund boss wants to list the world’s biggest record label in New York and thinks he knows exactly what ails it
NEW YORK: Bill Ackman wants to buy the world’s biggest record label. Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund run by the billionaire investor, submitted a non-binding proposal on Tuesday to acquire all outstanding shares of Universal Music Group in a business combination transaction worth roughly $64.4 billion (around 55.8 billion euros).
Under the terms of the offer, UMG shareholders would receive 9.4 billion euros in cash, equivalent to 5.05 euros per share, plus 0.77 shares of a newly created company, dubbed New UMG, for each share held. Pershing Square values the total package at 30.40 euros per share, a 78 per cent premium to UMG’s closing price on April 2.
The deal would see UMG merge with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, with the combined entity incorporating as a Nevada corporation and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. New UMG would publish financial statements under US GAAP and become eligible for S&P 500 index inclusion. Pershing Square says the transaction is expected to close by year-end, with all equity financing backstopped by Ackman’s firm and its affiliates, and all debt financing committed at signing. The transaction would cancel 17 per cent of UMG’s outstanding shares, leaving New UMG with 1.541 billion shares outstanding.
Ackman has a long history with UMG. Pershing Square first bought approximately 10 per cent of the company from Vivendi in the summer of 2021 for around $4 billion, around the time of UMG’s listing on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. He has since trimmed that position, raising around $1.4 billion from the sale of a 2.7 per cent stake in March 2025, and resigned from UMG’s board in May 2025, citing new executive and board obligations arising from recent investments.
His diagnosis of UMG’s troubles is blunt. The company’s stock has fallen around 33 per cent over the past twelve months on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, and Ackman lays out six reasons why. These include uncertainty around the Bolloré Group’s 18 per cent stake in the company, the postponement of UMG’s US listing, the underutilisation of UMG’s balance sheet, the absence of a publicly disclosed capital allocation plan and earnings algorithm, a failure to reflect UMG’s 2.7 billion euro stake in Spotify in its valuation, and what Ackman calls suboptimal shareholder investor relations, communications and engagement.
The Bolloré stake has long cast a shadow over the company. Cyrille Bolloré stepped down from UMG’s board in July 2025 as the Bolloré Group battled the French financial markets regulator over its stake in Vivendi, which holds a further capital interest in UMG. UMG had confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2025 for a proposed secondary listing in America, but put those plans on hold in March 2026, citing market conditions.
Ackman has kind words for UMG’s management, at least. “Since UMG’s listing, Lucian Grainge and the company’s management have done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” he said. But he made his diagnosis plain: “UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction.”
In other words, Ackman believes UMG is a great business trapped inside a broken structure. If the board agrees, he intends to fix that, loudly and in New York.
