News Broadcasting
Rakesh Sharma’s film wins accolades at Berlin film fest
MUMBAI: After being ‘miffed’ in India, film maker Rakesh Sharma’s feature-length documentary on the Gujarat riots Final Soultions has won two awards at the Berlin International Film Festival recently.
The first award – the Wolfgang Staudte award – which is presented in memory of the noted German film director Wolfgang Staudte carries a cash prize of 10,000 Euros. Final Solution is the first Indian film to win this award which was instituted in 1990 at the Berlin International film festival.
The international jury comprised director-actor-author Catherine Breillat from France, Zanzibar International film festival director Imruh Bakari and German film maker Thomas Arslan.
Said the jury in its citation, “An epic documentary focussing on a culture of hatred and indifference. The directness, clarity and accuracy of the film enables the viewer to both reflect on the universality of the subject matter and relate this to his or her own human attitudes. The film-maker has chosen a documentary form that completely shuns the use of melodramatic effects.”
The second award for the film is the Special Jury Award by the NETPAC jury comprising Garin Nugroho (Indonesia), Dorothea Holloway (Germany) and Fang Yu (China). The jury said, “The award goes to Final Solution for its clarification of issues that spawned hate and violence between Hindus and Moslems in Gujarat, its analysis of propaganda mechanisms for political purposes, and its measured voice to seek a final solution to the conflict.”
Five Indian films were invited to the festival in the International Forum of new cinema section of the Berlinale. These included Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi by Sudhir Mishra, Maqbool by Vishal Bhardwaj, Kal Ho Na Ho by Nikhil Advani, Hava Aaney De by Partho Sengupta and Final Solution by Rakesh Sharma.
Final Solution was rejected by the recently concluded Mumbai International film festival and was screened at Vikalp: Films for Freedom, a parallel festival organised by the Campaign Againt Censorship. Rakesh Sharma who has been on the jury of the Indian Telly Awards for two consecutive year, has been an active member of the campaign since its inception in July-August 2003.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
