iWorld
ShemarooMe Box Office courts southern audiences with Varmaa
KOLKATA: Homegrown OTT platform ShemarooMe Box Office is now venturing into the regional space with Varmaa, the Tamil remake of Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy.
Varmaa is helmed by the national award-winning director Bala and features Tamil superstar Chiyaan Vikram’s son Dhruv in the titular role. The movie, seen as the master filmmaker’s intense take on romance, is available to audiences on pay per view.
The brand recently launched its TVoD service, better known as pay per view, for regional audiences and is attempting to break the language barrier when it comes to entertaining cinema lovers.
Varmaa can be watched on ShemarooMe Box Office by subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Fans can log on to the ShemarooMe website or BookMyShow and purchase a ticket, priced at Rs 140, and tune into the movie online. The ticket allows families to enjoy the film over and over again for three days.
Varmaa is a direct-to-OTT release. While both the original Arjun Reddy and its Bollywood adaptation Kabir Singh starring Shahid Kapoor made bank at the box office, they were called out for glorifying misogyny and abuse.
Critics dubbed Varmaa a faithful adaptation of its source material, while also mentioning that Bala has added his own little twists in some aspects of the characters and story.
iWorld
Samay Raina returns with Still Alive, confronts 2025 controversy in bold comeback special
Comeback set tackles controversy, blending humour with raw storytelling
MUMBAI: Samay Raina is set to release his new stand-up comedy special, Still Alive, on YouTube on April 7, 2026, marking a high-profile return following a turbulent year.
The trailer for the special dropped on April 5, offering a glimpse into what Raina describes as a raw and unfiltered set that leans as much on honesty as it does on humour.
Positioned as a comeback of sorts, Still Alive draws heavily from the controversy surrounding his show India’s Got Latent in early 2025. The episode led to legal trouble, multiple FIRs, and a lengthy six-hour interrogation by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell, placing the comedian at the centre of intense public scrutiny.
Rather than sidestep the episode, Raina leans into it. The special reflects on the fallout and his personal journey through it, blending observational comedy with moments of emotional candour. Early audience feedback from live performances suggests the tone is less about rapid-fire punchlines and more about storytelling with bite.
The special was filmed during his global Still Alive & Unfiltered tour, which ran from August 2025 to early 2026. The tour saw Raina perform across major international venues, including the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York, a milestone that places him among the youngest Indian comedians to take that stage.
The title itself signals resilience. “Still Alive” is a nod to navigating both legal and public backlash while choosing to remain unapologetically authentic, a theme that appears to anchor the set.
With the special set to premiere online, all eyes are now on how audiences respond to a performance that promises equal parts reflection and wit. For Raina, the message is clear. He is not just back, he is ready to be heard on his own terms.
