iWorld
Using technology to help people connect to faith: Shemaroo’s Hiren Gada
MUMBAI: Despite the fast-paced lifestyle most Indians never get disconnected from their faith. Early mornings at many homes would mean turning on some devotional content on TV. But it isn't a category that attracts content creators. Shemaroo Entertainment found the need gap long ago and started exploring the opportunity. Now, devotional content from the house is gradually increasing with a presence across digital and television mediums.
With the aim to connect people to their faith, Shemaroo Entertainment has experimented with several kinds of content including live streaming from religious places. Moreover, to strengthen the presence across mediums, it has launched two apps and tied-up with major DTH platforms and telco operators. Shemaroo Entertainment CEO Hiren Gada in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com shared the reasons for focusing on the segment, marketing strategy and upcoming actions in 2019.
Excerpts:
Why have you started focusing on devotional category highly?
Many years ago when we looked at the audio-visual medium and the needs of the consumers that it can actually fulfill – films and entertainment and then news came immediately to mind. Then we saw there are many more needs audio-visual medium can fulfill and when we saw different kind of categories which have a wider mass consumption, devotion came as a very strong one. The need for devotion in India is strong in multiple pockets. That’s why we thought that if we have to look at the categories beyond films and entertainment genre, devotion is a very strong area to look at. When we were doing all of this we also saw how technology is making devotion more accessible to common man. Technology is helping them access devotional needs in an easier, better and faster way compared to what it was years back. Digital media is acting as an enabler for common mass. All these factors have given us thought that this is a category we should explore much deeper.
Does young India watch devotional content? What’s your strategy to attract them to this particular category?
I would answer it in two ways. If you look at the life journey of any Indian, there are so many exposures to devotional aspects right from childhood. In youth age, people may get a bit disconnected, they may be a bit rebellious also. Further, as they progress, the devotional journey continues. We as Indians are always seeking to reach the higher, deeper meaning of life. There is absolutely no denying that. In every religious festival, youth participates actively.
The second aspect is how we are making the content available and accessible. We are doing it through the gadgets of the youth that is the mobile. It’s about connecting people to their faith and using technology to make that connection happen.
We have recast a lot of traditional bhajans with a youthful flavour, in more modern music setting with more modern sounds. The fundamental character of bhajan is not being changed but is presented in a more youthful setting. For some of the bhajans, we have created very good videos. These are the ways to connect to the youth where they can find content suitable to their taste.
Do you have plans of launching any other app other than the existing ones (Bhakti, Ibaadat)?
We will expand to other faiths also. At this point, between these two we are covering more than 90 per cent of India’s population. Our focus is also to go deeper and add more and more new aspects, new features. If I have to look beyond apps, today whether it is on YouTube, DTH, we have worked with all the other faiths.
If you could share more details about DTH services…
Currently, we are running 24/7 services across four major DTH platforms which are Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel, d2h. One service is for Hindu, another for Islamic. Also, we just recently launched our service on InCable. These are all essentially premium paid ad-free services with different monthly payment ranging between Rs 40 to 60 per month. We do the entire programming curation, scheduling.
What are the plans for OTT consumers? Do you have a plan to strike a deal with any platform?
At this point, we are planning to put it on our upcoming Shemaroo Me platform. Exclusivity is one aspect, the other aspect is that you know devotion is a non-entertainment category. Most of these platforms are on the entertainment side. So it’s not a mandate of most of the platforms to take up devotion as content or services. In that sense, most of them are not looking at a devotional category.
What will be your marketing strategy?
We have two or three agencies working for us whereas Ogilvy is our main agency who created the basic template for the new Shemaroo visual identity. There is one more agency we worked with for some of the specific creative. We have very strong in-house teams too. The entire social media is handled by the in-house team. We have a very strong in-house promo creation team. They have done some very fantastic promo and tailors.
In terms of overall marketing, we do it in two or three ways. On social media, we have a very strong presence itself on Facebook, YouTube. There are YouTube channels which have more than 2 million subscribers. Apart from that, DTH is where consumer is also present and we also promote services. Then there is b2b which is through sending a lot of newsletters, PR to various b2b constituencies whether on corporate, regular media, digital media side, telcos. We also have a very strong presence through the telco platforms and are working very closely with them.
How does this category contribute to overall revenue?
It’s till now relatively nascent and small. In terms of overall monetisation, film is a very large category. Film is overall 80 per cent of our business. Devotion as a category contributor would be single digit per cent, less than 10 per cent.
Which are the new initiatives you are planning to take up this year?
There are very exciting plans. The whole Kumbh Mela is starting this month, there are lot of activities we have planned for Kumbh Mela in multiple ways. More importantly, we are focusing on giving the audience a fantastic experience both on television and digital medium.
We will have Shemaroo Me OTT launch where devotional will be a part of the content categories and then there are 3-4 other different activities planned out. Plans for the second half is yet to be chalked out.
Gaming
India’s new online gaming rules take effect today, banning money games and creating a regulator
The rules, in force from today, separate e-sports from gambling and impose jail terms and stiff fines on violators
NEW DELHI: India’s online gaming sector woke up this morning to a new reality. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026, came into force today, May 1st, turning a year of legislative intent into enforceable law. The message from New Delhi is blunt: e-sports and social games are welcome; online money games are not.
The rules operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025. Together, they represent the most sweeping regulatory intervention India has made in its booming digital gaming market, one that generated Rs 23,200 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent to reach Rs 31,600 crore by 2027. The stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.
A sector out of control
The urgency behind the legislation is not hard to find. An estimated 45 crore Indians have been affected by online money gaming platforms, with losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Addiction, financial ruin, money laundering, and suicides have all been linked to the sector. Seventy-seven per cent of the market’s revenues came from transaction-based games, a figure that made regulators deeply uneasy.
The government’s response, effective as of today, is categorical. Online money games, whether based on chance, skill, or any mix of the two, are banned outright. So is their advertising, promotion, and facilitation. Banks and payment processors are barred from handling related transactions. Unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
The penalties are designed to sting. Offering or facilitating online money games can attract up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, or both. Repeat offenders face a minimum of three years, extendable to five, with fines between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. Advertising such games carries up to two years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, with repeat violations attracting higher penalties still. Cyber cell officers at state and union territory levels, including at police station, district, and commissionerate levels, are empowered to investigate offences.
The new sheriff in town
At the centre of the new framework sits the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator constituted as an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, headquartered in Delhi. It is chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY and includes joint secretary-level representation from home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice, a deliberately multi-sectoral design built for a complex sector.
The authority’s powers are broad. It will maintain and publish lists of online money games, investigate complaints, issue directions, orders, and codes of practice, hear appeals on user grievances, and coordinate with financial institutions and law enforcement to ensure effective and timely action.
Its decisions on game classification are to be completed within 90 days, a time-bound commitment that industry players have welcomed after years of regulatory ambiguity. Classification can be triggered by the authority acting on its own initiative, by an application from a service provider, or by a notification from the central government. Games will be assessed on objective factors: whether stakes are involved, whether players expect monetary winnings, the revenue model, and whether in-game assets can be monetised outside the game. The outcome is recorded in a determination order specific to the game and provider.
E-sports gets its moment
While the crackdown on money gaming dominates today’s headlines, the rules also carve out a structured path for e-sports and online social games. Registration, required when notified by the central government, applies to all games offered as e-sports and is based on factors including risk to users, scale, financial transactions, and country of origin. A successful application yields a digital certificate of registration with a unique number, valid for up to ten years. Service providers must display registration details, designate a point of contact, comply with data retention requirements, and follow directions on facilitating payments.
Online money games are explicitly ineligible for recognition or registration as e-sports under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The separation is deliberate, and the industry has noticed.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, called today’s operationalisation “encouraging,” pointing to publisher-led registration of esports titles and a time-bound determination process as creating “much-needed certainty for all stakeholders.” He added that the “continued emphasis on clearly separating esports from online money gaming is critical in preserving the integrity of competitive gaming as a skill-driven discipline.” He described it as “a proud moment to see official acknowledgement of the broader benefits of responsible esports and gaming, from building confidence, discipline, and teamwork to creating new career pathways for young talent,” and said the framework sets “a strong foundation for the ecosystem to scale in a more structured and globally competitive manner.”
Animesh Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive of S8UL, was equally bullish. “This clarity is critical in unlocking investor confidence and attracting multi-genre brands, while also enabling organisations to take a more long-term view, whether in investing in talent, scaling teams, or building globally competitive formats,” he said, adding that it “strengthens trust among audiences and mainstream stakeholders, positioning esports not just as a sport, but as a fast-growing youth entertainment category in India.”
But Agarwal urged caution on several fronts. There remains limited clarity around financial frameworks, particularly in how esports earnings are treated by banks and financial institutions. A well-defined pathway for the formal recognition or registration of esports teams is still evolving, as are structured player protections. He also called for smoother visa processes for esports athletes competing in international tournaments and for government support in developing infrastructure, including bootcamps, training facilities, and access to high-performance equipment across titles.
Vishal Parekh, chief operating officer of CyberPowerPC India, pointed to downstream effects on education and careers. “With formal recognition and policy backing, colleges and institutions are more likely to take the sector seriously, whether through dedicated esports infrastructure, training programmes, or curriculum integration,” he said, adding that this helps students view gaming as a viable career spanning roles across competitive play, content, game development, and allied industries. He noted that as esports gains prominence in global multi-sport events, the framework strengthens India’s position in international competitive gaming, and called on the ecosystem to provide the right infrastructure and access to high-performance hardware to unlock opportunities in talent development and job creation.
Protecting users, one safeguard at a time
The rules introduce a layered system of user protections calibrated to the risk profile of each game. These include age verification, age gating, time restrictions, parental controls, user reporting tools, counselling support, and fair-play and integrity monitoring. Service providers must disclose their safety features and internal grievance mechanisms when applying for determination or registration.
A two-tier grievance redressal system sits atop these safeguards. Users who are dissatisfied with a platform’s resolution can escalate to the authority within 30 days. The authority aims to dispose of such appeals within a further 30 days. A second appeal lies before the secretary of MeitY, who must also endeavour to resolve matters within 30 days. Enforcement proceedings will be conducted in digital mode wherever possible, with cases targeted for resolution within 90 days from receipt of a complaint.
Penalties under the framework are proportionate, taking into account gain from non-compliance, loss to users, the gravity of the offence, and whether violations are recurring. Mitigation efforts by service providers will also be considered when determining penalties. All penalties imposed under the Act will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The money follows the rules
For investors and founders, the implications are immediate and significant. Sagar Nair, head of incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, a 100-day sprint designed to accelerate early-stage gaming startups across India, argues that with real-money gaming now prohibited, capital will shift “away from transaction-driven models toward content-led, IP-driven, and global-first gaming businesses.” He acknowledged trade-offs: for operators with exposure to real-money formats, the market becomes more restrictive in the near term. But he argued that by clearly separating esports and non-money gaming from online money gaming, “India is positioning itself as a hub for responsible, creative, and scalable game development.” The opportunity, he said, is “to view India not just as a monetisation-first market, but as a talent, IP, and scale market,” adding that “for founders and investors willing to adapt, this shift could ultimately strengthen India’s position in the global gaming landscape.”
The government frames the wider impact in equally ambitious terms: a boost to India’s creative economy and digital exports, new career pathways for young people, protection for families from predatory platforms, and a stronger voice in global digital governance. India, it argues, offers a model for other countries grappling with the same tensions between gaming’s economic promise and its social risks, one that shows innovation and strong safeguards need not be mutually exclusive.
Whether the framework delivers on those promises will depend on enforcement, always the hardest part. But from today, the architecture is firmly in place: a regulator with teeth, a classification system with deadlines, penalties designed to deter, and a clear dividing line between games that build careers and games that destroy finances. For a sector that has grown fast and governed itself loosely, May 1st, 2026 is the day the free ride ends.
