iWorld
Vodafone Idea rolls out an ad-tech platform for the advertisers to connect
Mumbai: Digital revolution in India has led to innovation and significant growth in the ad-tech industry, thereby, also increasing the volume of investments in the industry. Generating content and programmatic media buying on customized platforms will be the new normal. As the Digital Adex juggernaut moves ahead unabated, Vi aims to participate as a major player in the multibillion-dollar Indian advertising industry. With this, India’s leading telecom operator Vi on Wednesday announced the launch of its world-class ‘Ad-Tech’ platform – Vi Ads – an Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML) driven Adtech platform. It gives marketers a programmatic media buying platform that is cutting edge and returns on investment (ROI) focused.
Riding on Vi’s deep data science technology, Vi Ads will enable marketers to engage with the operator’s over 243 million subscribers through multiple channels like Vi owned digital media – Vi App, Vi Movies & TV App, and traditional channels like SMS, IVR calls. One of the key differentiators of Vi Ads is that it will be media agnostic and empower marketers to engage with Vi users on external media channels and publisher partners of Vi Ads.
Additionally, Vi Ads will offer a self-serve interface enabling marketers with full control of their campaigns from a campaign set up, tracking campaign performance to driving campaign insights. Since Vi Ads is built to achieve a full-funnel campaign objective, be it awareness, consideration or purchase – it caters to advertisers looking to drive reach, generate leads or drive sales. The combination of advanced features and ease of execution will appeal to large agencies and SMEs alike.
In the last 10 years, Digital AdEx has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 27 per cent. Even during the pandemic, when all other media saw a decline, Digital AdEx witnessed significant growth. Programmatic media buying has firmly taken root in India and its share has been increasing year on year, now standing at 42 per cent, as per Madison Advertising Report 2022.
Commenting on the launch of Vi Ads, Vi CMO Avneesh Khosla said “With our programmatic platform – Vi Ads, we will address two of the biggest challenges faced by marketers today – authentic insights and enhanced reach. Firstly, it offers marketers the benefits of unique audience segments, interest groups and targeting parameters derived using Vi’s deep insights of our consumers built on opt-in data. Secondly, it allows advertisers to not only reach their chosen audiences over Vi’s own digital media like Vi app and Vi movies & TV app, but also on external third party programmatic media and traditional channels of SMS & IVR calls. This is a simple, easy to use and highly efficient solution for marketers to effectively reach out to the right target group with the most relevant messaging at any given point of time, while also providing a monetization opportunity to Vi as we aggressively build and scale our digital assets.”
The Vi Ads platform has been built in partnership with TorcAi, a global provider of audience infrastructure and programmatic solutions, leverages advanced data sciences & machine learning to stitch together legacy marketing & advertising technology platforms with new breed tech. TorcAi helps media value chain stakeholders to build and nurture audience assets by bringing together data and activation channels at the organizational level.
TorcAi Digital CEO Rohit Verma said, “This partnership, and the development of the Vi Ads platform, will enable Vi to connect their vast stores of customer insights with advertisers, and publishers, to deliver the right message, at the perfect time. We look forward to a long relationship with Vi and welcome the opportunity to deliver world-class products and technologies that will continue to revolutionize the way data is used to better engage with consumers across an ever-evolving digital backdrop.”
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.
