iWorld
Will leverage past successful shows and characters: ALTBalaji’s Nachiket Pantvaidya
MUMBAI: Ekta Kapoor-led Balaji Telefilm’s digital arm ALTBalaji wants to distinguish its service with Hindi originals targeting the mass audience with a vision to create binge viewing habit among users. Moreover, while the platform has already delivered several hit shows since launch, the OTT platform is going to leverage past hits by launching more in the future.
“You will see that we are going to make our past hits to a greater degree going ahead. Therefore in the second half of the year you will see the second season of Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain, the third season of Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat coming through and what essentially we are signaling is that now we have got out of the 24 shows a bunch of hits which we were going to leverage going ahead which means that we can scale up the number of episodes and we need to do lesser creative work on creating characters. So the same characters will now be in progressive storylines so that is really what we are doing in the second half of the year. We are looking at the hits that have happened in the first half,” ALTBalaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya commented in an earnings call.
As the platform has emphasised for a long time, it wants to create binge-watching habit among consumers by offering exclusive shows of different lengths. While many platforms are dabbling in several languages, ALTBalaji is initially focusing on Hindi content. However, going forward it will definitely not limit the possible offering to one language or one type of content.
In terms of target audience, the company’s strategy has always been to look at both female and male, younger and older age group and premium and mass audience. Hence, content creation initiatives revolve around targeting all the profiles. Through data streams, the company gains the insights on what is working or not. As the management said in the earnings call, at any given time period it is producing 40 shows on the floor. Currently, they have production up till next year September-October going on the floors.
While the OTT platform is seeing growth in revenue quarter over quarter, it is coming through both B2C, B2B2C routes. 70 per cent of the revenues are coming from partner and 30 per cent from direct subscribers. The release of shows in a more regular and systematic manner has worked as a turning point for the uptake. The company has also credited the overall environment of OTT growth as another reason. “People are buying more and more into telecom internet packages and that has also fuelled the acceleration in growth because we make original Indian content and we are able to reach urban mass target audiences and that has also in a way helped us accelerate our growth,” management commented.
Standing with 2.3 million active subscribers, ALTBalaji’s current ARPU is Rs 140 per year or about Rs 12 per month. We exited last quarter at around 5 million subscriber base. “We are exiting this quarter at around 8.5-8.7 million subscriber base,” Pantvaidya commented. According to the App Annie data, which correlates the subscription that is made on the app store both at Apple as well as Google, it is consistently in the top 5. As its subscription rate and ARPU are probably in the lowest in those top 5 ranked players, the company estimates that they are in either number one or number two position in terms of consistently paid subscribers month after month. On the back of the ever-expanding internet user base in India and the growth in the library, the company expects further revenue growth in coming quarters.
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.
