GECs
Zee Hindi movie cluster bags seven awards at The Asian Customer Engagement Forum (ACEF) awards
MUMBAI: The Asian Customer Engagement Forum (ACEF) awarded Zee Hindi Movies Cluster including Zee Cinema, &pictures and Zee Classic amongst others with seven awards recently in Mumbai. Zee Cinema bagged two gold awards, &pictures won one gold and two bronze awards, and Zee Classic is awarded with one gold and one bronze award.
Zee Hindi Movies Cluster Business Head Ruchir Tiwari commented, “We are extremely happy to have won seven awards at ACEF awards which is a global platform for recognition in the industry. It keeps us motivated to entertain our viewers in the best way we can.”
Zee Cinema won the prestigious gold award in the Innovation category for LUX Zee Cine Awards 2016. The mobile campaign reached out to a whopping 1.3 million users where people were creatively engaged in interactive activities. The channel won another gold award for efficient effectiveness of Digital Marketing for the promotion of World Television Premiere of Singh is Bliing. The campaign encompassed all social media platforms with the objective of reaching out to the maximum number of people.
&pictures won the gold award for Best Use of Celebrity Endorsement in the online media category for the World Television Premiere of Badlapur. A trade mailer idea was conceptualized in which the mail appears to be a letter written by Varun Dhawan, the lead actor of the movie. A bronze award was given for innovation in the Newspaper category for the promotion of Badlapur. The print advertorial conveyed the high points of the story of the movie Badlapur, in the form of news articles. Lastly, the channel also won a Bronze award for showcasing creativity in the Newspaper category for promoting the &pictures premiere of Tanu Weds Manu Returns. The print ad was made in the format of a wedding invitation card, inviting readers to attend the crazy wedding and figure out who finally gets married.
Zee Classic won the esteemed gold ACEF award for innovation in the Publication category for its very successful movie festival – Classic Debut. To endorse the festival, channel along with IMPACT magazine contacted fourteen well known media personalities of current times and published a 4 page advertorial highlighting the debut of these personalities in the industry. The channel also won a bronze award for innovation in the Out of Home Media category for the Zee Classic Train Activity done for “The Golden Years with Javed Akhtar”. Local trains in Mumbai were selected and were exclusively branded as Zee Classic Radio trains along with playing classic melodies and untold stories narrated by the veteran lyricist and poet, Javed Akhtar.
ACEF Awards recognizes excellence in the field of customer engagement campaigns and activities across Asia. It provides a platform for recognition and learning in perhaps the most critical, emerging area of content creation
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
