iWorld
ZEE5 India bolsters product & tech team through key appointments
MUMBAI: ZEE5, today announced key appointments in their product and technology team. As part of the strategy to further drive the next stage of growth and innovation, ZEE5 has onboarded Anjul Sachan as Adtech chief architect, Manit Kathuria as user experience head, Prateek Pant as video engineering head and Mandar Deodhar as technology (payments) director.
Sachan, a graduate from IIT Bombay, will be leading the AdTech architects team at ZEE5. He will be responsible for the R&D as well as technical execution of all AdTech projects including adserver, self-serve, and optimization engine among others. He brings with him a rich experience in building and managing ad recommendations, content feed personalization, and a self-service portal for advertisers and publishers. In his previous avatar, Anjul has led AdTech growth strategies and product roadmap for Times Internet Limited Adtech division, while working on some solutions for ad platforms, data forecasting, audience data management, ad-blocker, ad-fraud identification, and so on.
Kathuria brings over 14 years of design experience with him. In his new role, he will lead the CX experience from a product perspective. His key focus involves solving consumer problems across platforms effectively and quickly; building a seamless experience for both AVOD and SVOD users. He will lead the product design team to achieve these goals at ZEE5. An alumnus of the University of Washington in Seattle, he has also been instrumental in building companies such as Rooja.com, Exclusively.com and Prophesee during his early days in the fashion and SAAS space. He has formerly worked as design and UX head of for companies like Snapdeal, Fabhotels among others. Before joining ZEE5, he was a part of Magicbricks as user experience head
Pant, with an experience of over 18 years in technical leadership experience in video technologies has led the design and development of several multimedia CE products and OTT platforms. In his new role at ZEE5, he will be handling end to end video engineering from transcoding, encoding, CDN, and all player playability across platforms and will also be focussed on video pipelines for meta generation. He is passionate about IoT, video inferencing using AI/ML, AR/VR and cloud computing. Prior to this, he has worked with leading firms like Astro, Technicolor, Cisco, Maxim Integrated, Samsung Electronics, and DRDO.
Deodhar joins as technology director. He will be responsible for end to end technology requirements for subscription, payments, and all third-party integrations. Mandar is an IIT Bombay alumni from MTech 2005 batch and has worked in different companies like Indiagames, Disney, Citrus Payments, Hotstar and HERE Maps
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.
