iWorld
Zee5 plants a mystery Saali Mohabbat blooms past 100 million minutes
MUMBAI: Love may be blind, but this one came armed with clues, black roses and a QR code. Zee5’s original crime thriller Saali Mohabbat has crossed 100 million watch minutes, powered by a digital-first marketing campaign that blurred the lines between fiction, culture and everyday conversation.
Instead of playing it straight, Zee5 leaned into intrigue. The multi-touchpoint campaign stitched together social media chatter, influencer storytelling, real-world spike moments and brand integrations, all echoing the film’s central tension: love that is beautiful, and dangerous.
One of the most talked-about moves was a tie-up with Ferns N Petals. During premiere week, every FNP delivery nationwide carried a personalised note from Radhika Apte, nudging recipients to watch the film via a QR code. Select premiere hampers sent to celebrities and influencers extended the film’s character-led storytelling into gifting culture, without shouting promotion.
Online, the campaign chose symbolism over salesmanship. Micro-influencers gifted partners a striking black rose, inspired by the film’s ‘poisonous flower’, turning feeds darkly playful. Even the Zee5 logo got a temporary Saali Mohabbat makeover, reinforcing recall across launch touchpoints.
Offline intrigue followed. A staged couple argument in a public space, designed to feel uncomfortably real, later revealed its link to the film, driving curiosity and shares. Collaborations with poet Keshav Jha and targeted outreach within crime and thriller YouTube communities added genre credibility and fuelled word of mouth.
The numbers tell their own story. The campaign clocked 12 million plus reach across platforms, helping the title trend consistently and convert curiosity into viewing minutes.
Starring Divyenndu and Anurag Kashyap, and marking the directorial debut of Tisca Chopra, Saali Mohabbat follows a seemingly ordinary housewife whose life unravels after a shocking double murder. The film is the first collaboration between Zee5 and Stage5 Productions founded by Manish Malhotra, and premiered on December 12, 2025.
In an age of noisy launches, Zee5’s quiet provocation proves one thing, when marketing plays mind games as well as the story does, audiences don’t just watch,they lean in.
e-commerce
ONDC names Vibhor Jain MD and CEO; Rohit Lohia joins as CBO, Manoj Thakur as CTO
Leadership formalised as open commerce network sharpens focus on scale and user value
The Open Network for Digital Commerce has formalised Vibhor Jain as managing director and chief executive officer, cementing a leadership transition at India’s ambitious open commerce platform as it pushes for scale and relevance.
Jain, who had been serving as acting chief executive officer since April last year following the exit of Thampy Koshy, steps into the role with effect from 7th April , according to a report by The Economic Times. He previously served as chief operating officer at the government-backed network, which enables buyers and sellers to transact across applications through an open, interoperable system.
Setting out his strategy, Jain underscored the network’s differentiated architecture. “Going forward, we are concentrating on what open, interoperable infrastructure can uniquely enable, things that no single platform has the incentive or the architecture to do,” he said.
He added that the immediate priority is to widen ONDC’s impact across user cohorts often underserved by platform-led commerce. “My priority is to deepen the value ONDC creates for the people it exists to serve: kisaans, karigars, kiranas, gig workers, first-time investors, and daily commuters across India,” he said.
Jain also flagged leadership reinforcement within the organisation, noting that ONDC has “a strong and exciting leadership team in place”, with Rohit Lohia joining as chief business officer and Manoj Thakur as chief technology officer.
With over 18 years of experience spanning entrepreneurship and consulting, Jain brings a track record in technology-led, large-scale transformation programmes and internet businesses. At ONDC, he has been closely involved in shaping strategy and operations as the network seeks to move digital commerce away from platform-centric models towards an open network approach.
Before ONDC, Jain worked with JUMO, where he helped set up the fintech firm’s India operations, and led the India launch of Mobike, handling regulatory, policy and operational aspects of its market entry. Earlier, he co-founded Atlanta Healthcare, an air quality management company, and spent more than a decade in consulting roles at Andersen and EY, advising governments on public policy and technology-driven reforms, including work on the Aadhaar programme and tax systems.
The mandate is clear but the path is complex. As ONDC attempts to rewrite the rules of digital commerce, Jain now carries the burden of turning open architecture into mass adoption, in a market still dominated by platform power.
