Applications
Balaji Telefilms launches iPhone application on ‘Ganesha’
MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms Ltd, which had recently announced its entry into the digital space, has launched its first iPhone application named ‘Ganesha Stories’ under its New Media initiative.
With the launch of the application, Balaji Telefilms is expanding its presence in the internet and mobile space to cover the growing segment.
The Ganesha iPhone application allows consumers to have access to the Elephant God on the move. Aartis and stories revolving around Lord Ganesha will be available at the click of a button with this application.
Says Balaji Telefilms joint MD Ekta Kapoor, “Mobile entertainment is a growth area for us. We are focusing on creating content for mobile phones. Delivering quality mobile entertainment is becoming possible with improved phones like iPhone and better networks.”
Balaji Telefilms’ New Media division was set up to expand and capitalise on its creative and production facilities to cover the mobile and internet space. In the mobile space, the team has started creating original content in audio and video format, deploying and marketing the same across all major mobile networks.
“Over the last year Balaji Telefilms has evolved from being a leader in the television and film production to creating a strong footprint in the Online and mobile VAS space” said Balaji Telefilms group CEO Puneet Kinra. “The mobile entertainment space has assumed great significance today and we plan to focus extensively on the same to address the current consumers as well as the evolving market of 3G content both in India and internationally.”
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
