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The Filmcorporation to relaunch industry resource portal
MUMBAI: The Filmcorporation (www.thefilmcorporation.com) launched earlier as a portal for resources in the television, advertising and fashion industry is all set for a relaunch this month. The revamped website will include an added set of features including SMS-alerts, bulletin boards and chat enabled services aimed to make it more interactive between people scouting for talent and artists. This portal basically helps models, actors, singers, production people; technicians and suppliers find agencies, producers, directors, photographers and others by allowing direct communication between members. Company director Dilip Bhanushali said, “On 15 July, we‘ll relaunch the portal with new features which will enable chat, discussion through forums, a section on success stories, tricks of the trade and execution of special effects for films.” Elaborating further he said, “We launched in December 2006 with the support of Prasoon Joshi, Ram Madhvani and Abhinay Deo. The objective of the portal is to create a bridge between technicians and artists and to erase the possibility of the so-called casting couch. This will enable direct access for talent hunters. Producers will be able to announce audition calls and also time their auditions into a schedule. At a single click, over 300 SMSes can be shot-off to aspirants.” The portal currently has database for talent wherein models can upload their portfolio. It also has listed over 37,000 locations across India with multiple images for each location. Production properties, equipment, talent, technicians, creative agencies, shootings, line producers, production houses and agents are amongst the listed entities also available for upload on the portal alongwith their portfolio or show-reel. “We‘ve gathered information on shooting locations from film commissions from about 120 countries. For India, we successfully used 28 RTI applications to the Archaeogical Survey of India (ASI) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) and organised permissions to shoot at restricted sites. We‘ve also applied to the police commissioner (Mumbai) and the customs for and received a detailed listing for shoot dos and don‘ts, fee structures, rights and privileges,” he says. Currently the portal is running on an advertiser-driven revenue model and Bhanushali said they‘re in plans to create presence offline as well in the form of a comprehensive directory listings. Users who are not regular on the Web will soon be able to sign-up for SMS-alert scheme a monthly fee of Rs 75. Producers like Karan Johar, Anjum Rizvi, Hats Off Productions, Rajkumar Santoshi have reportedly used the website to scout for associate directors, actors for their upcoming projects.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
