<ul><li>Indian <keyword id="1526308" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="actress-kajal-aggarwal">actress Kajal Aggarwal</keyword> has picked up a 15% stake in the recently launched startup <keyword id="10247574" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Okie-Gaming">Okie Gaming</keyword>. </li><li>While this may be the first investment for the actress in a startup, she believes there will be more.</li><li>The Okie Gaming platform is also launching a ‘Desi Sports League,’ which will launch one game according to each Indian state’s traditions. </li></ul>Indian actress <keyword id="38180" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kajal-Aggarwal">Kajal Aggarwal</keyword> has picked up a 15% stake in the recently launched startup Okie Gaming. The gaming platform is a subsidiary of Okie Ventures, which has its range of LED televisions. Aggarwal has also been the brand ambassador for Okie Ventures. “While I was associated with Okie Ventures, I felt their gaming platform had a very immersive experience. I’m very happy about the fact that the games are going to be centered around mythology, folklore and Indian culture. This gives a very different and unique experience to the users,” Aggarwal told Business Insider in an interview. The actress shared that with this strategic investment, she will be helping the startup in its promotions, marketing and PR and attract new users to the platform. “I’m also very happy to give my inputs on different sorts of games. I also want to bring in more women into the gaming industry – as users, developers as well as protagonists of the game,” she said. While this may be the first investment for the actress in a startup, she believes there will be more. “With Okie Gaming, I’m very confident about the team and the platform. It’s definitely the first of many investments,” she said. Okie Gaming – betting on regional games The Okie Gaming platform which was launched recently, already has real-money games like Smart Housie, Fantasy Cricket, Smart Number Quiz, Ludo, Cricket, Smart Words, among others. The platform is also launching a ‘Desi Sports League,’ with plans to launch games showcasing each Indian state’s traditions. This will begin with the launch of Dahi Handi from Maharashtra and Vallam Kali (Boat Racing, Kerala) which will be launched by December. “We started developing a regular real money gaming platform from February 2020. When we were thinking what next, we thought why go behind the typical games as there is no experience to it. We thought of giving a new experience to the user. When one of my colleagues suggested why not make a boat race game, and that’s how Desi Sports League was born,” Jitin Masand, CEO, OKIE Ventures told Business Insider. Masand is also building on the Atmanirbhar initiative of the Indian government by encouraging ‘very Indian’ games. “We’ll have 12 games by next year,” said Masand, who took a conscious decision to stay away from real money gaming where there is a confusion between the game of skill and game of chance. “We want to promote Indian culture and aesthetics in gaming and take it to the world,” said Masand, who has himself invested ₹4 crore into developing the platform. Masand also said that they are focussing on India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets where they are not targeting payments online but are instead going for the old school method of recharging from the nearest kirana or mobile recharge shop. The minimum amount to play a game is ₹10. “We are going with the offline distribution of e-recharge. Users can recharge their Okie Gaming wallet from the shop and we have already onboard 10,000 retailers across West Bengal and Tamil Nadu,” said Masand. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-will-be-probed-by-indias-competition-commission-for-allegedly-abusing-dominance-to-push-gpay/articleshow/79141895.cms">Google will be probed by India’s Competition Commission for allegedly ‘abusing dominance’ to push its payments app</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/facebook-backed-meesho-is-the-latest-to-roll-out-an-esop-buyback-plan-worth-5-million/articleshow/79143384.cms">Facebook-backed Meesho is the latest to roll out an ESOP buyback plan worth $5 million</a>

INTERVIEW: Kajal Aggarwal turns investor with a bet on Okie Gaming that features regional games like 'Dahi Handi' and 'Vallam Kali'

From Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt to Katrina Kaif – Bollywood’s leading ladies are writing big cheques for Indian startups

<ul><li>The actress opened her Mumbai home to Asian Paints for its web series, ‘Where The Heart Is’.</li><li>The Marine Drive home is Aggarwal’s childhood home, although the actress spends most of her time in Hyderabad now. </li><li>Aggarwal’s home runs with the minimalist theme, where a few signature pieces stand out. </li></ul><div type="Slideshow" msid="71373774" hostid="261" title="In Pics: Inside Kajal Aggarwal’s childhood home in Mumbai" firstImageMsid="71373775" slideCount="4"></div>

In Pics: Inside Kajal Aggarwal’s childhood home in Mumbai

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/36357217.cms" />Now that the poll fever has waned and the <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> is done with, <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> is back with a bang as the biggest entertainer of all. The first Friday of June has already witnessed a <keyword id="18564" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="blockbuster">blockbuster</keyword> in the making as Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha-starrer Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty has raked in the crores in the first four days and is fast nearing the Rs 50 crore mark. 
 The power-packed <keyword id="582722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="action-thriller">action thriller</keyword>, written and directed by <keyword id="39359" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="a-r-murugadoss">A.R. Murugadoss</keyword> (he made his Hindi debut with Aamir Khan-starrer <keyword id="17231" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ghajini">Ghajini</keyword>), netted Rs 41.32 crore at the <keyword id="827271" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Domestic-Box-Office">domestic box office</keyword> after the first three days (trade figure stands at 40.23 crore) while first Monday collections amounted to Rs 8.02 crore, as per <keyword id="6356809" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="producer">producer</keyword> figure. The film also had a decent collection abroad during the debut weekend, grossing around Rs 10.61 crore. Holiday was released in more than 41 countries and has already surpassed the lifetime collections of <keyword id="1020628" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ragini-MMS-2">Ragini MMS 2</keyword> (Rs 47 crore) and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Bhoothnath Returns (Rs 39 crore). 
 
Holiday netted Rs 12.18 crore on the opening Friday, making it the fourth highest opening day grosser of 2014, behind <keyword id="6354583" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Salman-Khan">Salman Khan</keyword>’s <keyword id="6593120" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jai-Ho">Jai Ho</keyword> (Rs 17.55 crore), Ranveer Singh-Arjun Kapoor starrer Gunday (Rs 16.12 crore) and <keyword id="114453" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Arjun-Kapoor">Arjun Kapoor</keyword>’s 2 States (Rs 12.42 crore). The movie also witnessed the third highest opening weekend of the current year – behind Jai Ho (Rs 58.07 crore) and Gunday (Rs 40.26 crore). 
 Other two releases of the week include <keyword id="1598621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nitin-Kakkar">Nitin Kakkar</keyword>’s critically acclaimed movie <keyword id="1600793" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Filmistaan">Filmistaan</keyword> and <keyword id="2151778" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nisha-Pahuja">Nisha Pahuja</keyword>’s award-winning documentary <keyword id="2109617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="The-World-Before-Her">The World Before Her</keyword>. In spite of good reviews, Filmistaan fared poorly due to lack of promotion and star value, netting Rs 3.19 crore at home after Day IV. However, the movie netted better on first Monday, earning around Rs 54 lakh, compared to Rs 51 lakh on the opening Friday. We don’t have the numbers yet for Pahuja’s documentary. 
 
Coming back to <keyword id="2113212" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Holiday-A-Soldier-Is-Never-Off-Duty">Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty</keyword>, the Akshay-Sonakshi starrer has many a surprise in store, thanks to the twists and turns of a complex plot that interweaves some slick action and offbeat romance with serious issues like brutal terrorism and deep-rooted corruption. This one is a remake of the <keyword id="2317374" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tamil-action-thriller">Tamil action thriller</keyword> <keyword id="916764" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Thuppakki">Thuppakki</keyword> (starring Vijay and <keyword id="38180" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kajal-Aggarwal">Kajal Aggarwal</keyword>) that won both critical acclaim and <keyword id="1996041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Box-office-success">box office success</keyword>. The Hindi remake is equally enthralling, if not more, and Akki (<keyword id="2317380" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Captain-Virat-Bakshy">Captain Virat Bakshy</keyword>) rules the flick till the end. While the soldier on leave springs into action to save Mumbai from the clutches of the terrorists, his lady love <keyword id="1579477" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Saiba">Saiba</keyword> (<keyword id="62210" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sonakshi-Sinha">Sonakshi Sinha</keyword>) turns out to be a <keyword id="340167" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="professional-boxer">professional boxer</keyword> and not the traditional Indian girl he has assumed her to be. Overall, an enjoyable movie in spite of some logical fault lines in the story. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/36357288.cms" /> 
 
In sharp contrast, Nitin Kakkar’s directorial debut Filmistaan once again harks back to the untold realities of <keyword id="136188" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indo-Pak-relations">Indo-Pak relations</keyword>, seen through the eyes of <keyword id="609" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunny">Sunny</keyword> (<keyword id="1600789" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sharib-Hashmi">Sharib Hashmi</keyword>), a <keyword id="2317356" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="small-time-actor-turned-documentary-director">small-time-actor-turned-documentary-director</keyword>. His <keyword id="6374782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="journey">journey</keyword> through ‘enemy’ territory and the days spent there in captivity gradually unveil the human and cultural bonding that never fails to exist in spite of the political divide. 
 
Finally, we come to Nisha Pahuja’s The World Before Her – a 90-minute documentary that follows the contrasting lifestyles of two <keyword id="624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Women">women</keyword> in search of empowerment. And in doing so, Pahuja reveals some disturbing questions that are bound to haunt today’s women. As <keyword id="210839" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Critic">critic</keyword> Shubhra Gupta so rightly points out: There are not just two Indias... There are many more. What choices do the girls who live in those other Indias have? Do they have any at all? 
 
Images: Indiatimes

Box Office: Akki’s Holiday A Blockbuster; Filmistaan Falters In Spite Of
Accolades

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/36151789.cms" /> 
Bollywood has always been the ‘place to be’ by every actress down south. While Bollywood veterans don’t mind having a go at regional cinema, southern beauties essentially vie for a meaty role in Bollywood and a pan-India exposure. As Tamannaah gets ready for her second Bollywood outing with Humshakals, let’s take a look at five hottest southern beauties who have come the Bollywood way. 
 
1. <keyword id="654350" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tamannaah-Bhatia">Tamannaah Bhatia</keyword> 
A popular actress hailing from the Tamil movie industry, Tamannaah has also done remarkably well in Telugu films. Although she made her acting debut in 2005 with Bollywood flick, Chand Sa Roshan Chehra, she found name and fame down South and carved a niche for herself. But life came full circle for Tamannaah when she made a Bollywood comeback in Himmatwala opposite Ajay Devgn. Unfortunately, the film tanked at the box office. Now, the pretty actress is all set for another Bollywood film called Humshakals. 
 
2. <keyword id="88540" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ileana-DCruz">Ileana D’Cruz</keyword> 
She is a leading actress in the Telugu film industry and also won a Filmfare award for Devadasu in 2006. After doing some significant work in Southern cinema, Bollywood was a natural progression for Ileana. She had a dream Bollywood debut opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Anurag Basu’s Barfi, which was a mega hit. Recently, we saw her grooving with Varun Dhawan in Main Tera Hero. 
 
3. Asin 
After winning a number of awards in Tamil and Telugu films, Asin made an impressive Bollywood debut with Ghajini opposite Aamir Khan. The actress won almost all debut awards for the film that year. Although she did a number of Bollywood films post that including Ready, Housefull 2 and Bol Bachchan, but none of them made a mark in the box office. 
 
4. <keyword id="38180" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kajal-Aggarwal">Kajal Aggarwal</keyword> 
With commercial hits like Chandamama and Magadheera to her name, Kajal is one of the most popular actresses in Tamil and Telugu movies. Plus, she has some prominent awards to her name. Kajal had a small part in 2004 Bollywood film, Kyun! Ho Gaya Na... But her big Bollywood break came with Singham opposite Ajay Devgn, which was a massive hit. She has also appeared in Special 26 opposite Akshay Kumar. 
 
5. <keyword id="22532" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shruti-Haasan">Shruti Haasan</keyword> 
Kamal Hassan’s pretty daughter made her Bollywood debut with Luck opposite Imran Khan. Although she is yet to make it big in Bollywood, Shruti has established herself as a leading contemporary actress in Telugu cinema with a number of critically acclaimed movies in her kitty, including Gabbar Singh, Anaganaga O Dheerudu, Oh My Friend and 7aum Arivu.

5
Southern Beauties Who Are Rocking Bollywood

Bollywood power couple, <keyword id="19927390" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Deepika-Padukone" source="keywords">Deepika Padukone</keyword> and <keyword id="19921973" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ranveer-Singh" source="keywords">Ranveer Singh</keyword> have become parents to a <keyword id="20015816" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="baby-girl" source="keywords">baby girl</keyword>.'DeepVeer' officially confirmed the news with their fans with a post on <keyword id="19900288" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Instagram" source="keywords">Instagram</keyword> on Sunday. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="14"> View this post on Instagram A post shared by दीपिका पादुकोण (@deepikapadukone) </blockquote> "Welcome baby girl! 8.09.2024," the picture read. After this good news, 'DeepVeer' fans couldn't keep calm and flooded the comment section. One of the users wrote, "Congratulations Deepu and Ranveer." Another user commented, "Congratulations DeepVeer." On Saturday, several photos and videos of Deepika went viral on social media as she made her way to the hospital. Before welcoming their first child, Deepika and Ranveer visited Mumbai's <keyword id="20382517" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Siddhivinayak-Temple" source="keywords">Siddhivinayak Temple</keyword> on the occasion of <keyword id="20669522" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ganesh-Chaturthi" source="keywords">Ganesh Chaturthi</keyword> on Friday evening. The couple was clicked by the shutterbugs as they entered the temple premises. The couple were all smiles as they arrived at the temple to see Lord Ganesha's blessings. Recently, the couple treated fans with their stunning <keyword id="20762403" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="maternity-shoot" source="keywords">maternity shoot</keyword>. In the joint post shared on Deepika and Ranveer's Instagram handles, the couple captioned it with ward off evil eye, heart and infinity emojis. In the pictures, the couple can be seen embracing baby bump. Deepika and Ranveer announced their pregnancy in February this year. Ranveer-Deepika tied the knot on November 14, 2018, at Italy's Lake Como after dating for six long years and the duo never fail to shower love on each other on social media. They first met on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic drama film 'Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela' and later also starred in 'Bajirao Mastani' and 'Padmaavat'. Meanwhile, on the work front, Deepika will be next seen in '<keyword id="20032943" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Singham-Again" source="keywords">Singham Again</keyword>,' set to hit the big screens on the festive occasion of Diwali 2024. Helmed by Rohit Shetty, 'Singham Again' also stars her husband Ranveer Singh, actors Ajay Devgn Kareena Kapoor Khan, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, and Ranveer Singh in the lead roles. 'Singham Again' is the third instalment of the super-hit franchise. 'Singham' was released in 2011, starring Kajal Aggarwal and Prakash Raj in lead roles, followed by 'Singham Returns' in 2014. Both projects were box office hits. Ranveer, on the other hand, recently announced his new project, featuring a stellar cast that includes Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, and Arjun Rampal. Ranveer Singh will also star in Farhan Akhtar's upcoming 'Don 3'.

"Welcome baby girl": Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh become parents

<keyword id="19895142" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shah-Rukh-Khan" source="keywords">Shah Rukh Khan</keyword> is "a connoisseur of art and a good actor", said veteran star <keyword id="19929172" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kamal-Haasan" source="keywords">Kamal Haasan</keyword> and revealed the superstar didn't charge a single penny for his 2000 bilingual film "<keyword id="21044414" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hey-Ram" source="keywords">Hey Ram</keyword>". "Hey Ram" is a period drama written, directed, and produced by Kamal, which also starred him and Shah Rukh in the lead. In the Tamil-Hindi movie, Kamal and Shah Rukh played friends Saket Ram and Amjad Ali Khan, respectively. At the trailer launch of his upcoming movie "<keyword id="21727589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hindustani-2" source="keywords">Hindustani 2</keyword>", the multihyphenate said titles like 'star' or 'superstar' don't matter while working on a film. "When we work together, we are all just people. I don't see a superstar. He doesn't see a super director. We are friends. Shah Rukh sahib made that film for free... That cannot be done by a superstar. That can be done only by a fan. A connoisseur of art and a good actor. I'm ever thankful to him. Later on, you give us those titles and we very shyly accept it," Kamal told reporters here on Tuesday night. The 69-year-old also spoke about how he wanted screen icon <keyword id="19923448" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dilip-Kumar" source="keywords">Dilip Kumar</keyword> to star in the Hindi remake of the 1992 Tamil film "<keyword id="22180547" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thevar-Magan" source="keywords">Thevar Magan</keyword>". Directed by <keyword id="22187094" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharathan" source="keywords">Bharathan</keyword>, "Thevar Magan" was written and produced by Haasan. It starred Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal as a father-son duo. Unfortunately, Dilip Kumar had decided to retire from cinema by the time he reached out to him. "I wanted to do it only with Yusuf sahib (Dilip Kumar's real name). When he said I'm not going to do any more films. Then, I sold the rights to somebody because I didn't want to and I couldn't think of anybody else. And so that was a dream that didn't come through," Kamal recalled. Eventually, Amrish Puri played the father to Anil Kapoor in "Virasat", the 1997 Hindi remake of "Thevar Magan". Kamal said he used to come to Mumbai to wish the late star on his birthday on December 11. "I'm a great fan and a student of Yusuf saab. I don't know how many people know because it was a secret fact. I used to come here whenever I could on December 11 on his birthday and kneel before him to kiss his hand," he added. "Hindustani 2: Zero Tolerance" is a sequel to Kamal's hit 1996 film "<keyword id="19927125" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian" source="keywords">Indian</keyword>", which featured him in a dual role and also starred Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar and Kasthuri Shankar. The movie was directed by S. Shankar, who is returning for the sequel, slated to be released on July 12. Besides Kamal, the sequel stars Kajal Aggarwal, Siddharth, and Rakul Preet Singh in key roles. It is produced by Subaskaran Allirajah's Lyca Productions and Udhayanidhi Stalin's Red Giant Movies.

Kamal Haasan says SRK worked in 'Hey Ram' for free: I'm ever thankful to him

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 19 (ANI): Actor <keyword id="133664" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tiger-shroff" source="Orion">Tiger Shroff</keyword> is the latest addition to <keyword id="22746" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rohit-shetty" source="Orion">Rohit Shetty</keyword>'s upcoming cop drama '<keyword id="15671595" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="singham-again" source="Orion">Singham Again</keyword>'. Welcoming him on board, Rohit took to Instagram and wrote, "Meet Special Task Force officer ACP SATYA ... the immortal, like Truth! Welcome to the squad...Tiger." Rohit also shared Tiger's look from the action-packed drama. Tiger is seen flaunting his tone physique. 'Singham Again' also stars Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor Khan, <keyword id="2823" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="akshay-kumar" source="Orion">Akshay Kumar</keyword> and <keyword id="106133" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ranveer-singh" source="Orion">Ranveer Singh</keyword>. Tiger also received a shoutout from the other members of the 'Singham Again' family. "Welcoming my brother from another mother, @tigerjackieshroff as ACP Satya to the squad," Akshay wrote. "The squad just got stronger, welcome to the team ACP Satya," Ajay posted on his Instagram account. The update of Tiger joining 'Singham Again' has left his fans excited. "Wow....Tiger is roaring," a social media user commented. "The cast looks amazing. Can't wait," another one wrote. The film is all set to hit the theatres on Independence Day 2024 and will face a big clash with Allu Arjun's 'Pushpa 2'. 'Singham' was released in 2011, starring Kajal Aggarwal and Prakash Raj in lead roles, followed by 'Singham Returns' in 2014. Both projects were declared box office hits. Meanwhile, Tiger is all set to come up with 'Ganapath - A Hero is Born'. The movie, which also stars Kriti Sanon and Amitabh Bachchan, will hit the theatres this Friday. Vikas Bahl has directed the film. (ANI)

Rohit Shetty's cop universe expands as Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone join Singham Again

<ul><li>In the last few years, <keyword id="3679921" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="prega-news" source="Orion">Prega News</keyword> has associated with a lot of known faces like <keyword id="1377418" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kareena-kapoor-khan" source="Orion">Kareena Kapoor Khan</keyword>, <keyword id="6357860" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="anushka-sharma" source="Orion">Anushka Sharma</keyword> and more recently Kajal Aggarwal, to build its visibility. </li><li>Now, it is trying to go deeper into the country and is partnering with regional influencers to engage with its audiences. It is also making a conscious effort to talk about sensitive issues around pregnancy to raise awareness and sensitize people.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="6072225" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="joy-chatterjee" source="Orion">Joy Chatterjee</keyword>, General Manager, Sales &amp; Marketing, <keyword id="146847" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mankind-pharma" source="Orion">Mankind Pharma</keyword> to understand the brand's roadmap ahead.</li></ul>Prega News from Mankind Pharma is today one of the most recognized pregnancy-related brands. Its rapid detection kit currently holds 80% market share. In order to further expand its reach in the country, the brand has been engaging in a lot of ATL and BTL activities while also regularly coming up with communications that talk about different pregnancy-related issues. Its campaign, #SheIsCompleteInHerself for this year’s International Women's Day spoke about infertility in women with an aim of sensitizing people towards the issue. Over the past few years, the brand has also taken on popular faces like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Anushka Sharma and more recently Kajal Aggarwal, to reach out to their audiences while also focussing on specific markets. The aim is now not only to go deeper into the country but also start conversations around important issues related to pregnancy. We recently spoke to Joy Chatterjee, General Manager, Sales &amp; Marketing, Mankind Pharma who told us their strategy to grow the brand so far, its marketing game plan and how it aims to expand its presence in different markets by going deeper into the country and by starting conversations around sensitive topics around pregnancy to sensitize and educate people. Excerpts: Q) What has helped Prega News capture the maximum market share in the category? Prega News is a <a name="_GoBack"></a>rapid detection kit that gives accurate results in 5 minutes and at the same time is convenient to use. The best part of the product is that a women can test urine samples anytime of the day. These factors are the foundational core of the product. Over the years, we have built the credibility of the product brand regarding its accuracy and convenience. This has benefited us, and whenever expecting mothers buy Prega News, they do it because there is an assurance that it will give truthful results. With this approach, we focused extensively on ATL and BTL activities. In the beginning, our objective was to spread awareness among the target audience, and focus on the distribution and supply chain so people easily get the product. Also, we hold the market share by 80%. The only way left for a brand to grow is by expanding the market itself and, thus, getting more and more women to use the product confidently. Q) The current penetration of the category is 17% which Prega News aims increase in the next five years. What will be your strategy to make this target a reality? We are building awareness in rural areas, focusing on social messaging with the intent of bringing positive change in society. We have launched several campaigns on different issues that need to change. We drive a strong presence in the urban market. It has become a go-to product amongst the target audience. As the expansion of the product is one of our main priorities, we are focusing on regional markets. Earlier, we faced issues in connecting with people and were thinking of the best way of reaching rural women. We realized that the influence of regional channels is growing tremendously and now run different media plans and brand ambassadors for different regions. We have got a lot of success with regional channels. The consumers relate well with them which leads to better engagement for us. Q) What are a few milestones for Prega News in the last few years? What has given you an edge over the competition? Through our campaigns, we have spoken on issues surrounding soon-to-be mothers – workplace bias towards pregnant women or new moms, physical issues faced by expectant mothers, gender discrimination, and many more. Last year, we completed 10 years in the Indian market and launched a digital campaign, #PregaMoment. The product has been growing in healthy double digits annually. We witnessed a steep spike of over 20% in its demand during the COVID lockdown. It’s the trust factor that gives us the edge over others. Q) How has your marketing strategy helped you stand out? What role did popular faces like Kareena Kapoor and Anushka Sharma play in building brand Prega News? In the preliminary days, we used to release ads in newspapers and magazines to target women because that time pregnancy detection card was not available very easily. We launched this product in the OTC category to make it easily available. Our advertising journey started in 2010 with our first brand ambassador, <keyword id="18591" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neha-marda" source="Orion">Neha Marda</keyword>. The message targeted at married women was simple – that it will take just 5 minutes to clear all doubts about their missed periods with the Prega News detection card. There are two parts to the Prega News advertising journey – the first being functional, which educates people about the tangible benefits of the product. In the beginning, this was done using semi-celebrity moms and later with big celebrity mothers and now we are focusing on regional actors and mom influencers. We have adopted a ‘Social Good’ content strategy as the second pillar of our communication, where we have highlighted many issues in our different campaigns. Our associations with endorsers like Neha Marda, <keyword id="6358615" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shilpa-shetty" source="Orion">Shilpa Shetty</keyword>, <keyword id="1834697" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="srabanti-chatterjee" source="Orion">Srabanti Chatterjee</keyword>, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kajal Aggarwal and Anushka Sharma over the years have helped us reach different markets across the country. Q) How are you going deeper into the country? What are your expansion plans? Our expansion strategy is to reach every market in the country. We have realised that if we need to make women aware of pregnancy detection cards, we will need to associate with local people, NGO’s, Asha workers and others where we can talk to women about different things surrounding a pregnancy. To fulfil the same, we’re focusing on our distribution channels. The markets are further segmented as per the supply channels ranging from drugstores, pharmacies, online retail, supermarkets/hypermarkets, and Fertility and Gynaecology Clinics. In the last year, we have received a great response from the West Bengal market. Our focus is now on strengthening our reach in different states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, amongst others. We will extensively focus on rural areas like Mirzapur, Unnao and Kannauj, to name a few. Q) Are most of your consumers in larger cities or do you see a demand in Tier II &amp; Tier III cities too? Brand awareness is pretty high among urban populations. However, we are witnessing a positive trend in Tier II and Tier III cities too. People are becoming aware of the product and have started considering buying the pregnancy detection card but there is still some hesitancy around using the product among some people. We’re building awareness through many initiatives, so more and more women open up to using the product. Q) Looking ahead, what will your marketing strategy look like? We are quite prominent on TV, Digital, and OOH. We focus on a 360 degree marketing channel. From a reach perspective- there is no active brand on TV and our SOV is almost 95%. Television has helped us in reaching the masses. We are doing branded content, and focusing on digital mediums as well, be it by roping in mom influencers or creating a dialogue among the TG. Regional campaigns have been our strength and have helped us establish a connection with consumers by interacting with them in their language. In 2019, we ventured into the southern market and roped in celebrities like Kareena Kapoor and <keyword id="13060" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="priyamani" source="Orion">Priyamani</keyword> simultaneously to capture both the northern and southern markets. Also, this year we have roped in Kajal Agarwal as the face of the South market. In the future too, we will keep this momentum going. There are new campaigns in the pipeline, which will go live at the right time. Q) Apart from TVCs, how have you been educating/sensitizing people about the complications around pregnancy, or infertility (since this was a topic you touched on in your last campaign)? Yes, we want to sensitize people on the pregnancy-related issues. In India, there is a stereotypical mindset when it comes to adopting a child or opting for IVF or surrogacy. There is a need to create a dialogue on breaking stereotypes around infertility issues, as this is a common issue prevalent among couples nowadays. Around 10-15% of all married couples face a problem in conceiving a child today. With changing times, we need to become more progressive and inclusive, to be able to bring about a positive cultural change. Hence, this is the first step towards the change. Going further, we also have plans to rope in gynaecologists who can impart knowledge on the importance of family-planning, the use of contraceptives and pregnancy detection cards and the importance of health and nutrition during pregnancy. Our objective is to initiate a healthy conversation around important issues in society.

Prega News is focusing on smaller cities, regional content and micro influencers to ring in its next phase of growth

Telugu film star Ram Charan on Tuesday said he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is under home quarantine. The 35-year-old actor took to Twitter to share his diagnosis. "I have tested positive for Covid-19. No symptoms and quarantined at home. Hope to heal soon and come out stronger," Charan said in a statement. He urged all the people, who have been around him in the the past couple of days, to get tested. "More updates on my recovery soon," he added. On work front, Charan will be seen in writer-director S S Rajamouli's next film "Rise Roar Revolt" ("RRR"). The "Baahubali" fame director resumed shooting on his most talked about Telugu movie in Hyderabad in October with necessary safety precautions amid the coronavirus pandemic, nearly seven months after the filming was halted. The <keyword id="6402008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="period-action-drama">period action drama</keyword> narrates a fictional tale based on the lives of two freedom fighters in the early 20th century -- Alluri Sitarama Raju and Kumram Bheem, played by Ram Charan and N T <keyword id="10511248" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rama-rao-jr-">Rama Rao Jr.</keyword> Produced by <keyword id="6711107" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="dvv-entertainments">DVV Entertainments</keyword>, "RRR" also stars Bollywood superstar Ajay Devgn in a pivotal role and marks debut of Alia Bhatt in South cinema. The film was earlier slated to hit cinema halls on January 8, 2021 but has been deferred to a later date due to COVID-19. Charan will also be seen playing a supporting role in Telugu action drama film "Acharya", directed by <keyword id="820857" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Koratala-Siva">Koratala Siva</keyword>. Produced by Charan and <keyword id="180385" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niranjan-Reddy">Niranjan Reddy</keyword> under <keyword id="10511247" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-konidela-production-company">the Konidela Production Company</keyword> and Matinee Entertainments banners, the film stars Chiranjeevi and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles. KKP SHD SHD

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