Entertainment
Two Seasons in Lucknow, One Bigger Stage Ahead: The Growth Plan Behind India’s Iconic Talent Show
Every multi-season television format faces the same underlying question after its early seasons: whether to stay rooted in the city where it began or expand toward a broader national footprint. India’s Iconic Talent Show, organized by Nice Film Production, has so far held its first two seasons in Lucknow, with Season 3 and further editions planned for the future, according to the organizers.
Since launching in February 2025, the show has built its early identity around Lucknow specifically, even as its stated mission centers on providing artists opportunities at a national level. That combination — a nationally framed mission executed initially through a single regional home base — is a common pattern for new television formats, which frequently establish operational and production consistency in one city before expanding logistics to additional locations.
Why Starting Regional Before Scaling Nationally Makes Sense
Producing a television competition requires consistent production infrastructure, judging panels, and venue logistics, elements that are generally easier to establish reliably within a single city during a format’s early seasons before expanding to multiple production locations simultaneously. Lucknow’s role as the show’s initial home base likely reflects this practical production consideration, allowing Nice Film Production to refine the show’s format and execution before committing to the added complexity of producing seasons across multiple cities.
What Expansion Beyond Lucknow Would Require
Scaling a talent show format nationally generally involves expanding audition infrastructure across more states, coordinating a broader promotional footprint, and potentially producing finale events in different cities across successive seasons — each adding operational complexity beyond what a single-city production model requires. The organizers have described auditions as already spanning many states even while the finale has remained in Lucknow through the first two seasons, suggesting a phased expansion where audition reach grows before the production’s home base itself necessarily changes.
FAQ
Where has India’s Iconic Talent Show been held so far?
According to the organizers, Season 1 and Season 2 were both held in Lucknow, with Season 3 and future seasons planned.
Does the show only accept participants from Lucknow?
No — auditions are conducted across many states in India, according to Nice Film Production, even though the finale has been held in Lucknow to date.
Will future seasons expand beyond Lucknow?
Available information confirms further seasons are planned but does not specify whether future finales will move to additional cities.
As India’s Iconic Talent Show moves into its third season and beyond, how the platform balances its Lucknow production roots against its stated national ambitions will likely shape how effectively it can continue drawing participants and audience attention from across the country.
New talent show formats generally build audience trust gradually across their first several seasons, since a track record of successfully producing consistent, credible seasons matters as much to a format’s growth as any single season’s specific content, particularly for a show still establishing itself relative to more established national competitions.
Whether Season 3 remains in Lucknow or moves to a new city will likely serve as one of the clearer early signals of how Nice Film Production intends to balance production consistency against the broader national ambitions the show has stated as part of its founding mission.
Entertainment
Anant Nag receives Dadasaheb Phalke Award at National Film Awards
President Droupadi Murmu presented the 72nd National Film Awards at Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, on September 22, the first time the ceremony was held outside Delhi; Article 370 won Best Feature Film and Yami Gautam won Best Actress.
Veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024 at the 72nd National Film Awards.
It is the highest honour in Indian cinema.
The ceremony was held at Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, on September 22.
President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards to 92 winners in total.
It was the first time the ceremony was held outside Delhi.
Yami Gautam won the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for Article 370.
Actor Randeep Hooda was honoured with the Best Debut Director award for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.
Bhangaar won the Best Non-Feature Film award.
Ram-Nami was selected as the Best Documentary.
Veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2024, the highest honour in Indian cinema.
President Murmu felicitated a total of 92 winners at the ceremony.
The National Film Awards are given annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, part of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Holding the ceremony at Ekta Nagar, home to the Statue of Unity, marked a departure from the awards’ traditional Delhi venue.
The Gujarat Chief Minister was among those who joined President Murmu at the ceremony.
The National Film Awards recognise achievement across feature films, non-feature films and best writing on cinema, spanning multiple Indian languages.
The awards are decided by juries appointed by the Directorate of Film Festivals for each category.
Past ceremonies were traditionally held in New Delhi, often with the President of India as the chief guest.
The Statue of Unity, located at Ekta Nagar, is one of the tallest statues in the world and has become a major tourism and event venue in Gujarat.
Winners at the National Film Awards typically receive a certificate, a medal and a cash prize alongside the trophy.
The awards are among the oldest and most prestigious film honours in India, first instituted in the 1950s.
Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar, Gujarat (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Entertainment
Kareena’s Daayra trails Kunal Kemmu’s Vibe at the weekend box office
Kunal Kemmu’s action-comedy Vibe collected Rs 6.77 crore net in its opening weekend, well ahead of Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Daayra, which earned Rs 3.92 crore net, according to Sacnilk figures.
Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Daayra is trailing Kunal Kemmu’s Vibe at the weekend box office.
Daayra has collected Rs 3.92 crore net over three days, while Vibe has earned Rs 6.77 crore net.
Daayra’s Sunday figure was Rs 1.17 crore, down from Rs 1.75 crore on Saturday.
Vibe’s Sunday figure was Rs 2.32 crore.
Both films opened on September 18.
Both films released on Friday, September 18, and competed for the same audience over the opening weekend.
Daayra, directed by Meghna Gulzar, stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran and is an investigative crime thriller with a 143-minute runtime.
Vibe is an action-comedy written and directed by Kunal Kemmu, who also stars in the lead role.
The cast of Vibe includes Sparsh Shrivastava, Preity Zinta, Vanshika Dhir, Yashpal Sharma and Dinesh Lal Yadav, also known as Nirahua.
Daayra received largely positive reviews, with ratings between 3.5 and 4 stars from major critics, but its box office opening was described as soft.
Early Saturday estimates had been lower: an afternoon trend put Daayra’s second-day figure at about Rs 64 lakh, before it rose to Rs 1.75 crore in final tallies.
Trade figures for a film’s opening days are estimates that are usually revised when distributors report final numbers.
Both films now enter their first weekdays, when collections typically fall compared with weekend levels.
Vibe’s gross collection of Rs 8.08 crore is about Rs 3.4 crore ahead of Daayra’s gross of Rs 4.68 crore.
Daayra’s Sunday figure of Rs 1.17 crore was about a third lower than its Saturday figure of Rs 1.75 crore.
Vibe’s Sunday figure of Rs 2.32 crore was about 16 percent lower than its Saturday figure of Rs 2.75 crore.
Vibe’s three-day net collection is roughly 1.7 times that of Daayra.
Trade tracker Sacnilk’s latest live figures put Vibe’s three-day India net collection at Rs 6.77 crore and its gross at Rs 8.08 crore.
Regal Cinema, Mumbai (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Entertainment
Lust Stories 3 now streaming: Netflix anthology’s latest chapter
Lust Stories 3, the third installment of the Emmy-nominated Netflix India anthology, premiered today with four stories exploring love, desire, intimacy and modern relationships.
Lust Stories 3 is now streaming on Netflix, marking the latest chapter in the platform’s popular India anthology franchise.
The anthology brings together four stories, each directed by a different filmmaker, centered on love, desire, intimacy and modern relationships.
The franchise has previously earned an Emmy nomination and built a following for exploring contemporary relationship themes.
Earlier installments of Lust Stories featured notable Indian directors and generated strong viewership on release.
The premiere arrives as part of a crowded September 2026 slate of new OTT content across Indian streaming platforms.
The earlier installments of Lust Stories featured contributions from well-known Indian directors, drawing strong viewership on the platform following their release.
Anthology films allow multiple directors to bring distinct visual and narrative styles to a single release, offering viewers a variety of tones within one watch.
Streaming anthologies have become a popular format globally for showcasing diverse voices and shorter-form storytelling outside the constraints of a full feature film.
The release adds to a busy September 2026 slate of OTT content in India, spanning multiple platforms and languages.
Netflix has continued to invest in India-specific original content as competition intensifies among streaming platforms in the country.
Critical and audience reception for the previous Lust Stories installments has generally been mixed across the four individual segments, a common pattern for anthology releases.
The film’s Emmy nomination in an earlier season helped raise the franchise’s international profile alongside its domestic popularity.
Lust Stories 3 is the third installment of the Emmy-nominated Netflix India anthology franchise, following the success of its first two seasons.
The anthology format features four separate short stories, each directed by a different filmmaker, exploring love, desire, intimacy and modern relationships.
The Lust Stories franchise has previously drawn attention for tackling contemporary themes around relationships and sexuality that are less commonly explored in mainstream Hindi cinema.
Streaming production set (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
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