The company is launching in India with two original South Asian podcasts featuring Masaba Gupta and Konkona Sen Sharma. Led by JioSaavn co-founder and former CEO, Rishi Malhotra, Luminary is known for its unique audio shows combining sound design, music, archival footage, and smart dialogue.
Luminary, the world’s leading subscription-based podcast and audio entertainment network, is today announcing its official launch in India, with an elevated content slate for global South Asians.
Today the network is launching two new shows: Konkona Sen Sharma-hosted Barefoot Boys based on India’s historic soccer win against the British in 1911, and How I Masaba helmed by fashion mogul Masaba Gupta in conversation with remarkable women on business, art, culture and more.
The network arrives in India with a focused goal of creating a refined podcast listening experience, serving as a ‘cultural label’ for the voices of India. Luminary’s pioneering format – best exemplified through its award-winning podcast, The Midnight Miracle, hosted by Dave Chappelle, Talib Kweli and yasiin bey – caters to an audience that actively seeks smart, entertaining, and dynamic audio content.
Having seen considerable success globally with names like Chappelle, Lena Dunham, and Russell Brand, Luminary will extend its content legacy to the Indian market. Luminary will develop and curate localized stories with a global appeal.
First on Luminary is Barefoot Boys, one of India’s greatest sports stories. The podcast will recreate the untold story of 11 barefooted Indian football players who defeated a trained, experienced British team during a 1911 match. Giving voice to the real-life ‘Lagaan’ moment is National Award-Winning Actor Konkona Sen Sharma.
In How I Masaba, the iconic business and creative leader Masaba Gupta takes a seat opposite fellow pioneering women who are breaking ceilings, barriers and boundaries. In this light-hearted, insightful business-meets-life podcast, Masaba will get chatty with the changemakers, taste-makers and the trend-setters of modern India, setting the pace for the next-gen ‘sheroes.’
Commenting on the concept of Barefoot Boys, Konkona Sen Sharma said, “The tale of Barefoot Boys is timeless. It will stand the test of time even 100 years from now. This is the power and guts of the story. I am honored to tell this story, as a Bengali and more so as an Indian. Luminary has done a great job bringing this concept to fruition, which I am sure will be well-appreciated by audiences.”
Talking about her upcoming podcast, Masaba Gupta shares, “I was always interested in back stories of badass women who have conquered so much. This is going to be really special since I get to talk to women I am inspired by every day! Expect a non-preachy, honest and crazy exchange of ideas, stories, and even mishaps.”
Luminary plans to address and innovate the content and business models in India by leading the country’s untapped paid-subscription audio listening base. Commenting on the market entry, Rishi Malhotra, Luminary CEO said, “India is an important growth market for podcasting, storytelling, and Luminary. Our shows truly blur the lines between podcast and art, and we’re excited to bring this unique approach into one of the world’s most rich and dynamic cultures.
There are endless stories to uncover in India, and we look forward to telling them through a premium, subscription-based model that entertains and elevates.” Luminary will work towards building a premium podcast space where discerning listeners can access high quality podcast productions through a subscription model. The network invests talent and funds to ensure a superior listening experience. India is the third largest podcast consumer having 57.6 million monthly listeners (PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2020). Amidst this vast listener base, Luminary recognizes the unexplored readiness of avid consumers to turn subscribers to access first-rate content. The US-based network presents original content from superstar content creators across music, sports, comedy and culture and has won awards from the prestigious outlet The New Yorker, as well as The Webby Awards and Adweek to name a few.
About Masaba Gupta
A fashion powerhouse, Masaba Gupta is India’s leading designer. Her fashion empire House of Masaba has made waves across India by bringing out a quirky, vibrant Indian aesthetic to designer wear. Having begun her journey with Lakme Fashion Week, Masaba’s first collection was called Kattran. Today, Masaba’s designs have become one of the most anticipated features across India’s top fashion shows.
Masaba achieved quick success in the world of fashion and has often been in the spotlight on the most-coveted power lists like Vogue Women Of The Year and Femina’s Fabulous 40. With A+ celebrities dressing in Masaba’s designs, she has become the go-to designer who is always on Bollywood’s radar.
Inspiring millions of young fashion aspirants, the fashion queen’s massive popularity resulted in the OTT giant Netflix creating a show about her. The first season of the web-series Masaba Masaba season 1 enjoyed a thunderous success and Season 2 has been celebrated just as amazingly. Masaba and the show received multiple nominations and won ‘Best Actress in a Comic Role In A Web Series’ and ‘Most Popular Debut Actress in a Web Series’ by IWM Digital Awards.
The show has only further piqued everyone’s curiosity about the ins and outs of Masaba’s high-fashion life. Her role as an actress was also well received in the webseries ‘Modern Love: Mumbai’ She has also made an appearance on MTV’s Supermodel Of The Year as a judge. In the past, the style diva has made headlines for her inspirational physical transformation that became the talk of the town.
The designer-actress-entrepreneur has also launched a brand-new beauty and cosmetics line by the name ‘LoveChild’ The brand carries Lipsticks, nail enamels, intimate wipes, anti-anxiety oil and facemists. The brand boasts of high performing products for all that are entirely cruelty-free, vegan and paraben and sulphate-free.
Over the years, she has collaborated with and endorsed brands such as Air BNB, Lenovo, Samsung, Tanqueray & Tonic, Spotify, Bulgari, Clinique, Puma, Titan, BOAT and Ekaya. She has also collaborated with the internationally renowned cult-classic show Game Of Thrones. In 2020, she launched a collection as a part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s campaign, ‘I Will Wear Out Plastic’. This year, she also went global with the high-fashion brand Louis Vuitton’s campaign for its cult-favourite Coussin bag.
About Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma is the poster girl of Indie cinema and is one of the most respected actresses in India. She is also a writer and director and has appeared in over 50 films winning 2 National Awards and 5 Filmfare awards amongst several others.
In 2016, she wrote and directed ‘A Death in the Gunj’ which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and won several awards including the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director. It also won awards at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, New York Indian Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival amongst others.
Konkona will be seen next in a hard-hitting social drama ‘The Rapist’, directed by Aparna Sen. ‘The Rapist’ premiered at The Busan International Film Festival winning the prestigious Kim Jiseok Award.
About Luminary
