Rocket Reels Celebrates First Anniversary with Star-Studded Gala and Kranti Shanbhag’s Birthday

India’s digital entertainment landscape reached a notable milestone as Rocket Reels, the nation’s first vertical original stories OTT platform, celebrated its first anniversary. Founded by entrepreneur and content creator Kranti Shanbhag, the platform marked its inaugural year with a grand celebration in Mumbai that also coincided with Shanbhag’s birthday, gathering key industry leaders, creators, and artists.

Designed specifically for mobile-first audiences, Rocket Reels has established a specialized niche in short-form, vertically shot narrative content. The platform's diverse library spans genres including thrillers, romance, crime, sci-fi, horror, and comedy, tailored to fit modern mobile video consumption habits across demographic segments.

Strengthening its market position within the vertical entertainment ecosystem, Rocket Reels recently secured a major investment from veteran producers Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak of Panorama Studios. Furthermore, the platform achieved significant content validation after 20 of its original series were acquired by Amazon MX Fatafat, signaling strong demand for its vertical storytelling format.

Rocket Reels currently operates across six regional Indian languages—Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, and Gujarati. In addition to its domestic reach, the platform has expanded its international footprint across ten countries, including the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and South Africa.

Reflecting on the milestone, founder Kranti Shanbhag emphasized that the platform was built on the core belief that compelling stories could be told through innovative formats, expressing gratitude for the backing from industry partners and viewers alike. Directors Vikram Bhatt and Pratyush Bhartiya also praised the platform's ability to adapt classical narrative structures into fast-paced, engaging vertical formats.

The anniversary event drew a wide array of prominent entertainment personalities, including Zakir Hussain, Raju Kher, Akanksha Puri, Divya Agarwal, Poonam Pandey, Nyrraa M Banerji, Sharad Malhotra, Karanvir Bohra, Vivek Dahiya, Eijaz Khan, Subodh Bhave, and Tannaz Irani. With strong industry backing and expanding distribution channels, Rocket Reels is positioned to scale its content production and global reach throughout its second year of operations.