Jiostar‘s president of general entertainment Alok Jain and head of cluster for entertainment (South) Krishnan Kutty highlighted youth-oriented programming and working with young creators as top growth areas for the Indian media conglomerate.
Speaking on a panel at the APOS entertainment summit in Bali, Indonesia, Kutty said: “Streamers have not programmed enough for Gen Z. We want to increase the volume by seven to 10 times.”
Among three content business priorities that Kutty pointed out, he said that one is to look for more “young creators from small towns” to diversify storytelling, while another priority is to continue to invest in veteran creators who have already delivered success and earned audiences’ trust. The third key area is to produce stories around proven themes that resonate with audiences, about “aspirations” and “justice.”
With over 300M subscribers on its streaming platform JioHotstar, Jiostar also broadcasts the red-hot Indian Premier League, which has shattered various viewing records.
Jain said that Jiostar is not afraid to innovate new formats and lengths. Pointing out that while there is familiarity with following the “Western phenomenon” in series by producing six to nine episodes of 40 minutes each, one of the company’s top-performing shows last year was Thukra Ke Mera Pyaar, which was 19 episodes of 30 minutes each. The series also featured a relatively new director, Shraddha Pasi Jairath, at its helm, along with a cast featuring many actors making their debuts.
“It was a blockbuster from the day it started. Debut director, debut cast, yet we met all our goals and we got very lucky with that,” said Jain.
Other key areas that Jiostar aims to innovate in are non-fiction and types of media.
“We see content creators moving across different platforms — doing TV, short-form content, long-form content and also working with streamers,” added Jain. “We need to create opportunities for people to move from one medium to another, help them grow in the long run.”
Kutty said that the shows which have been the most successful for Jiostar are those that are bold and boundary-pushing.
“What was considered bold five or six years ago is not what is being considered bold right now,” said Kutty. “Five to six years ago, it was about creating big spectacles. Today it’s about pushing societal norms and the boundaries of what is acceptable. However, we are not in California — we are in India, so it has to be in the context of India.”
He pointed out that shows which challenge gender norms and expectations are increasingly popular, especially after the pandemic.
Amid India’s rich multi-lingual cultural fabric, both Jain and Kutty said that language is not a barrier to a project’s success, as a good story will always travel.
Kutty cited stories and storytellers from Kerala as an example. Considered as a relatively small state in India, Kerala has punched far above its weight.
“From a market perspective, Kerala is tiny, but it has a great proportion of storytellers and we take a lot of stories from there and help them travel,” said Kutty.
He further pointed out that 80% of consumption of stories by Kerala creators come from outside the state.
Jain cited Payal Kapadia’s breakout hit All We Imagine As Light, which features Hindi, Malayalam and Marathi, as an example of a story that has transcended languages to find critical success.
On concerns over the theatrical business in India, Jain pointed out that having three-hour movies in a world where people are watching 15-20-second shorts is something that the industry needs to reflect about, as it puts theatrical businesses in a difficult situation to attract audiences.
“We need theater owners to have more innovation and in terms of price point, the economics have to work,” added Jain. “Every industry goes through many changes and variables and theatrical is struggling because people are not coming to theaters unless the movies are very good.”
Kutty sees how streaming has impacted the ways that producers approach movie-making.
“All of us in the streaming business have kind of escalated prices to an extent where the economic model is broken and most producers have become B2B, where the primary customer is a streamer rather than the end consumer,” said Kutty. “That is leading to a disconnect with the kind of content which we created, while talent costs have also increased.”
