Video Streamer Hotstar Finally Ramps Up Its Original Content Slate

Hotstar has largely drawn on Fox-owned broadcasting giant Star India’s massive archives, which spans everything from soaps to Bollywood movies and, most important, sports, including cricket. Star India has rights to major cricket properties, such as the ICC World Cup and the hugely popular domestic Indian Premier League (IPL), which have played a major role in boosting Hotstar’s viewership as it aggressively battles rivals Netflix, Amazon and other platforms backed by U.S. entertainment giants, such as Viacom’s Voot and Sony’s SonyLiv, among others.

While Netflix, Amazon and other rivals have taken a lead in launching originals, Hotstar has only recently followed suit with Hotstar Specials, as the OTT platform calls its originals.

The recent quartet of tv shows announced is in partnership with Applause Entertainment, backed by leading business conglomerate Aditya Birla Group. Last year, BBC Worldwide India had announced it would co-produce localised versions of popular comedy The Office and legal drama Criminal Justice in partnership with Applause. It’s the first time that these properties are being developed in Asia.

In addition to local versions of the BBC shows, the streamer’s other original scripted programming includes Mumbai-set political drama City of Dreams and an adaptation of Israeli show Hostages.

Rohan Sippy, Debbie Rao and Vivek Bhushan direct the Indian adaptation of The Office, for which cast details are still being finalised. Criminal Justice is helmed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Vishal Furia and stars Vikrant Massey, Pankaj Tripathi, Mita Vashisht, Anupriya Goenka and veteran Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff in lead roles.

Israeli TV series Hostages— which also had a U.S. remake that aired on CBS starring Toni Collette— is getting an Indian makeover directed by Sudhir Mishra and will star Ronit Roy, Tisca Chopra and Parvin Dabas. The remake was developed by Banijay Asia and Applause.

Mumbai-set political drama City of Dreams is directed by Nagesh Kukunoor starring Atul Kulkarni, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Eijaz Khan, Priya Bapat and Siddharth Chandekar.

The shows, available in seven major Indian languages, are slated to launch this month and will stream worldwide. Hotstar’s originals strategy, first announced in January, will also see the streamer partnering with some of India’s leading filmmakers and content creators including Shekhar Kapur, Salman Khan, Kabir Khan, Neeraj Pandey, Nikkhil Advani, Ram Madhvani, Venkat Prabhu, Mahesh Manjrekar and Sharad Devarajan from mid- April .