MAM
‘Khiladi 786’ premiere catapults Colors to No. 2
MUMBAI: Events and movie premieres have always helped the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) to attract more audiences than they usually do. This time it’s Colors that has gained from this strategy.
Colors had premiered Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Khiladi 786’ on 23 January that rated a whopping 5.1 TVR for a three-hour run. The first airing of the movie on Indian television not only contributed around 30 GRPs to the channel’s overall week’s collection of 235 GRPs (last week 205) but also propelled it to the No. 2 spot in the Hindi GEC hierarchy.
The other movie premieres this year on Hindi GECs were ‘Son of Sardar’ that recorded 3.9 TVR on Star Plus and ‘Student of the Year’ that registered a TVR of 4.2 on Sony Entertainment Television (Set).
Star Plus continued to maintain its leadership position in the genre, despite the loss of 11 GRPs in the week ended 23 February. As per TAM data (HSM including 5 new LC1 markets, C&S, 4+) sourced from a channel, Star Plus clocked 248 GRPs as few of its shows lost eyeballs. Its recently launched celebrity dancing reality show ‘Nach Baliye’ recorded 2.3 TVR (last week 2.9).
Meanwhile, Zee TV added five GRPs to its last week’s tally but slipped to No.3 position. The channel had launched a new reality show ‘India‘s Best Dramebaaz’ that notched 3.5 TVR.
Incidentally, ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’ was the highest rated non-fiction show of the week, followed by Nach Baliye.
After ‘Dance India Dance’ and ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’, ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’ is Zee TV’s homegrown talent hunt show that grooms kids as actors and tests their creativity, spontaneity and acting ability. The other shows of the channel have seen marginal difference in their ratings.
Week 8 of 2013 was good for Set as it added 24 GRPs to collect 188 points in its kitty. The channel had aired its annual Bollywood Award property, ‘Filmfare Awards’ that got a rating of 3.6 TVR for a four-hour run on 17 February, contributing to around 29 GRPs to the channel.
The other award shows that have aired on competing channels so far this year are Zee Cine Awards on Zee TV and Colors Screen Awards on Colors. Both the shows clocked 3.9 TVR in their first airing.
Life OK continues to be at No.5 as it closed the week with 144 GRPs (last week 142), while Sab followed with 138 GRPs (last week 136).
Sahara One with 24 GRPs (last week 26) remained at the bottom of the ladder.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
