iWorld
The future of original content
MUMBAI: The 9th edition of the Content Hub Summit 2025 came roaring into Mumbai this week, promising answers to a question plaguing the media world: how do you stay original when the world’s drowning in content?
Raghav Anand, partner at Ernst & Young LLP, kicked things off with some eye-watering numbers: the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) sector is now worth Rs 2.5bn, fuelled by 1.1trn hours of content consumption. “That’s a massive amount of attention,” said Anand. But with time spent on platforms now plateauing, he warned the next battleground will be retention, not reach.
And yet, India’s churning out a gobsmacking 200,000 hours of original content a year—leading globally in volume. TV still dominates, but OTT, film and music are closing in fast. What’s changing is how and why content is made and the growing shadow of generative AI has everyone both curious and cautious.
Goldie Behl, founder of Rose Audio Visuals, dismissed the obsession with “originality” as misplaced. “There’s nothing truly original. Everything’s borrowed, lived, or inspired. What matters is conviction,” he said, adding that content made with honesty and emotional depth is what ultimately cuts through.
Aditi Shrivastava, co-founder and CEO of Pocket Aces, echoed the point, emphasising that her studio’s approach is to test stories at micro-scale before scaling up. “We find communities not demographics on social platforms. We create short, relatable pieces and build from there,” she said, adding that this modular testing lets them co-create with audiences in real time.
Saugata Mukherjee, head of content at SonyLIV, was clear-eyed about what makes content stick: identity and consistency. “We built the platform on shows rooted in Indian culture. Our audience knows what we stand for, and that’s why they return.” Originals, he said, drive both customer acquisition and retention, with long-running franchises offering a steady heartbeat.
Tejkarran Singh Bajaj, SVP and head of originals at Jio Studios, admitted times are “exciting but very difficult”. His team resists trend-chasing and instead banks on instinct: “We don’t make franchises. We find stories worth telling, ones that feel truly Indian.” That means even adaptations are reworked with a cultural lens, not just scene-by-scene lifts.
Anuj Gosalia, founder of Terribly Tiny Tales, described today’s attention economy as “weaponised dopamine”, calling short-form ‘TV minus minus’—and still wildly effective. “People used to mock reels and TikToks. Now every A-lister’s on them. Micro-dramas will be the same,” he predicted.
Swati Patnaik, creative director at Applause Entertainment, argued that the secret sauce of global success is local flavour. “The more rooted the story, the more it travels,” she said. “It’s not about the plot; it’s the point of view. That’s what cuts across borders.”
As for AI, the mood was one of cautious intrigue rather than full-blown enthusiasm. Behl questioned whether AI can ever replicate emotional depth. “When an actor cries on screen, can AI make us feel that? I’ve yet to see it,” he said.
Still, Anand noted that GenAI is already driving 20–25 per cent cost savings and slashing production time. The challenge, then, is less whether AI will be used and more how ethically and meaningfully it will be integrated.
India’s original content scene is at a thrilling and slightly terrifying crossroads. The audience is fragmented, hungry, and overloaded. AI is knocking. Attention spans are plummeting. But as this year’s Content Hub Summit showed, the real winners will be those who tell deeply human stories with cultural authenticity, creative courage, and a sharp eye on what viewers really want.
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OneOTT partners with UP govt for Project GANGA broadband rollout
Initiative to connect 2M plus households, empower 8,000–10,000 entrepreneurs in 2–3 years.
MUMBAI: Uttar Pradesh just got a digital Ganga flow because when broadband meets ambition, even villages start streaming faster than city traffic. OneOTT Intertainment Ltd. (OIL), the broadband arm of Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) under the Hinduja Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Transformation Commission (STC), Government of Uttar Pradesh, for Project GANGA (Government Assisted Network for Growth & Advancement).
The MoU, signed on 7 March 2026 in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Finance & Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, aims to empower 8,000–10,000 local entrepreneurs at the Nyaya Panchayat level as independent Digital Service Providers (DSPs). A significant number of these DSPs are expected to be women. The initiative will deliver high-speed broadband to over 2 million households in the next 2–3 years and create direct and indirect employment for more than 100,000 individuals.
Project GANGA will support government priorities in digital education, healthcare and public services while enabling MSMEs and enterprises with reliable connectivity. DSPs will receive structured training, financing assistance, network build-out support and technology enablement.
STC CEO Manoj Kumar Singh said, “Project GANGA is a significant step toward expanding inclusive digital infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. By empowering local entrepreneurs, the program will strengthen service delivery and ensure affordable digital access for underserved communities.”
OIL, MD & CEO and HGS whole-time director Vynsley Fernandes added, “This initiative reflects our long-term commitment to enabling digital access and economic opportunity at scale. Project GANGA is structured as a multi-year program focused on entrepreneur onboarding, network deployment and workforce development.”
OIL brings execution strength backed by HGS and NXTDIGITAL’s national footprint, which already connects over 5 million homes across more than 4,500 pin codes in 1,500 cities and towns through 15,000 plus franchise partners and over 2 lakh kilometres of fibre infrastructure. The ecosystem will support broadband, IPTV, OTT, CCTV, satellite internet and cybersecurity solutions for households, businesses and public institutions.
In a state racing toward digital inclusion, Project GANGA isn’t just laying cables, it’s laying the foundation for millions to connect, learn, heal and earn, one Nyaya Panchayat at a time.
