iWorld
Planet Marathi OTT launches the first-ever Marathi pay per view ‘Ticket Window’
KOLKATA: Planet Marathi OTT has launched the first-ever pay-per-view platform for Marathi Films. It has announced the launch of ‘the ticket window’, a select pay-per-view format of the movie experience! Yes, it is a first-ever OTT platform to enable the ‘first day – first show’ experience, especially for the Marathi films.
Planet Marathi CMD Akshay Bardapurkar and COO Aditya Oke jointly today announced their plans to open their Ticket Window segment under the Planet Marathi OTT platform. While talking about the same both Bardapurkar and Oke said, "We are initiating the ‘pay-per-view’ model falling under the ambit of Planet marathi OTT. It means that the ticket windows will open up for our audiences to purchase their online tickets and watch their favorite movie online at a one time fee like never before!"
The segment is named "Planet Marathi Digital Theatre" which will be available to the audience as early as the first week of September 2020. Planet Marathi has been always been ahead of the industry when it comes to aggregation and promotion of Marathi content in different formats.
While talking about what inspired his passion project Bardapurkar said, “Maharashtra film body recently announced in a press release appealing producers to release/sell their films digitally due to the COVID-19 impact. Producers are facing insurmountable losses and it was only natural that producers will try to stay afloat with the help of OTT’s in these trying times”.
Akshay further added, “We have to be agile and adapt quickly in this industry, as soon as we got to know that the film body has taken this stance, taking a cue from them we decided to act as fast as possible and make available a part our platform wherein audience will be able to log in – purchase tickets – and watch their favorite film every Friday”.
Answering the question “which movies are going to be premiered?”, Oke replied, “We have an array of films, a lot of producers are ready to launch their films digitally on our platform but for now, we can’t reveal which films are lined up for a digital release. If you look at Planet Marathi’s commitment to the people and its supportive nature towards the industry we are surely hitting a bullseye with our OTT and the array of features we have under it”. Akshay signs off saying, “Forget Marathi I don’t think anyone has matched anything like Planet Marathi Digital Theatre even for the Hindi industry”.
iWorld
JioHotstar to launch micro dramas during IPL
Streaming giant plans free, ad-supported bite-sized stories during IPL to engage mobile-first audiences
JioHotstar is gearing up to launch a wave of micro dramas, eyeing India’s fast-growing appetite for bite-sized storytelling and new revenue opportunities. According to sources close to the matter, the streaming platform is expected to go live with the content during the Indian Premier League, which runs from 28 March to 31 May.
The move comes as the micro-drama market in India surges, with Redseer Strategy Consultants projecting the overall interactive media segment could reach $3.1–3.4 billion by FY2030, with micro dramas leading the growth. The format has already proven commercially viable abroad — China’s micro-drama sector generated $360 million in 2023, up 267 per cent year-on-year.
Micro dramas are designed for rapid consumption on mobile devices. Episodes typically run 60–90 seconds, shot in vertical 9:16 format, and rely on fast-paced plots and cliffhangers to keep viewers glued. Stories tend to revolve around high-stakes drama, from romance and revenge to corporate intrigue, blending social-media immediacy with professional production values.
Sources said the IPL provides the perfect launchpad, with millions tuning in to the platform for live cricket, creating a ready audience for short-form narrative experiments. The content will initially be free and accessible to all.
JioHotstar, which already boasts over 300 million subscribers, plans to roll out more than 100 micro dramas across multiple genres and languages, including Hindi and South Indian languages. The move is expected to strengthen its regional content strategy and appeal to mobile-first viewers, particularly in metro and Tier-1 cities where the format is currently most popular.
“The timing is perfect,” said a source close to the project, requesting anonymity. “With micro dramas on the rise, this is a chance for JioHotstar to experiment with new formats and engage audiences in a way traditional series cannot.”
The platform is not the first in India to test the format. ALTBalaji, StoryTV and Zee Bullet have all dabbled in short episodic storytelling. But JioHotstar’s scale — and its ability to pair content with one of the country’s biggest sporting events — could make it a defining moment for micro dramas in India.
With mobile consumption and vernacular content on the rise, the gamble seems clear: capture attention fast, keep it longer, and turn bite-sized narratives into a robust revenue engine.
Note: The cover image used is AI-generated.
