MAM
Helo embarks on latest content creator search with the third edition of its ‘Helo Superstar’ campaign
MUMBAI: Helo, India’s leading regional social media platform has launched the third season of ‘Helo Superstar’ campaign. Helo Superstar comes with a promise to discover high-quality original content creators from 10 different categories including entertainment, sports, food, education, to name a few.
The third installment of the campaign, which launched on the 5th of September, is currently encouraging all Helo users to post content in 9 different languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati.
Helo Superstar is Helo’s largest cross-category campaign which saw more than 10 billion views from its seasons 1 and 2 launched earlier this year. #FunnySuperstar became the number one popular category with 2.1 billion views. More than 36 million Helo users liked, reposted or interacted with comedy content. This time, within 10 days, Helo Superstar has already garnered over 3 billion views, notching a new record!
Helo Superstar presents an amazing opportunity for everyone in India who has a passion for content creation in one selected field. With campaign guidelines that are easy to follow combined with Helo’s easy-to-use content creation tools, Helo Superstar aims at generating an explosive growth of content created by talented people across different language communities in India. For its third edition, 100 winners from all categories based on the numbers of likes and quality of posts will shine on Helo's stage, with five five grand champions to be announced in mid-October. All participants stand a chance to win a wide range of exciting prizes, with a total value of over 20K USD (around 1.5Million INR), including iPhone XR, Apple Watch, AirPods, Beats Wireless Headphones, and Limited Edition Helo Merchandise.
“In line with Helo’s mission to empower users to express themselves in the language they are comfortable with, we are thrilled to unveil the third edition of our highly popular campaign, Helo Superstar, which also seeks to celebrate original content creators across various content verticals and language communities in India. Our quest does not end with the discovery of creators, but we also provide them a wealth of opportunities to gain a bigger audience on our platform. Given our global desi outlook, through campaigns such as this, we not only facilitate users to create and share content in their own language with in their communities, but also keep users of the same communities, across borders, connected with the latest trends in India,” said Raj Mishra, Head of Creator Strategy & Growth.
With over 50 million monthly active users, Helo is specifically designed for Indian mobile users who prefer to communicate in their mother tongues. It enables users to create quality content with easy-to-use tools, make new friends, share latest and top trending jokes, memes, status updates, wishes, quotes, shayari and Bollywood news. For more updates, download Helo via iOS or Google Play.
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.
