iWorld
Hoichoi launches ‘Paranoia’ thriller series
MUMBAI: Paranoia, a compilation of short-format thrillers, is now live on Hoichoi, a digital Bengali entertainment content platform. At present, six original web series and shorts: – Hello, Cartoon, Dupur Thakurpo, Holy Faak, Lift and Shoshibhushon are streaming on Hoichoi.
Paranoia is a collection of different short stories under Hoichoi Originals that deals with various psychological disorders and treats them accordingly.
Hoichoi, recently launched by SVF, an entertainment company, has a large collection of content in Bengali, including 500 plus movies, 10 original web series and shorts. 1000+ songs to be added soon in the app.
Even though each story in the series has a different tale to tell, Paranoia remains the connecting theme. Currently, two stories, Lift and Shoshibhushon, are live on Hoichoi in the Paranoia series.
Lift: Lift is about a renowned journalist called Nandita, who has recently moved to her new apartment on the 25th floor of a city high-rise. Newly built and almost unoccupied, Nandita feels uneasy about staying there. Wracked by paranoia, Nandita feels unsafe, with the liftman Kartik staring at her, his gaze unblinking, every time she uses the Lift.
Her dislike of him intensifies when the elevator gets stuck one night between two floors and the light goes out with Nandita and Kartik inside.
Will Nandita’s paranoia about Kartik be justified?
The second story Shoshibhushon revolves around a disciplined man Shoshi Babu. His life falls apart one day when everything goes out of control for him and things do not work according to his plan. Renowned director Kamaleshwar Mukherjee has donned the hat of an actor here playing the protagonist.
iWorld
Banijay Asia’s The 50 tops OTT charts with 8.1 million JioHotstar views
Reality competition becomes most watched show on JioHotstar in debut week.
MUMBAI: Fifty contestants walked into a palace, but millions of viewers showed up for the drama. Reality competition The 50, produced by Banijay Asia, has emerged as the most watched show on JioHotstar, clocking 8.1 million views in its debut week. The figure, reported by Ormax Media, places the show at the top of the OTT viewership charts and marks a strong opening for the digital reality format.
Adapted from a popular French format, The 50 brings together 50 personalities from television, digital platforms, music and reality shows inside a grand palace setting. Over the course of a 50 day competition, participants form alliances, compete in unpredictable tasks and navigate eliminations as the field steadily narrows.
Guiding the game is a mysterious figure known as The Lion, an unseen game master whose voice introduces twists, challenges and strategic turns throughout the show, adding an extra layer of suspense to the contest.
What distinguishes The 50 from typical reality competitions is its audience driven prize structure. Instead of the winner taking home the final reward, the prize is awarded to one of the winner’s registered followers through the show’s dedicated app. The mechanism effectively turns viewers into participants, allowing fans to have a direct stake in the outcome.
The contestant lineup features a mix of television actors, reality stars and digital creators, including Karan Patel, Urvashi Dholakia, Divya Agarwal, Mr Faisu and Dushyant Kukreja, each bringing their own fan following to the show.
With its blend of celebrity personalities, strategic gameplay and interactive viewer participation, The 50 has quickly carved out a strong foothold in India’s digital entertainment landscape. Its 8.1 million views in the opening week underline the growing appetite for large scale reality formats designed specifically for OTT audiences.
