iWorld
French cinema finds an ally in Hotstar
MUMBAI: Hotstar is saying je t’aime to its new French tie-up. Along with Bonjour India, Star India’s over-the-top (OTT) platform, Hotstar, is giving the country a peek into classic French films. Bonjour India is a festival presented by Cultures France and the French embassy in India.
To celebrate the Indo-French partnership as well as shape the next decade of human exchange between the countries, Bonjour India launched ‘The Experience: A Journey with France’ and the platform 10 Years-10 Films in Mumbai on 14 December.
The third edition of Bonjour India is an extravaganza spanning over four months to celebrate the Indo-French association through hundreds of events across India. It will cover 100 projects in 33 cities across 20 states and union territories from November 2017 to February 2018. The themes for these projects are smart citizen, high mobility and go green.
While reviving a community of French cinema lovers by giving them access to recent French films through various media, 10 Years-10 Films will also facilitate the acquisition of French content by Indian VOD platforms.
Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan said, “They (Bonjour India) have helped us to choose and arrange 10 films, which are the best of French cinema with English subtitles. Our responsibility is to take them to India’s audience, especially the youth who have not been exposed to these kinds of movies.”
Hotstar will, however, also screen three of the movies in cinema halls to reach a variety of audiences. Attaché for Innovation and Multimedia at French Institute India – French Embassy in India, Pierre Laburthe, handpicked the iconic films, across genres, and pitched it to Hotstar.
Laburthe sees a big market French cinema in India. He said, “We are launching an online festival ‘10 on 10’ because, in the last few years, it has been very difficult to have French films in Indian cinema. We wanted to be online and so we partnered with Hotstar and we have one iconic film for each past decade.”
“People don’t know that we have a common history, so we have created this structure to put it in the public space, where people can discover the relationship through these aspects. We will talk about culture, films, education, science, business and everything in a multidisciplinary event,” he added.
Some of the French films that are available now on Hotstar are Villa Amalia, Tomorrow, 9-Month Stretch, Happiness Never Comes Alone, Sils Maria, A Few Hours of Spring, Of Gods and Men, and Irreplaceable. These films will be seen only on Hotstar as the French embassy has acquired the digital rights only for Star India.
Also Read: Guest Column: How 2018 could become a landmark year for OTT entertainment in India
Hotstar announces partnership with awesomeness
iWorld
Micro-Dramas Surge in India, Redefining Mobile Content Habits
Meta-Ormax study maps rapid rise of short-form storytelling among 18–44 audiences.
MUMBAI: Micro-dramas aren’t just short, they’re the snack that ate Indian entertainment, and now everyone’s bingeing between the sofa cushions. Meta, in partnership with Ormax Media, has released ‘Micro Dramas: The India Story’, a comprehensive study unveiled at the inaugural Meta Marketing Summit: Micro-Drama Edition. The report maps how the vertical, bite-sized format is reshaping content consumption for mobile-first audiences aged 18–44 across 14 states.
Conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 through 50 in-depth interviews and 2,000 personal surveys, the research reveals that 65 per cent of viewers discovered micro-dramas within the last year proof of explosive adoption. Nearly 89 per cent encounter the format through social feeds and recommendations, making algorithm-driven discovery the primary engine rather than active search.
Key viewing patterns show a median of 3.5 hours per week (about 30 minutes daily) spread across 7–8 short sessions. Consumption peaks between 8 pm and midnight, with additional spikes during commutes and work breaks classic “in-between moments” that the format fills perfectly. Around 57 per cent of viewing happens in ambient mode (while doing something else), and 90 per cent is solo, enabling more intimate, personal storytelling.
Romance, family drama and comedy lead genre preferences. Audiences show growing openness to AI-generated content, 47 per cent find it unique and creative, while only 6 per cent say they would avoid it entirely. Regional languages are surging after Hindi and English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada dominate consumption.
Meta, director, media & entertainment (India) Shweta Bajpai said, “Micro-drama isn’t a passing trend, it’s rewriting the rules of Indian entertainment. In under a year, an entirely new category of platforms has emerged, built audience habits from scratch, and created a business vertical that is scaling fast.”
Ormax Media founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor added, “Micro-dramas are beginning to show the early signs of becoming a distinct content category in India’s digital entertainment landscape. When a format aligns closely with how audiences naturally engage with their devices, it has the potential to scale very quickly.”
The study proposes ecosystem-wide responsibility, universal signposting of commercial intent, shared accountability among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents, built-in safeguards, and formal media literacy in schools.
In a feed that never sleeps and a day that never stops, micro-dramas have slipped into the cracks of every spare minute turning 30-second stories into the new national pastime, one vertical swipe at a time.
