iWorld
Local stories, global dreams: Netflix looks back at 10 years in India
MUMBAI: Netflix celebrated its upcoming 10-year journey in India at the 12th CII Big Picture Summit, with a lively session bringing together creators and industry leaders to reflect on the last decade and glimpse the future of entertainment.
Netflix India vice president of content Monika Shergill, led the conversation with actor Rajkummar Rao, writer-producer Sudip Sharma, and Sameer Nair, MD of Applause Entertainment. Shergill emphasised how streaming has opened doors for a wider pool of talent, saying it has allowed “all kinds of talent to participate in the storytelling business and share in the joy of storytelling.”
Actor Rajkummar Rao called streaming “a platform for emerging talent,” noting how countless actors, including friends who moved to the city chasing dreams, have found opportunities on digital platforms and gone on to achieve success.
Writer and producer Sudip Sharma highlighted streaming’s ability to elevate audience taste and create immersive worlds. “When you say, ‘I’m going to create a world,’ audiences now dive in over episodes and years. That depth and engagement is unique to streaming,” he explained.
Sameer Nair reflected on the global reach of Indian content. “You start by entertaining your core audience. If it clicks, it can travel further. We are a country of over one and a half billion people, and our stories are deeply local, personal and universal. Technology now allows them to be enjoyed worldwide, and that global moment will come,” he said.
The panel agreed that the next decade of Indian entertainment will be shaped by creators willing to push boundaries, experiment with storytelling, and craft narratives that spark cultural moments.
iWorld
Talk to your telly: JioHotstar’s new AI voice feature reads your mood to suggest shows
The streaming giant ditches the scroll for a “conversational” AI that understands moods, cricket and Hinglish
MUMBAI: The era of the endless scroll may finally be over. JioHotstar has officially flicked the switch on its “Conversational Voice Discovery” (CVD) feature, a high-tech overhaul designed to turn the hunt for a Friday night film into a natural chat. Developed in a landmark partnership with OpenAI, the tool moves beyond clunky keyword searches, allowing users to find content by describing their mood, context or even the most bizarre viewing scenarios.
The feature is vision of Uday Shankar, vice chairman of JioStar, whose goal is to eliminate “content overload” by replacing the tedious, traditional scroll with natural dialogue. By leveraging ChatGPT’s ability to grasp context and cultural nuance, the new mobile interface allows users to bypass menus entirely, turning search into a seamless conversation.
The launch, which rolled out across India this month, sees a ChatGPT-powered interface integrated directly into the heart of the app. Instead of typing “action movie” into a sterile search bar, viewers can now speak to their devices as if they were asking a well-read friend for a tip. For now, the feature is exclusive to the mobile app, with a rollout for Connected TV (CTV) expected in later phases.
Beyond the keyword
The CVD feature is built on what JioStar calls “Multilingual Cognitive Search.” It is designed to interpret nuance rather than just matching text. If you tell the app, “I’ve had a long day, give me something mindless and funny,” it won’t just look for those words in a title; it will sift through 300,000 hours of library content to find a light-hearted sitcom or a stand-up special that fits the vibe.
The tech is natively multilingual, catering to India’s diverse linguistic landscape. Users can switch effortlessly between languages—asking for “Koi light-hearted comedy dikhao” (show me some light-hearted comedy) or requesting a “Thriller hai but zyada dark nahi chahiye” (a thriller that isn’t too dark).
Real-time curiosity and live sports
Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of the rollout is its integration with live sports. During a high-stakes cricket match, the AI acts as a digital companion. Fans can ask, “Who is the top scorer right now?” or “Show me that last wicket again,” and the system will pull the relevant data or clips instantly. It even attempts to explain the “why” behind the crowd’s energy, responding to prompts like, “Why is everyone reacting like that?” by contextualizing on-field events.
A shift in streaming strategy
The move is part of a broader reimagining of the entertainment experience following the massive merger between JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. Uday Shankar noted that the goal is to make premium entertainment “truly accessible” by embedding AI at the core of the user journey. By anticipating culture and context, the platform hopes to kill off “decision fatigue.”
For OpenAI, the partnership represents a major play in the Indian market. Fidji Simo, the head of applications at OpenAI, said the goal was to turn a “one-way” passive consumption experience into a “deeply personal conversation.”
As the feature goes live for millions of subscribers, the message from Bombay House is clear: the remote control is becoming obsolete. Whether you’re looking for a show that “feels like a rainy Sunday afternoon” or a crime series with a “strong female lead but not too violent,” all you have to do is ask.
