JioHotstar to invest Rs 4,000 crore for South Indian content push; unveils 25-title slate
Chennai (PTI): Streaming service JioHotstar on Tuesday announced that it will invest Rs 4,000 crore over the next five years to strengthen South India’s creative economy, unveiling a 25-title slate as part of a major push for regional content.
In one of the biggest announcements by an Indian streaming platform for the southern markets, the company showcased its “South Unbound” vision at a high-profile event here.
Sushant Sreeram, Head – SVOD Business & Chief Marketing Officer at JioStar, said the investment forms part of a broader collaboration with the Tamil Nadu government.
“Earlier today, JioHotstar formalised a Letter of Intent with the Government of Tamil Nadu in the presence of the Chief Minister M K Stalin. This outlines a shared commitment to invest in talent, expand infrastructure and build a future-ready creative economy from the South.
"As part of this vision, JioHotstar will invest Rs 4,000 crore to nurture creators, strengthen the production ecosystem and build a pipeline of stories that are ready for India and ready for the world,” he said.
Calling South India the “heartbeat of Indian storytelling”, Sreeram said the investment signalled the platform’s long-term commitment to local creators.
"JioHotstar started as a dream — to build entertainment rooted in India’s storytelling heritage and powered by cutting-edge technology. The resplendent storytelling traditions of the South motivate us to keep championing authentic, rooted narratives while offering greater accessibility and choices for every viewer," he said.
The event was attended by Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, veteran actor and MP Kamal Haasan, senior state officials, and leading stars and filmmakers from across the southern industries.
Deputy CM Stalin said the partnership will generate “1,000 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs”.
“Cinema in Tamil Nadu has always been a force for social change. OTT is not replacing cinema; it is expanding it. Today, a filmmaker in Madurai or Salem can upload a story and reach audiences across the world. The cultural and economic impact of this partnership will be massive," he added.
aasan said Indian media and entertainment was undergoing a fundamental transformation driven not by technology alone, but by the audience itself.
“We gather at a moment when India’s media and entertainment is not merely growing, it is transforming. For the first time, this shift is not driven by device or format, but by the audience itself,” he said, adding that storytelling today is “screen agnostic”.
“Regional is becoming the new national, and ethnic the new international. Stories born in Madurai, Malappuram or Machilipatnam are no longer regional cinema; they are national cultural events,” Haasan said, giving the example of movies such as “Kantara”, “Drishyam”, “Baahubali”, “Pushpa” and Tamil hits like “Vikram”.
The event was also attended by Mohanlal, Nagarjuna, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyamani, Aishwarya Rajesh and others -- along with directors Jeethu Joseph and Ahammed Khabeer
The streamer's ambitious content slate, unveiled as part of its “South Unbound” initiative, includes sequels to blockbuster franchises, new long-format shows, films, adaptations, and high-engagement reality formats.
The Tamil slate features a mix of returning favourites and new originals, led by "Bigg Boss Tamil", now hosted by Vijay Sethupathi, and "Good Wife S2", the legal drama starring Priyamani.
The lineup also includes "LBW – Love Beyond Wicket", a relationship drama; the family comedy "Cousins and Kalyanams"; the psychological drama "Resort"; and "Heartbeat S3", which brings back Anumol, Karthik Kumar and Deepa Balu.
Other Tamil offerings include "Lingam", an action-drama; "Love Always", a multigenerational love story; the marquee title "Kaattaan" starring Vijay Sethupathi and Milind Soman; and "Second Love", a non-fiction relationship series.
In Telugu, the platform returns with "Bigg Boss Telugu" hosted by Nagarjuna, alongside new originals such as "Moodu Lantharlu" starring Aishwarya Rajesh; the police procedural "Vikram on Duty"; "Varam", a mystical relationship drama; and the hit comedy-drama "Save The Tigers S3" with Chaitanya Krishna.
The slate further includes "Vishakha", the Telugu adaptation of "Aarya" led by Kajal Aggarwal; the relationship-based non-fiction format "Mad for Each Other"; and the Telugu debut of the iconic adventure franchise "Roadies".
From Malayalam, the platform brings back "Bigg Boss Malayalam" hosted by Mohanlal; "Kerala Crime Files S3" featuring Aju Varghese; the mystery drama "Secret Stories: Roslin"; "Anali", "1000 Babies S2" with Neena Gupta and Rahman; and the hard-hitting drama "Pharma" starring Nivin Pauly.
The Kannada lineup includes "Bigg Boss Kannada" hosted by Kichcha Sudeepa; "Batchmates", a nostalgic friendship drama; and the food-and-humour-based non-fiction series "Comedy Cooks".
Across languages, the platform also announced new films such as "Lucky The Superstar", featuring GV Prakash, Anaswara Rajan and Meghna Sumesh, and "Kenatha Kaanom", positioned as broad-appeal mainstream entertainers.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Shocking affairs': SC slams MP govt over illegal sand miners digging up Chambal bridge pillars
_vb_25.jpeg)
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday termed the killing of a forest guard in Madhya Pradesh and the digging of the foundation of pillars of Chambal bridge connecting the state to Rajasthan by illegal sand miners as "shocking affairs" and "failure" of the state government.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which pulled up the Madhya Pradesh government, said either the state government has failed to curb the illegal mining on the Chambal river or it is being done in connivance with state authorities.
"They are digging up the bridge and if the bridge falls, who will be responsible? The photographs are self-explanatory.
"Forest officials are run over by sand mafias and the foundation of a bridge is dug. This is an absolutely shocking state of affairs. Either the state government has failed to control the illegal sand mining or it is in connivance," the bench observed.
"It is happening under your nose. The amicus pointed out that you do not have weapons. Why, at all, does the state government exist?
"These excavators and bulldozers are very secular, they do not see the caste of the person they are killing... it is an absolutely sad state of affairs, the state governments have totally failed or rather they are in connivance. It's absolutely shocking that the foundations of a bridge can be dug up and the state has its eyes closed," the bench told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju appearing for the Madhya Pradesh government.
The top court was hearing a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
Senior advocate Nikhil Goel, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, pointed out that it is an important bridge having 32 pillars and it connects Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but sand mafias are digging the foundation of these pillars.
He said that Odisha, Assam and Maharashtra have come out with a notification empowering forest officials to open fire at sand mafias and similarly Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have written to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) seeking nod for powers to open fire at these illegal sand miners.
Observing that earlier an IPS officer was also killed by illegal sand mafias, Justice Mehta asked the state authorities to explore the possibility of installing high-resolution CCTV cameras to monitor illegal mining.
The bench further suggested that a GPS system can be installed in heavy earth-moving machines in the area to keep a track of their movement.
The bench asked for a status report of the investigation done so far on the killing of a forest guard who was run over by a tractor-trolley allegedly run by sand miners and feasibility report of CCTV cameras.
On April 9, the top court agreed to hear a week later an application seeking an independent investigation into the killing of a forest guard in Madhya Pradesh after being run over by a tractor-trolley allegedly run by sand miners.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area. Besides the endangered gharial (long-snouted crocodile), it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
A 35-year-old forest guard was killed after a tractor-trolley allegedly run by illegal sand miners ran over him in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district on Wednesday morning, police had said.
The incident took place on National Highway-552 near Ranpur village, about 20 km from the district headquarters, when forest personnel tried to stop a sand-laden tractor-trolley, the police had said.
It had said that forest guard Harkesh Gurjar, a part of the patrol team, attempted to stop the vehicle but its driver ran him over, killing him on the spot.
While hearing the suo motu matter on April 2, the apex court slammed the Rajasthan government for "facilitating" illegal sand mining, and stayed its notification de-notifying 732 hectares of the National Chambal Sanctuary, saying it will not allow de-notification of any reserve land for protected species.
Terming "mining mafia" as "dacoits", the apex court had said a number of government officials, including sub-divisional magistrates and policemen, were killed in Rajasthan by the mining mafia.
While hearing the matter on March 20, the apex court had taken serious note of the destruction of habitats of aquatic animals due to rampant illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance based on certain news reports pertaining to rampant illegal mining from the sand banks of the Chambal river.
_vb_26.jpeg)
_vb_65.jpeg)