Applause Entertainment is a key player in India’s red-hot production environment. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar snapshots another nine on our production hotlist*.
 

BBC Studios
BBC Studios is behind some of the biggest hits on Indian OTT. The gripping two seasons of Out of Love (India’s adaptation of Doctor Foster), Criminal Justice (two seasons) to The Office (three seasons) and Rudra (the Indian version of Luther) all on Disney+ Hotstar have done well. At over 35 million viewers, Rudra is the most watched show on OTT in India currently, according to Ormax Media data. Jhalak Dikhla Ja (Strictly come Dancing) on linear channel, Colors, is its other big show. 

D2R Films
The Family Man (Amazon Prime Video) is the superbly written and produced story of the everyday life of intelligence officer, Srikant Tiwari. Season two of the Raj (Nimodri) and (Krishna) D.K. show topped 26 million viewers within a few weeks of its 2021 debut. Raj and D.K.’s penchant for a quirky mash up of genres is evident in another success – horror comedy Stree (2018). D2R Films signed a multi-year, creative partnership deal with Netflix in August 2022. 

Banijay Asia
Banijay Asia, launched in 2018 as a joint venture between France’s Banijay group and Deepak Dhar (former CEO of Endemol Shine India). Banijay titles include Hostages season 1 and 2 (Disney+Hotstar) in association with Applause, the critically acclaimed Undekhi (SonyLIV), Call My Agent (Netflix) and The Kapil Sharma Show (Sony). 

Endemol Shine India
Endemol Shine India – a joint venture between Banijay, Singapore-based CA Media and SOL Productions – has been active in unscripted, including Bigg Boss (an adaptation of Big Brother in six languages on Colors and streaming platform Voot), MasterChef India and Fear Factor. Some part of its success comes from Endemol Shine, and some from the Mumbai-based SOL Productions’ unscripted production strengths. 

Sphere Origins
Sphere Origins has given Indian television blockbuster series such as Balika Vadhu (the show that made Viacom18’s Colors) and Saat Phere (which resuscitated Zee TV in 2005), among many others. Its OTT beginnings have been slow but steady. Your Honour, now in its second season on SonyLIV, is the story of an upright judge whose morals and integrity take a beating when his son is involved in a hit and run. Then there is the political thriller Dark 7 White on Alt Balaji and Zee5, and Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka on Voot. 

Poor Man’s Productions
Two young people are found on a highway in Delhi. The girl has been brutally raped and her boyfriend badly beaten. Deputy commissioner of police, Vartika Chaturvedi (played with gut-wrenching precision by Shefali Shah) and her team starts trying to track down the six perpetrators. Delhi Crime (Netflix) is the only Indian show to have won an International Emmy for best drama series in 2020. Poor Man’s Productions’ Richie Mehta created, wrote and directed the seven-episode series, along with Golden Karavan, Ivanhoe Pictures and FilmKaravan. Mehta’s next show is about the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. 

The Viral Fever (TVF)
TVF, or The Viral Fever, started off in 2010 as an irreverent site for a not-into-TV generation. Over 12 years, it has morphed into a quirky albeit top-notch content producer. Panchayat (Amazon Prime Video), a slow-paced look at a city boy’s travails as secretary of a village council deep in rural India, came out of nowhere to become one of India’s top streaming shows. Almost 30 million people binged on season two, according to Ormax Media data. Top TVF titles also include Kota Factory (Netflix), set in the town where millions of Indians come to prepare for competitive exams, and the heart-warming Gullak (SonyLIV).  

Pritish Nandy Communications
Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) is nowhere near any of the others on this list on scale and revenue. But given its penchant for the ‘different’, which fits well with the OTT world, it’s definitely one to watch. The outfit behind films like Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006) hit the jackpot with its first scripted show; Four More Shots Please! was nominated in the 2020 International Emmy Awards for best comedy and has won several Asian and Indian awards. Over its two seasons so far, the show follows four unapologetically flawed women and their bloopers in life and love. 

Prakash Jha Productions
Prakash Jha Productions has just one streaming series to its name; Aashram (MX Player), now in its third season, is among the top shows across platforms with a viewership of 34.5 million, according to Ormax. The story of a crooked guru has maintained its position since the first episode dropped in 2020. Jha, a critically acclaimed and much-awarded filmmaker, has several hit films, such as Gangaajal, Apharan and Mrityudanad, under his belt. 

* Production houses are listed in no particular order

Published in ContentAsia's October 2022 magazine for Mip Junior/Mipcom