You could say the 6.5 million day-one views for their foray into Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh – well over twice the norm – have put the Ambani-owned JioHotstar in all-AI mode. The idea is to move quicker, be leaner with the budget and put out some short, hard-hitting stories for an audience that likes to binge on their phones.
Audience is curious, but divided
The run-up to the show has been something of a split-screen. You had the numbers, sure, but then you had the critics calling it “AI slop” and zeroing in on a warrior with too many fingers or a face that was just off. Those in the know say JioStar doesn’t see these as deal-breakers; they are things you can iron out with better tech.
What JioStar is planning now
JioStar is putting together a line-up for JioHotstar where every part of the process – from the writing to the animation, voice and final cut – is done by AI. A spokesperson won’t mince words about the intent to produce more of it and bring the price of production way down.
They even brought in Stephan Bugaj, a veteran from the US side of the industry, earlier this year to head up the Generative AI side of things. His team is out looking for people, we’re told.
Why it matters for India’s streaming race
If they go ahead with this, JioStar will be the first of the big boys in India to put out a string of AI series. There are smaller outfits already dabbled in it for a movie or a micro-drama, but in a market with hundreds of millions of phone users in India and China, everyone is in a hurry to get in on it.
Hollywood is a different story. You have actors and directors there who have put up a wall against AI, worried about what it does to original work and to their jobs. JioStar, with Reliance and Disney behind it, is on to a different set of rules: keep the costs in check and put out content at speed.
The breakthrough that set this in motion
Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh was a bit of a shock to even those funding it. When the 100-episode series came out in October, it notched 6.5 million views on day one. It was a retelling of the Kurukshetra War between the Kauravas and Pandavas, after all – a tale from one of the most hallowed of Hindu scriptures.
Upcoming titles and themes
We are hearing of a few more AI-led projects in the works, like the TV show Makaraj and a film on Hanuman. The latter is about the monkey god of the Ramayana, the very model of devotion and might for Hindus.
It’s a bold, no-nonsense plan: let the algorithms do the heavy lifting so you can put out more, and do it in a hurry. JioStar has put in for about 80 AI experts to make it happen.
Here is how they are going about it:
– All-AI shows, from script to screen
– Some 80 new hires in the form of AI engineers and specialists
– New projects like Makaraj, Hanuman and a handful of micro-dramas
– A focus on cost efficiency at scale
In India, streamers live and die by volume, and AI is the answer to that. Then there is the matter of taste. Some of you want a quick hit of spectacle, others want to feel something. JioStar says the tools are getting better and the visual hiccups will be a thing of the past. But in the end, it’s up to the viewer to say if it’s any good.
