Ahead of its merger with Disney, 21st Century Fox‘s Hotstar service expands its portfolio in India with its first originals slate, taking on rivals Netflix, Amazon and other platforms. To date, Hotstar has largely drawn on its fully owned subsidiary Star India’s content library — from soaps to Bollywood movies. In sports, Star India has rights to major cricket properties, such as the ICC World Cup and the widely popular domestic Indian Premier League, which, with the country’s national obsession in cricket, have played a major role in boosting Hotstar’s viewership.
Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta says that Hotstar’s first slate of originals “is about telling stories across mass audiences and not a niche segment of 5 million to 10 million people, which is what most of the other [platforms] are doing.” The originals will be offered in seven languages covering mainstream Hindi and regional languages and are expected to roll out in the coming months.
Hotstar offers both an advertising video on demand and a paid service, and Gupta adds that the service is viewed by 150 million people in India every month, second only to YouTube.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
