Desi flavour to foreign formats is key to OTT success

The second season of ‘Rana Naidu’, the widely watched action crime drama on Netflix is currently under production, keeping Sunder Aaron, co-founder and managing partner at the production firm Locomotive Global Inc, on his toes. ‘Rana Naidu’ is an adaptation of American crime series ‘Ray Donovan’, adapted to suit Indian tastes. Mautik Tolia, managing director, Bodhitree Multimedia Limited, meanwhile, has just put out ‘Gunaah’ on Disney+Hotstar that’s based on ‘Ezel’, a Turkish series. Banijay Asia’s adaptation of British series ‘The Night Manager’ for Disney+Hotstar turned out to be the most watched Hotstar Specials’ show on the platform last year.

The content slate of Banijay Asia and EndemolShine India, the makers of ‘MasterChef’, ‘Bigg Boss’ and ‘Night Manager’, is almost 50:50 between foreign formats and Indian originals, said Mrinalini Jain, group chief development officer for the production house. The company has licenses to adapt the American series ‘Monk,’ ‘House’, and more recently, they have acquired the rights to the new UK series ‘The Tourist’.