Ekta Kapoor is taking a major gamble with Balaji Telefilms, and this time, television is heading straight to YouTube. The producer has partnered with YouTube India to launch five original shows spanning a massive 200 episodes. This marks a significant shift in how long-form Indian fiction could be consumed in the future.
The lineup includes new seasons of popular titles such as Haq Se and Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai, with Ekta retaining ownership of the intellectual property while YouTube handles global distribution and monetisation through advertising and brand partnerships.
According to Ekta Kapoor, Indian audiences may have moved away from traditional appointment viewing, but they have not necessarily lost their appetite for long-running stories. The focus is now on what she calls a “TV+” audience, viewers who are looking for relatable entertainment that sits somewhere between mainstream television and niche premium streaming content.
YouTube India MD Gunjan Soni also believes the platform is ready for this shift, revealing that millions of Indian viewers are already consuming long form content on connected TVs.
Balaji’s new experiment could potentially change how Indian entertainment franchises are created, distributed and monetised with viewer data expected to directly influence storytelling.
