Reliance Jio, India’s leading telecom operator, has announced its ambitious plan to release as many as 100 movies and TV shows on its OTT platform, JioCinema, over the next 18-24 months.
With a cost of over INR 2,000 Cr, the content will be produced in various languages and genres, including 70 movies and several vernacular web series. The move will see JioCinema compete with the likes of Disney+Hotstar, Netflix, SonyLIV, and Zee5, in a bid to establish itself as a major player in the Indian OTT space.
Jyoti Deshpande, the President of Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL’s) media business, stated that 49 films would be produced in Hindi, while the web series would cater to regional audiences in languages such as Gujarati and Marathi. Deshpande claimed that this level of investment had not been witnessed in the Indian entertainment industry, highlighting the scale of Jio’s plans.
It remains unclear whether the offerings will be available for free or at a cost to viewers. However, the move comes shortly after JioCinema’s recent offer of free streaming of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to its users, taking on Disney+Hotstar head-on, which previously relied on the IPL for growth.
Jio’s push into the OTT market is part of its broader strategy to leverage its telecom network and offer consumers a comprehensive suite of services that includes entertainment, e-commerce, and payments. With this announcement, Jio is signaling its intent to invest heavily in content creation and distribution, which will likely translate into increased competition and choice for Indian viewers.
