“Adaptation is not a strategy for us”: Gaurav Banerjee, Star India

Star India’s video streaming platform, Hostar has announced its sixth “Specials” show, Out Of Love. It is an Indian adaptation of the British Show, ‘Dr. Foster’ a franchisee owned by BBC. The Indian version will feature Hindi film actors, Rasika Duggal and Purab Kholi in the lead. Produced by BBC Studios, the show has been directed by filmmakers, Tigmanshu Dhulia and Aijaz Khan and is slated to launch on November 22, 2019.

‘Hostar Specials’, a vertical under which Star India will roll out its Original digital only shows, was announced in January this year. In March 2019, ‘Hotstar Specials’ made its debut with a sports documentary, titled, ‘Roar of The Lion’. Back then, the platform said it has 150 million monthly active users with an average time spent of 45 minutes. Star said it wanted to reach a billion screens by 2023 and increase the total time spent — the idea behind, ‘Hotstar Specials’. Then came the Cricket World Cup and IPL and at one point Hotstar claimed to have crossed 300 million monthly active users, higher than what YouTube’s claim of 275 million monthly active users.

Also Read: Hotstar eyes billion screens by 2023; launches 'Specials'

Under ‘Hotstar Specials’ it rolled out ‘Criminal Justice’, two seasons of ‘The Office’ (both adaptations of British versions), ‘Hostages’ (adaptation of the Israeli version), and political drama, ‘City of Dreams’.

As Hotstar gears up to roll out its next title we interviewed, Gaurav Banerjee, president and head, Hindi Entertainment - Star India. Here’s what he had to share about Hotstar’s content strategy.