JioStar to Expand AI-Generated Content After Mahabharat Success

JioStar, the streaming venture backed by Reliance and Disney, plans to significantly expand AI-generated content on JioHotstar after the strong performance of its AI-made Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh. The 100-episode series drew 6.5 million views on its first day, more than double the platform’s average.

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s streaming platform is preparing to fully embrace AI-generated content, after its first experiment — a machine-made retelling of a 2,500-year-old war epic — convinced executives there’s real money in the idea.

JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd. and Walt Disney Co., is planning a slate of series that would be written, animated, voiced and edited entirely by artificial intelligence for its JioHotstar platform, according to people familiar with the matter.

The media and entertainment group sees it as a way to dramatically reduce production costs, and is planning to hire 80 AI specialists and engineers for the push, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. A representative for JioStar confirmed the plans for hiring and producing more AI-generated content.

Production houses in India and China are moving quickly to use AI in the creation of content to satisfy their hundreds of millions of viewers who lap up short-form videos on mobile phones. That stands in contrast with Hollywood, where there’s been significant resistance from actors, animators and directors to the use of AI. Their worry is that AI-generated movies and shows could devalue their original work and affect their livelihoods.

Jiostar’s move follows the company’s unexpectedly successful dip into the format, via an AI-generated adaptation of Indian epic Mahabharat, which garnered 6.5 million views on its debut day in October — more than double the streaming platform’s average.

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The 100-episode series, Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh, retold the Kurukshetra War, a dynastic conflict between princely cousins the Kauravas and the Pandavas that sits at the heart of one of Hinduism’s most sacred texts.

The company is developing several AI-powered entertainment projects, including the TV series Makaraj, a feature film Hanuman, and a few micro-dramas, said the people. Hanuman centers on the monkey god from the epic Ramayana, who is revered by Hindus who view him as the ultimate symbol of devotion, loyalty, and strength.

A broader rollout would make JioStar the first major mainstream studio in India to release multiple AI-generated series; some smaller production houses have already been using AI to make micro-dramas and movies.

JioStar earlier this year hired Stephan Bugaj, an award-winning and veteran US screenwriter and content producer, to helm its Generative AI content strategy. The team he oversees is currently scouting for talent, the people familiar said.

Some audience members have balked at JioStar’s recent Mahabharat series, criticizing it as “AI slop” and complaining that the production had no heart, and no human touch despite its visual ambition. Several individuals catalogued the glitches: warriors rendered with six or seven fingers and distorted faces, among others.

The company sees the issues as solvable problems, with the people familiar pointing to new technologies that can help iron out issues around inconsistent and sloppy output.