JioStar to invest ₹4,000 crore in South content push

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JioStar Studios — the joint venture between Reliance Industries and Bodhi Tree Systems — is investing ₹4,000 crore into developing premium regional content, with a strong emphasis on South Indian languages. The move is part of a broader strategy to scale original IP, increase viewership across geographies, and consolidate its position in the high-growth Indian entertainment market.

The investment will power a robust content slate spanning Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam, as well as bilingual and pan-India productions. JioStar will focus on theatrical, direct-to-digital, and serialised formats with storytelling rooted in regional cultures but designed for national and international appeal.

The South India market — long seen as a distinct powerhouse — is drawing aggressive investment as OTT subscriptions and multiplex footfalls rise. Platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and JioCinema are doubling down on vernacular offerings to capture loyal audiences and unlock advertising potential in tier 2–3 cities.

According to the article, JioStar is betting that South-centric stories will scale better with younger, mobile-first users. It also expects the move to deliver stronger stickiness for JioCinema and potential licensing opportunities for global syndication.

The company already has ties to big names in the industry, and this investment will fund both new IP creation and partnerships with regional studios. The goal is to create long-lasting characters, franchises, and cinematic universes that compete with global streamers.

This push also aligns with Reliance’s wider ambitions to dominate India’s digital content pipeline — from production to distribution — and capture share across languages, devices, and formats.