Munawar Faruqui, Zakir Khan, and few other creators join JioHotstar's 'Sparks' initiative

New Delhi: JioStar, the recently formed JV with the merger of Viacom18 and Star India, announced the launch of JioHotstar, bringing together JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar.

Along with announcing various upgrades in content and subscription model, JioHotstar also introduced ‘Sparks,’ an initiative spotlighting a few of India’s top digital content creators through innovative and engaging formats.

Under the ‘Sparks’ vertical, JioHotstar will rope in content creators across the country and will enable them to produce high-quality content straight from their cities.

It is to be noted that a month before the mega-merger, Viacom18 hired Ishan Chatterjee from YouTube, who was named Head of Business, Sports Revenue, SMB & Creator in the joint entity JioStar.

When JioStar added ‘Creator’ to his designation while announcing the leadership of the merged entity, industry analysts did anticipate the platform riding on the creator economy.

A YouTube executive heading the “creator” vertical, following Shankar’s vision of democratising content, hinted at the new entity’s plans to take on the Google-owned video aggregation business.

Also, in an interview with Business Standard following the merger, JioStar Vice-Chairperson Uday Shankar revealed his plans to democratise content creation as well.

To begin with, the platform unveiled nine shows created by renowned content creators, including one female content creator.

Indian content creators are increasingly finding themselves in the spotlight, transitioning from digital platforms to mainstream media like OTT and TV channels. Digital influencers such as Kusha Kapila, Dolly Singh, Prajakta Koli and Tanmay Bhat frequently appear in OTT specials, showcasing their talent in acting, writing, or hosting.

This is not the first time that JioStar will be riding on the creators’ prowess. In the past, Hotstar streamed Bhuvan Bam’s "Taaza Khabar." Reality shows like Bigg Boss and Laughter Chef have integrated content creators as contestants and panelists, bridging the divide between traditional television. In Bigg Boss 18, several content creators have joined the mix, such as Hema Sharma, a viral dance video creator, and Rajat Dalal, a social media influencer and weightlifter. Other content creators who made it to Bigg Boss have been Chandrika Gera, known for selling vada pav on the streets of Delhi, and Shivani Kumar, a social media influencer who appeared in the OTT edition. Arman Malik and his two wives, Payal and Kritika Malik, have also gained attention in the show. Similarly, Jannat Zubair Rahmani, a popular content creator, made an appearance on Laughter Chefs, a Colors show.