Rewriting the script: Balaji embraces AI and snackable shows for future growth

On Kutingg, Balaji will be putting up at least one new show every week. "We are refurbishing our old shows which were short and horizontal and converting them into vertical series. We are re-editing them and refurbishing them," Burman said.

The content is not only getting bite-sized—typically, under two minutes long—it is also being created by AI.

"For Kutingg, we launched our first AI-based show. A full 30-odd-minute show that was completely made on AI. Now the team is also working on our first YouTube original, which can be fully made using AI. We are working more on AI-based production," Burman said.

He said that micro dramas are something the younger, always-on-the-go generation is looking at because nobody has time. "Plus, the thought was if we are doing something in AI, the first shot should be in micro drama space."

Balaji's micro dramas are 25 to 50 minutes long overall but broken into 60- to 90-second episodes each.

Burman said that the short-form content available on Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts are not competition as those are  user-generated content. "A one-minute reel of a creator will be different from the second reel. On the other hand, micro dramas are 25 minutes of storytelling broken into 25 episodes. The advantage that we get on our platform is content that is sequential with back-to-back episodes."

Kaal Nagri is Balaji's first AI-made snackable content which took them only a couple of weeks to create.

"What happens in AI, when you are doing a long-format video series, your character keeps changing because every time you prompt, it gives you a different character. But here the team was able to get that consistency of character for over a 30-minute-long show. This made us realise that we can now go ahead and start building full-fledged shows on AI," Burman explained.

"From a tools point of view, we are using all AI-based video generative tools, licensed platforms from Google and other places. I think one of the things which the team has been able to do successfully is crack the AI consistency of character."

An in-house team of editors and prompters took just two to three weeks to develop the whole show after they cracked the character consistency. Now the company plans to release the second season of the crime thriller.

"The viewership for the show is 20-25 percent higher because I think viewers want to see what is different, how much it is different."

The content creator is also exploring developing longer-format shows via AI. "We do not want to be left behind in terms of innovation," Burman said.

More AI-led shows

"We are also working on a few more projects. We are developing certain story-based videos that we are planning to put on YouTube, which we are planning to launch by the end of this month. We are trying to be in the branded content space with AI and we have a sales team in-house. We are trying to pitch that to brands. We are going all out but only time will tell how much work starts coming in. We are happy to build the team once the business starts coming in," he added.

For creating longer-format content using AI, Burman said that now that the team has got the character consistency they can work on bigger projects and will only need more manpower. "Currently, we are working with a minimal team size. And if we have bigger projects, we will just add manpower and we will be able to develop shows within the required timeframes."Burman also wants to create a horizontal show for YouTube or an OTT (over the top) platform. They are also exploring creating the first ever AI-built TV show.

Creating content for OTTs

The company is also forging new partnerships with other streaming platforms as it grows its B2B (business-to-business) side.

"We have a new partnership with Netflix for fresh content which will be broken into web series and movies. We are at an advanced stage of discussion with the other leading OTT platforms like Amazon, Sony and Star. So currently, we are looking at expanding this footprint," said Sanjay Dwivedi group CEO and chief financial officer, Balaji Telefilms.

He added that the broadcasters have their own OTT platforms, so the shift can be seen clearly from the audience perspective, which has moved from linear programming to online or app-based viewing, which is convenient viewing. "We are the largest beneficiary in terms of this shift," Dwivedi said.

The company has an order book of Rs 350 crore to produce content for leading OTT platforms over two and a half to three years.

"I am not counting a few of them which are still under discussion. We are clearly seeing a huge surge in terms of demand for content from the leading OTT platforms," the CEO said.

He said that the B2B side includes a commissioning model, licence-free model or IP (intellectual property) shared for a particular season. "The original IP of the concept remains with Balaji. So it can be a mix of everything depending on what works out with each of these channels," he said.

Burman added that they are expanding into regional languages on digital, beginning with Tamil and Telugu.

"We have diversified ourselves into regional languages. We have recently executed a non-fiction show for Aha Telugu, and we have got a fiction show deal with ETV Win as well. We are currently in discussions with other platforms for other regional languages. So not just in the Hindi market, we also want to diversify and be present in the regional market," the CRO said.

On the B2C (business-to-consumer) side, the Balaji app which has subscription-based as well as advertising-based models, will have three to four new shows every month. The app currently has close to 50,000 paid subscribers.

Asked if they are competing with platforms like Amazon and Netflix, Dwivedi said, "They are far ahead in terms of money, their technology, they are far ahead of us. So, we are not in competition with them."

Burman noted that their strategy is to tell stories on every platform.

Tapping into YouTube

"YouTube is one of our biggest priorities for this year. We have recently launched our show, Pyaar Kii Raahein, on our YouTube channel, Balaji Telefilms. This is a long-format show. What we have realised is that on YouTube in the Indian landscape, most of the prominent players are putting five to eight episodes as digital-exclusive releases called YouTube Originals."

He said despite having a strong history of creating content of 30- to 60-episode family dramas, they were missing the YouTube opportunity.

"And especially after the ban on the Pakistani channels, that void became even bigger. So we launched one of our shows and we have gone from zero to 1 million within 90 days. All our episodes are getting the first million views within 24 hours of launch of the episode. So, we have a very clear plan of launching YouTube originals, long-format shows, which will be 30 to 60 episodes, limited series, and they will be launched on a daily or alternate-day basis. Our next series will be coming soon," Burman said.