FremantleMedia forms Indian drama JV

FremantleMedia Asia is creating a drama production joint venture with DJ’s Creative Unit that will make scripted shows for the Indian market.

DJ’s Creative Unit is a husband-and-wife owned prodco that is behind major Indian TV dramas such as Just Mohabbat, Left Right Left, Chhoti Bahu and Parvarish, and the country’s first teen soap Banegi Apni Baat.

FremantleMedia Asia will work with DJ’s owners Tony and Deeya Singh to develop dramas for local market and Indian sub-continent as comes as part of a wider FremantleMedia push into emerging markets.

“We are thrilled to establish this partnership with Tony and Deeya,” said FremantleMedia Asia’s managing director Paul O’Hanlon. “They are two of India’s most successful scripted producers with a history of successes and a reputation for high quality, ground breaking scripted content in India. Their expertise in this field was exactly what we were looking for as we seek to grow our scripted catalogue in this hugely important market.”

Tony Singh described the establishment of the JV as “a wonderful progression for us to work together with them on development and production of outstanding content”.

FremantleMedia opened a base in India in 2009 to create programming for India’s TV market, which was at the estimated to have 110 million households and 425 channels. Formats such as Got Talent, Idol and X Factor have launched to success in the territory.