Balaji Telefilms and YouTube have announced a partnership under which Balaji will produce five original fiction shows totalling 200 episodes exclusively for YouTube India, in an interview with Variety. The deal reflects a bet by Balaji joint managing director Ekta Kapoor that Indian audiences moving away from traditional broadcast television will still watch long-form serial drama, provided it is delivered through platforms like YouTube rather than scheduled TV. Kapoor retains creative control and intellectual property ownership of the shows, while YouTube handles global distribution and monetisation via advertising and brand deals, a structure both executives suggest could become a model for other producers.

The slate includes "Haq Se" Season 2, "Phir Pyar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno" and "Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai" Season 4, with further projects still in development, all produced in 4K and rolling out over the coming festive season. YouTube India managing director Gunjan Soni cited Comscore data ranking YouTube the top streaming platform for connected TVs, reaching roughly 75 million Indian adults, and noted 94% of viewers spend over 72 minutes daily on connected screens, countering assumptions that YouTube audiences only favour short-form content. Kapoor said the shows target a "TV+" audience underserved by both broadcast TV and niche paid apps, with any short-form spin-offs used purely for promotion, and that audience data rather than direct feedback would guide future storytelling decisions.