Realistically Speaking
MYLEETA AGA WILLIAMS IS DRIVING BBC'S ENTERTAINMENT INITIATIVES IN INDIA.
AFTER TELLING innumerable stories such as Kaisi Hai Yariyan and doing reality shows such as Dancing With The Stars on Indian television for over a decade, Myleeta Aga, SVP and GM (South East Asia and South Asia), BBC Studios, says she is finally getting to do the kind of content she always wanted to do in India due to the advent of digital platforms such as Hotstar and Netflix.
She can talk for hours about the Indian remake of the iconic British series, Criminal
Justice, streamed on Hotstar. It gave her an opportunity to tell a realistic story about the Indian legal system. “We worked with a legal team to make sure we were authentic. Small nuances were taken care of.”
Aga is excited that Indian consumers have finally found an appetite for realistic, shortduration content. “There are some amazing British dramas to be told in India .”
Aga and her team have been busy in the past year commissioning some of BBC Studio’s iconic shows in India on various digital platforms. Criminal Justice was followed by the Indian version of Office Office
(on Hotstar). She has also partnered with Netflix for a reality show on dating with Karan Johar as anchor.
Aga took up a global role last year as head of South Asia and South East Asia where she not only takes care of content but also the company’s broadcast business (BBC Earth, BBC Lifestyle and Ceebies) as well as BBC Player, the OTT platform. Aga is already working on her next project, an Indian remake of the popular crime thriller, Luther. “The coming year will see lot more shows from the BBC stable on various OTT platforms.”