'India has the largest slate of local original content outside the US.'

Could it be about clout? Given its size and influence, RIL doesn't need the media for that, notes Vanita Kohli-Khandekhar.

Both sports and digital will drag down the healthy operating margins that entertainment television continues to make.

'The whole narrative will change from TV is dying to TV-plus-digital is the future.'

It has been a slow year for the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) business. After two years of double-digit growth, it grew at just about 8 per cent in 2023 over 2022. It now stands at Rs 2.33 trillion in advertising and pay revenues.

The way video is being watched and monetised is changing. This is the first thing that stands out as the penetration of smart TVs continues to rise.

'It has never happened that all Top 5 songs on Spotify are from one film. On the Ormax list, the Top 9 are from Animal.' 'The music is good, sure. But everything has taken off with Animal the film.'

Assume Voot, JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar are merged into one entertainment app, and you have a streaming service with more than 233 million unique visitors. That is a reach just under half of India's largest streaming app: YouTube. 'This level of consolidation does not exist even in the US.'

Its success script: Investing more in local content ecosystem; growing its partnership footprint.

'Our research shows that 60 per cent of the growth and interest in anime will come from India for the next few years.'

'...you start running after the star.' 'If the star says yes to the film, the ecosystem supports it.' 'The biggest cog in the wheel of the ecosystem is the audience and we forget that.'

Disney Star India, bought at a valuation of $15 billion, could be on the block for roughly one-third that amount.

'The formula now is even if there is no profit there should be break-even.' 'We green-light a film only if we can see break-even in it.'

'In terms of ticket sales, Hindi is at 50-60 per cent while the South markets are at 80-90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.' The patchy performance of Hindi, the largest segment of the business is the nub of what is bothering Indian cinema.

'Advertising this season will help IPL surpass $550 million in ad revenues, across digital and pay TV.' 'It should still represent a steep loss against annualised 2023-2027 IPL rights fees of $1.2 billion.'

DD Freedish is the 'largest TV platform in India', going to 58 million homes, featuring 70-odd private channels. DD Freedish reaches about 278 million people, and is easily among the top five TV platforms in the world.

'I didn't want to do a highlight reel with greatest hits of Yash Raj Films.' 'I wanted to do an actual story.'

'Today, the risks have risen.' 'So stars need good content and good content needs stars.' 'It is now X+Y (star + content) not that X is greater than Y or Y is greater than X.'

With three key subscription drivers -- F1, IPL and HBO -- gone, can Disney+Hotstar depend only on its chart-topping originals like Criminal Justice and Rudra: Edge of Darkness to hit both scale and profitability?

In spite of its flaws, I enjoyed reading the book, says Vanita Kohli-Khandekar. Simply for the joy of digging into the life, in pictures and words, of one of the most enduring stars of Indian cinema.