Applause Entertainment, part of the Aditya Birla Group, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Story TV to develop a slate of premium microdramas, marking a strategic move into the rapidly growing short-form content space.

The collaboration aims to create mobile-first storytelling formats, catering to evolving audience preferences shaped by shorter attention spans and increased smartphone consumption. Together, the companies will co-produce and distribute microdramas across multiple genres, including romance, thriller, action and family drama.

As part of the partnership, Story TV will also acquire rights to adapt the popular romantic-thriller series Hello Mini into a vertical microdrama format, designed specifically for mobile viewing. This move reflects the industry’s shift towards content tailored for vertical screens and bite-sized consumption.

Launched in July 2025, Story TV has quickly scaled its presence, building a library of over 1,000 titles across multiple languages, including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The platform has emerged as one of the most downloaded entertainment apps globally, indicating strong demand for microdrama formats.

Saurabh Pandey, founder and CEO of Story TV, highlighted that the platform is focused on blending storytelling with technology to bring microdramas into the mainstream. He noted that mobile devices are now the primary medium for content consumption, making short-form formats increasingly relevant.

Prasoon Garg, chief business officer at Applause Entertainment, added that the partnership allows the company to explore emerging storytelling formats while continuing its focus on strong narratives.

With this collaboration, both companies aim to expand the reach of microdramas in India, combining Applause’s content expertise with Story TV’s platform-driven approach to redefine short-form entertainment.