Mumbai: Horror has travelled deep into India’s heartland, but its language has rarely travelled with it. STAGE and Sunshine Productions are looking to change that with Daakan, a premium Rajasthani horror web-series that puts dialect, folklore and local mythology at the centre of its storytelling.
The two companies have announced a new partnership to bring Daakan exclusively to STAGE. The multi-episode series is rooted in the rich and haunting folklore of Rajasthan and is designed to deliver a culturally authentic horror experience in the region’s own dialect.
The move comes as regional OTT platforms look beyond simply translating mainstream stories into local languages. Daakan is positioned as a story built from the cultural fabric of its audience, drawing on the primal fears, ancient lore and supernatural traditions associated with Rajasthan.
For STAGE, the project also marks an expansion of its premium content play. The platform has rapidly built a position in India’s regional OTT ecosystem with titles such as Saanwari, Punarjanam, Khejd
The partnership brings that audience understanding together with Sunshine Productions’ nearly three decades of experience across television, OTT and feature films. Founded in 1997 by Seema and Sudhir Sharma, Sunshine Productions has developed a portfolio spanning shows such as Miley Jab Hum Tum, Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha, 12/24 Karol Bagh and The Buddy Project, alongside its OTT work.
Its recent slate includes Jamnapaar, Yeh Meri Family, Salt City, Only for Singles and Knock Knock Killer. Jamnapaarfeatured among the top 10 most-watched Hindi web series in Ormax’s 2024 report, while Yeh Meri Family has also received recognition at the Exchange4media awards. (India Today)
With Daakan, Sunshine Productions is now moving into the supernatural horror space, while STAGE gets a premium original that fits its larger strategy of taking highly local stories to a dedicated dialect-speaking audience.
Parveen Singhal, co-founder and CCO, STAGE, said, “At STAGE, we constantly push the boundaries of what dialect entertainment can be. The audiences of Bharat are deeply connected to the stories, spirits, and folklore of their land and yet, this space has been dramatically underserved in the horror genre. Daakan is our way of changing that.
“Sunshine Productions’ pedigree of creating niche, youth-forward content that resonates deeply makes them the perfect partner to bring this terrifying world to life in Rajasthani. We believe this will set a whole new benchmark for horror in the heartland.”
For Sunshine Productions, the collaboration is an opportunity to take its storytelling into a genre where cultural specificity can become part of the horror itself.
Seema and Sudhir, founders of Sunshine Productions, said, “Our mantra has always been ‘Entertainment with relevance’ and nothing could be more relevant to Rajasthan’s audiences than a horror story told in their own voice, steeped in the folklore they have grown up with.
“STAGE has built something truly extraordinary: a platform that genuinely respects and amplifies the heartland’s cultural identity. Daakan is a story we are immensely passionate about, and we couldn’t have found a better home for it.”
Launched in 2019, STAGE describes itself as India’s first and largest dialect-based OTT platform, created for audiences across Bharat. Operating on the philosophy “Company nahi, hum kranti hain”, the platform offers premium web-series, movies and short-form content across underserved dialect markets including Haryanvi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and more.
The platform says it has millions of paying subscribers and backing from global investors. Its proposition is built around culturally authentic entertainment and the monetisation potential of India’s heartland audiences.
Sunshine Productions, meanwhile, continues to build across television, OTT and feature films. Its television credits include Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha, 12/24 Karol Bagh, The Buddy Project and Miley Jab Hum Tum, while its OTT slate includes Jamnapaar, Yeh Meri Family, Salt City, Only for Singles and Knock Knock Killer.
The coming together of STAGE and Sunshine Productions therefore brings two distinct strengths to Daakan: one built around hyper-local audience understanding and the other around established content creation. For Rajasthani horror, the result is a series that aims to make the dialect itself part of the experience rather than merely a vehicle for the story.
As regional streaming becomes increasingly competitive, Daakan also underlines a larger shift in India’s OTT market: audiences are not simply being offered content in their language, but stories created around their own cultural context. Daakan now takes that proposition into the dark.