Disney+ Hotstar announces upcoming slate featuring Ajay Devgn, Shabana Azmi

Content streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar on Tuesday announced its lineup, headlined by Bollywood personalities like Shabana Azmi, Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Pratik Gandhi among many others.

Ajay, who makes his digital debut with crime-drama series "Rudra – The Edge of Darkness" said: "Today, the quality of entertainment being delivered via digital platforms is remarkable and has opened up avenues for filmmakers to experiment and scale-up. The sheer scale of production of these projects has multiplied significantly in the last few years."

Opening up about his upcoming series, he says it is bigger than anything he has done before.

The platform is also roping in Sushmita Sen, Kunal Kapoor, Kirti Kulhari, Shabana Azmi, Shefali Shah, Richa Chadha; superstars from the south Sathyaraj, Sarath Kumar, Siddharth; award-winning directors and showrunners including Nikkhil Advani, Neeraj Pandey, Ram Madhvani, Vipul Shah, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Habib Faisal, Nagesh Kukonoor, Rajesh Mapuskar, Siddharth Kumar Tewary, Mitakshara Kumar, Vikrant Pawar; along with captivating stories across genres.

Actor Shefali Shah, who will be seen in medical-drama "Human", said: "I choose stories that leave something back for me and for the viewers. Characters that leave an impact or touch their hearts or disturb their comfort zone. As much as mine.

"‘Human' is all of it and more. It's about the underbelly of the medical world. Raw, real, gritty. I am thrilled to be part of this journey, not only because this is a new genre for me, but I'm playing a character I've never ever played before."

The new line-up has its period-action drama magnum opus series "The Empire" starring Kunal Kapoor.

The lineup also features strong characters and women-centric narratives like the second season of "Aarya", "Fear" a supernatural thriller starring Tisca Chopra, apart from medical drama "Human" starring Shefali and Kirti.

It will also showcase Kay Kay Menon-starrer "Special Ops 1.5", murder mystery "Six Suspects" starring Pratik Gandhi and Richa Chadha, tech-thriller "Escaype Live", political dramas "City of Dreams" (Season 2) and "Gharshana", novel adaptation "Those Pricey Thakur Girls", dance reality series "Dance+", the third chapter of popular franchise "Criminal Justice" starring Pankaj Tripathi and more.

Actor Pratik Gandhi on his first-ever murder mystery Six Suspects, said: "Whether it's lean-back content or complex storylines, digital platforms have explored multiple formats to relay stories in exciting new ways. As an actor, this has allowed me to expand my horizons and work on stories and roles that challenge and teach me.

He added: "Tigmanshu Dhulia has created some of my favourite movies. It is an absolute honour to work with a stalwart like him on Six Suspects."

The line up also features blockbuster movies "Bhuj: The Pride of India" and horror-comedy "Bhoot Police featuring" Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Yami Gautam.

In the all-access to content, viewers will be able to enjoy an extensive collection of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.

"The content slate demonstrates our relentless pursuit of bringing original and locally relevant stories to our consumers. With our fresh slate of movies and shows, we are proud that India's top stars and industry stalwarts have chosen to debut with us to present stories that are genre-defining clubbed with high-quality production that makes Har Watch, Top Notch," said Sunil Rayan, President & Head, Disney+ Hotstar.

Gaurav Banerjee, President & Head, Hindi and English Entertainment, Star India added: "At Disney Star, we believe in the power of great storytelling."