STAGE and Sunshine Productions team up for Rajasthani horror series 'Daakan'

STAGE has built its name on exactly this kind of regional bet. Titles like Saanwari, Punarjanam, Khejdi and Naate have turned the platform into the clear front-runner in India's dialect OTT space, and it has been steadily widening its premium slate. Pairing that audience knowledge with Sunshine's track record, the two companies are betting on a horror experience the regional market hasn't seen before.

Sunshine Productions isn't new to the game. Founded in 1997 by director duo Seema and Sudhir Sharma, the house carries nearly three decades of work across television, OTT and now feature films. Its flagship series Jamnapaar, on Amazon MX, landed among India's Top 10 most-watched originals in 2024–25 according to Ormax, while Yeh Meri Family picked up several Exchange4Media honours, including Best Drama Series. Daakan marks the studio's turn toward Rajasthani supernatural horror.

Parveen Singhal, Co-Founder and CCO of STAGE, said audiences across Bharat stay closely tied to the stories and spirits of their land, yet horror in their own dialect has gone largely unserved. He called Daakan the platform's answer to that gap and described Sunshine, with its knack for niche, youth-leaning content, as the right partner to bring the world to life. He expects the series to set a fresh benchmark for horror in the heartland.

Seema and Sudhir framed the project around their long-running idea of entertainment that stays relevant. For Rajasthan's viewers, they argued, little could be more relevant than a horror tale told in their own voice and built on the lore they grew up with. They praised STAGE for creating a platform that respects the heartland's cultural identity and said Daakan had found the right home.

Launched in 2019, STAGE positions itself as India's first and largest dialect-based OTT service, serving audiences in Haryanvi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and other underserved dialects. With millions of paying subscribers and backing from global investors, the company has worked to prove that regional content can be both authentic and profitable.