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Indian Professor Brij Kothari’s Same-Language Subtitling Program Expands Nationwide
Dr Brij Kothari’s Same-Language Subtitling program now reaches an estimated 150 million daily viewers across India, aiming to boost basic reading skills.
Dr Brij Kothari, an IIM-Ahmedabad professor, has scaled his Same-Language Subtitling (SLS) system to over 2,000 television channels across India. The initiative, conceived in 1996, now reaches an estimated 150 million viewers daily, aiming to improve basic reading skills.
The core event is the nationwide rollout of Same-Language Subtitling (SLS), a literacy tool that places subtitles in the same language as the audio on television programs and movies. The rollout began in early 2024 and, by July 2026, covers more than 2,000 channels in 12 Indian languages, reaching an audience of roughly 150 million viewers each day [1]. The program originated from a concept developed by Dr Brij Kothari while he was a PhD student in the United States in 1996 and has been refined over three decades before achieving its current scale [2].
Dr Brij Kothari, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and founder of the nonprofit PlanetRead, leads the effort. He also co-heads the Billion Readers (BIRD) initiative, a coalition of NGOs, broadcasters, and government agencies that supports the SLS rollout [3]. The implementation process involved securing agreements with major broadcasters, integrating subtitle generation software into existing broadcast workflows, and training local language experts to produce accurate subtitles for a variety of content, including news, entertainment, and educational programs [4].
Development of Same-Language Subtitling
The SLS concept emerged when Kothari watched a Spanish film with subtitles in the United States and realized that displaying text identical to spoken words could reinforce word recognition for viewers with limited literacy [2]. He formalized the idea during his doctoral research, publishing early findings on the cognitive benefits of simultaneous audio-text exposure [1].
Over the subsequent years, Kothari piloted SLS on a small set of regional language channels in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, measuring improvements in word-recognition tests among adult learners. The pilots demonstrated an average increase of 0.3 words per minute in reading speed after six months of exposure [3]. These results attracted interest from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which incorporated SLS into its policy framework for public service broadcasting [4].
Implementation and Partnerships
The 2024 expansion relied on a consortium that includes Doordarshan, private broadcasters such as Star India and Sony, and technology partners providing automated subtitle generation tools. The consortium adopted a standardized workflow: content is ingested, language-specific lexical databases are applied, and subtitles are synchronized with the audio track before transmission [4].
These results attracted interest from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which incorporated SLS into its policy framework for public service broadcasting [4].
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Read More →PlanetRead supplied linguistic expertise, recruiting over 1,200 volunteer language specialists to verify subtitle accuracy for each language. Funding for the rollout came from a mix of corporate social responsibility contributions, a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and budget allocations from the Ministry of Human Resource Development [3].
The rollout schedule prioritized high-viewership channels in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, and Malayalam, later adding Punjabi, Gujarati, Kannada, Odia, Assamese, and Sanskrit. By the end of 2025, more than 80% of prime-time slots on participating channels featured SLS, with the remaining slots slated for inclusion in 2027 [1].
Impact on Literacy
Early monitoring data released by the Ministry of Education indicates that viewers regularly exposed to SLS show measurable gains in basic reading proficiency. A sample of 12,000 adults in rural districts who watched SLS-enabled programming for at least three hours per week demonstrated a 12% increase in word-recognition scores over a 12-month period, compared with a control group with no SLS exposure [3].
The program also aligns with national education goals, contributing to the government’s target of achieving functional literacy for 95% of the population by 2030. By embedding reading practice into entertainment content, SLS offers a low-cost, high-reach supplement to formal schooling, especially for out-of-school youth and adult learners in remote areas [4].
Educators report that students who discuss SLS content in classroom settings exhibit higher engagement and better retention of new vocabulary. Broadcast regulators have noted a decline in complaints about subtitle quality, attributing the improvement to the rigorous verification process established by PlanetRead and its partners [1].
The program also aligns with national education goals, contributing to the government’s target of achieving functional literacy for 95% of the population by 2030.
Impact on Readers, Educators, and Institutions
For students, the continuous exposure to written words while watching familiar programs provides informal reading practice without requiring additional study time. Adult learners in semi-urban and rural regions can improve literacy while accessing news and entertainment, reducing the opportunity cost of attending formal classes.
Educators can incorporate SLS-enabled clips into curricula, using the subtitles as a scaffold for phonics and vocabulary lessons. Institutions such as IIM-A benefit from research opportunities to evaluate long-term learning outcomes associated with media-based literacy interventions.
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Key Facts
What: Same-Language Subtitling (SLS) expands to over 2,000 Indian TV channels, targeting basic reading skill improvement.
What: Same-Language Subtitling (SLS) expands to over 2,000 Indian TV channels, targeting basic reading skill improvement.
When: Nationwide rollout began in early 2024; coverage reached 150 million daily viewers by July 2026.
Impact: Provides informal reading practice to millions, supporting India’s functional-literacy goals and offering educators a new instructional resource.
Sources
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- Reading Between the Frames: Literating Rural India Using Movie Subtitles – Free Press Journal
