Viewer Interest in Indian Shows Rises Sharply Over a Decade
A new IMDb report looks at ten years of streaming in India, from 2016 to 2026.
Viewer interest in Indian shows on IMDb rose about 17-fold over the past decade.
The report draws on page views from more than 250 million people who visit IMDb worldwide each month. It ranks each year's 10 biggest Indian series from 2016 to 2026. Together, those yearly lists fill 110 slots, and 64 different shows appear among them.
"Mirzapur" appeared nine times, making the list every year since it launched. "Scam 1992" charted five times off a single season.
Crime and thriller titles took 48 of the 110 positions. Prime Video and Amazon MX Player combined for 34 positions across 17 series, while Netflix logged 21 positions spread over 18 series.
Thirteen of the 64 charting series started on YouTube, and 11 of those were later picked up by subscription services. The Viral Fever (TVF) was behind nine of the charting series and 17 of the Top 10 slots.
The report named Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Jitendra Kumar, Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover as "The MVPs of Streaming." Kay Kay Menon, Naveen Kasturia and Mona Singh were ranked as the most versatile performers.
While viewer interest grew, the number of new shows and seasons commissioned in India dropped for two straight years. Commissions hit 202 in 2023, 169 in 2024 and 145 in 2025. Hindi-language shows made up 66% of Indian streaming originals in 2025.
Yaminie Patodia is head of IMDb India. IMDb is owned by Amazon.
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