India on OTT screen from everywhere
Three trends stand out from the report: Indian viewers are pivoting from dark, gritty thrillers to more family-friendly dramas, romances and comedies. And original language is no longer a barrier to viewership. In fact, much of this shift is being driven by the rising power and taste of tier-2 and tier-3 audiences, who are reshaping mainstream preferences. Interestingly, the Top 50 list has just 5 direct-to-OTT films. What's striking about this narrative evolution is that viewers are no longer enamoured by tales of the ultra-rich, or set in metropolitan India. Instead, there's a growing appetite for stories that reflect how everyone, everywhere lives - without the 1970s Manmohan Desai-style cliched binary of poor hero Amitabh vs rich villain Prem Chopra.
Streaming platforms and content creators, many from small towns, are responding to this shift with nuance, honesty and bold storytelling. Characters are more rooted, conflicts more relatable, and resolutions less fantastical. It's a creative feast that was long overdue. One can only celebrate this explosion of perspective, language, emotional range and true diversity on screen.
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