02-05-2025
Are microdramas the next big thing?
What do
Sasural Murder Ka
,
Gumshuda Billionaire
and
Arabpati Ka Badla
have in common? They're all microdramas, a new digital storytelling sensation that has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry. These are addictive, professionally-produced, vertically-shot series designed for mobile viewing, with each title comprising of 50-100 episodes of around a minute each—roughly the length of a feature film.
The format first emerged in China in 2018 and has grown increasingly popular over the last few years in other global markets. One report by Bloomberg states that China now churns out more than 5,000 microdrama series a year. The rapidly expanding industry earned close to $7 billion last year, surpassing China's theatrical box office. Individual shows can generate millions of dollars through a mix of advertising and a pay-per-view model on dedicated microdrama apps such as WeTV, MangoTV, Douyin and Youko.
Snacky, cheap to produce and with often tacky, low production value, the majority of these shows tend to be frothy love stories, family dramas and soap operas with fantasy elements. On popular American microdrama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox, you can filter by genres such as reunion, playing dumb, redemption, hidden identity, one-night stand, vampire, toxic, immortal, second chance, underdog rise, strong female lead and innocent damsel. DramaBox even has a genre called 'small potato", which I was too scared to click on.
Writers, filmmakers, producers and platform heads in the Hindi film industry say the reel-ification of narrative storytelling has already hit Indian shores and appears primed to explode in the coming year. Multiple Mumbai-based production houses seem to be either toying with the new format or grappling with what it could mean for the industry creatively, commercially and existentially. Some within the industry see it as an exciting new avenue of digital storytelling, while others consider it a worrying sign of where narrative storytelling is headed.
'All the major platforms are getting into it. Everyone wants a piece of this industry," says Anish Surana, who heads Ananta Productions, a company specifically geared towards producing microdramas. Surana says the company has churned out close to 'a thousand minutes a month", which is close to 10 shows of at least 50 episodes each, ever since they began in January this year. Their titles, which include
Villa Paradise, Dil Vs Duty, Detective Ajay
and
Arabpati Ka Badla
, have been predominantly commissioned for Indian microdrama app Kuku TV thus far, but Surana notes they're currently in the scripting stage for projects for the bigger streamers.
Kuku TV was launched in September 2024 by podcast and audiobook platform KukuFM. With over 10 million downloads, its library is largely dubbed foreign language titles, but this year they have released a handful of Hindi originals such as
Sasural Murder Ka, Gumshuda Billionaire, Cursed Daughter
and
Dreams, Tea Aur Hum
. They have entire Hindi feature films—like Rajkumar Santoshi's thriller
Khakee
(2004) and Manmohan Desai's beloved
Amar Akbar Anthony
(1977)—but in 'microdrama form" with the entire film split into 30 episodes and edited vertically (which is as depressing as it sounds).
'This month we're looking to release one new show per day. We want to reach 60-100 shows a month as soon as we can," says KukuFM co-founder Vinod Kumar Meena, who describes the format as 'a hybrid between OTT and the fast pace of network TV soaps". Meena says he doesn't see this byte-sized arena as competition to storytelling on streaming, or 'horizontal content" as he puts it. 'It's not like Netflix and JioHotstar aren't making money because of YouTube and Instagram. Everyone has their own segment. This is a different industry. A traditional OTT releases 100 shows a year. We want to release 100 shows a month."
Amazon MX Player is also gearing up to launch its own microdrama platform, MX Fatafat, making it the first big Indian streamer to enter the micro arena. The platform's launch date is yet to be fixed but Amazon MX Player Content head Amogh Dusad says the intention is to launch by the end of the year and that they're currently building their slate of licensed titles and originals. Hyderabad-based streamer AHA, which focuses on Telugu and Tamil originals, recently announced its first vertically shot micro series,
Apsara
, described as a romantic comedy infused with mythology. A release date is yet to be announced.
'The reason people are getting hooked is because it's mindless watching," Surana admits. 'They don't have to think about the story. The shows have to be so soapy, so melodramatic and so jumpy that it gives you that dopamine hit. That's it". He's not wrong. Watching several of the Indian originals on Kuku TV, what first struck me was the tackiness of the production and the stiff, awkward actors, many of whom seemed to be doing little more than reciting their lines. But even at their most cringey, the best ones are inescapably addictive and, whether ironically or otherwise, keep you curious about where things are headed and where the next unhinged twist might come from. The experience is not unlike that of watching a silly Instagram reel, except here you're not swiping to another random video but the next in the series.
Surana notes that after a great deal of trial and error, they've got the turnaround time of a single show down to four weeks, from scripting to completion. They're currently exploring using AI to bring that down even further. 'People say it's easy making that stuff, it's not. There's a craft to it. Writing is the most difficult because you have to have a hook every 1-2 minutes, at the end of every episode". The pilot episode is the trickiest, he says, with the aim being to create what he calls 'thumb-stoppers"—shows that immediately grab you within the first few seconds so you can't look away. He adds that the target audience (and, by extension, the kinds of narratives and genres offered) for these shows tends to vary based on the platform. Some target based on gender while others programme for 'metro" audiences.
'Every day on Instagram, there are so many posts about auditions for microdramas," says actor Ankit Arora, who has starred in two such titles so far. 'It's like shooting multiple reels all in one day. Because the frame is vertical, you don't need any production design whatsoever. All you need is a director and a DOP (director of photography)".
Arora says he shot an entire 60-minute series in just two days. 'As long as the actor knows their lines, it's an okay take. There are no retakes," he says. He says they shot one series at a location close to Pune that was specifically created to shoot reels and which is now being repurposed for microdramas. 'Somebody has built this massive set there, which has got all your locations all in one place. It's got like a fancy bathroom, a fancy bedroom, a jacuzzi, a lawn, a swimming pool. So you can get a lot of different locations all under one set."
Others like BhaDiPa CEO Paula McGlynn are more optimistic about this brand of snackable storytelling and the opportunities it affords. Known for their skits and web shows, the popular YouTube channel and production house recently released their first vertically shot snackable title, a frothy romance called
To be Decided
. 'I think microdramas are going to open up a lot of genres," she says, 'like sci-fi for example, which are considered too expensive or risky for platforms to produce as an eight-episode series."
One screenwriter I spoke to, who chose to remain anonymous and is about to embark on his own independently-produced microdrama project, says he sees the micro arena as an opportunity to create proof of concepts for bigger projects. 'It's kind of like how people used to make short films. If you have an idea for a show or movies, this is like a low-cost way to see if any of them catches traction." He adds that the advantage of the low-cost production and quicker turnaround times is that filmmakers can be more nimble in commenting on and tackling subjects and issues in a timely manner, while they're still relevant to the culture.
An executive at a production house behind several acclaimed independent films, who also chose to remain anonymous, says they've been forced to pivot and explore making microdramas after a number of their independent features struggled to find a home on streaming platforms. 'This is not something we wanted to do. But I have to if I want to sustain working in this market, which is already very cutthroat…I really want to do features and the long formats, but if there are no takers, it's hard for me to survive."
It may be too soon to say how big microdramas hit in India. But if the initial signs are to be believed, the next phase of the Indian streaming wars could well be vertical.
Suchin Mehrotra is a critic and film journalist.
