Indian Films Topping Netflix Charts, Why?

Back in the day, Netflix was always known for intriguing content that came from the USA, South Korea and European nations like Spain. The whole of India used to watch them big time, and those series like Stranger Things, Dark, Money Heist and others are a superhit with the Indian audience. Maybe at some point in time, we started producing our good content like Sacred Games, Delhi Crime and others. Here’s what the latest trend is like.

According to Netflix's latest "What We Watched" report for the first half of 2026, India has emerged as the platform's biggest contributor in terms of viewership, rather than the USA or UK markets, as movies like Dhurandhar garnered 37 million views, while a South film like Made In Korea topped the Non-English chart. Indian originals like Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web, The Great Indian Kapil Show, Maamla Legal Hai, and Kohrra also found places in Netflix's Global Top 500 series. Overall, Indian films and series reportedly generated a staggering 688 million views during the first half of 2026 alone. But does this mean that we are producing better content?

Apparently, some analysts feel that India is not producing better content than Stranger Things, Game of Thrones or any such, but actually people stopped going to theatres often, and are watching more content on Netflix only. While some films like Dhurandhar are doing magic on both sides, inside theatres and on OTT, many are struggling to get that. Films that worked at the box office are no longer working on OTT. Films that found an audience on OTT, are not working at the box office either.

On the whole, it looks like more Indians are watching Netflix now rather than watching movies in theatres, and that helps fuel the top charts of streaming platforms. But if that is coming at the cost of our theatres and the whole theatrical model, then it’s something to be worried about.