India has highest viewership of films globally on Netflix platform, accelerated by pandemic

Netflix on Thursday said India has the highest viewership of films globally on its platform and consumption of content in genres like kids, non-fiction and Korean dramas is also witnessing a strong growth. Over the top (OTT) players like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+Hotstar have seen massive growth in the past few years on the back of cheap data tariffs and availability of affordable smartphones.

The pandemic-induced lockdown further accelerated the consumption of services like online video and music streaming in the country. "India has the highest viewing of films on Netflix globally and over the last year, 80 per cent of our members in India chose to watch a film every week," Netflix India Vice President (Content) Monika Shergill said in a blogpost.

She added that the most popular thriller was 'Raat Akeli Hai', while titles like 'Extraction', 'Malang' and 'The Old Guard' were the most popular action films and 'Ludo' the most popular comedy film. 'Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo' (Telugu), 'Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal' (Tamil), 'Kappela' (Malayalam), and 'Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya' (Telugu) were among many other films that featured in India's Top 10 row.

"The viewing for non-fiction series on Netflix in India grew more than 250 per cent in 2020 over 2019. Documentary viewing also grew more than 100 per cent in 2020 over 2019, and 'Bad Boy Billionaires', 'The Social Dilemma' and 'Money Heist: The Phenomenon' were the most popular documentaries on Netflix in India this year," she said. The most popular non-fiction shows were 'Too Hot to Handle', 'Indian Matchmaking' and the recently released 'Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives'.

Shergill noted that the viewing of K-dramas (Korean dramas) on Netflix in India increased more than 370 per cent in 2020 over the previous year, as viewers binged on titles like 'The King: Eternal Monarch', 'Kingdom (S2)', 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay' and 'Start-up'. She added that viewing of kid's titles increased more than 100 per cent in India in 2020 over the preceding year. She added that 'Dark' was on the Top 10 row in India for 95 days, while Money Heist featured on the Top 10 row for 170 days. Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back-Evolution, Blood of Zeus and One-Punch Man (S2) were the most popular anime titles in India this year.