Indian Movies, Shows Garner 100 Cr Views For Netflix In H2 2023

Amid IC 814 Series Row, Netflix Assures Centre It Will Be Sensitive To Indian Sentiments In Future

SUMMARY

Sujoy Ghosh-helmed “Jaane Jaan” was the most-watched Indian movie on Netflix during the latter half of 2023 with 20.2 Mn views, followed by “Jawan” with 16.2 Mn views

“The Railway Men” was the top-performing Indian show on Netflix with 10.6 Mn views, followed by “Kohraa”, which garnered 6.4 Mn views

Netflix India saw its net profits zoom 75% YoY to INR 35 Cr in FY23 while operating revenues jumped 24% YoY to INR 2,214 Cr during the same period

Indian shows and movies clocked more than 1 Bn (100 Cr) views on streaming platform Netflix between July and December 2023.

As per “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report”, Sujoy Ghosh-helmed “Jaane Jaan” was the most-watched Indian movie on Netflix during the second half of 2023 with 20.2 Mn views. Following it were Shah Rukh Khan-headlined “Jawan” with 16.2 Mn views and Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Khufiya” with 12.1 Mn views.

Other popular film titles on Netflix India during the period included “OMG 2” (11.5 Mn views), “Lust Stories 2” (9.2 Mn views), and “Dream Girl 2” (8.2 Mn views), among others.

Meanwhile, Indian web shows also garnered global attention in the latter half of the last year. A Netflix original show, “The Railway Men”, based on the 1984 Bhopal gas leak tragedy, was the top-performing Indian show on the streaming platform with 10.6 Mn views.

Following its lead was a thriller, “Kohraa”, which notched up 6.4 Mn views, while “Gun and Gulaabs” and “Kaala Paani” garnered 6.4 Mn and 5.8 Mn views, respectively.

Fuelling the surging numbers has been the growing subscriber base of the OTT streaming platform globally. In addition, Netflix’s diverse content library, spanning multiple countries, has also been an attractive proposition to woo new users, amid mounting competition.

In India, Netflix has been bracing for a challenger as its two biggest competitors – JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar – are all set to join forces and merge India operations. With key sports streaming rights and content partnerships with HBO and Disney in its kitty, the consolidated entity is expected to emerge as a major challenger to Netflix.

Making matters worse for the streaming giant is Reliance-backed JioCinema’s move to slash subscription prices to INR 29 a month.

However, what has worked in Netflix’s favour is its crackdown on password sharing, reduced subscription prices, brand value and its content library. This likely fuelled the company’s subscriber addition and increased engagement numbers.

As a result, the Indian arm of Netflix saw its net profits zoom 75% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 35 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). Similarly, operating revenues jumped 24% to INR 2,214 Cr in the year ended March 2023 as against INR 1,784 Cr in FY22.