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Monika Shergill says Netflix has hit its “stride” in India, but warned that “supply is not meeting the demand” in the world’s most populous country.
Speaking at the APOS conference in Bali, Shergill touted Netflix’s growth in the country, noting that it was the streamer’s second-largest territory for paid net adds in the second quarter of this year, and the third-largest in revenue percentage growth. However, the creative sector is struggling to meet the growing appetite, she added.
“Over the years we’ve been steadily building and we’ve hit our stride now,” said Shergill. “The single most important thing that has done this for us is the absolute focus on local storytelling, which is at the heart of our strategy in India. How we make people feel about the entertainment that they consume is going to decide how we grow, how we keep them engaged. And for Netflix, the true measure of success is engagement.”
Netflix’s recent Indian originals including Heeramandi — The Diamond Bazaar, The Railway Men, Maamla Legal Hai and Amar Singh Chamkila, while Sector 36 and The Great Indian Kapil Show are currently in the streamer’s Global Top 10 for non-English film and series, respectively. Unveiled today at APOS was the trailer for social media-themed thriller CTRL starring Ananya Panday and Vihaan Samat.
Shergill said continued growth could only come through “investing back” into the local market and talent base, which is struggling under the weight of demand for originals. Besides Netflix, big-ticket originals such as Prime Video’s Citadel: Honey Bunny and Applause Entertainment’s Gandhi have been keeping crews busy over the pay year.
“In India, the supply is not meeting the demand,” she said. “The only way that gap can be bridged is if we invest back into the creative economy. It’s one of the most important things that we do in every market we program in: How we grow the creative economy and bring best in class training.”
India is home around 1.44 billion people, and its TV and film markets have seen huge growth over recent years as streaming has expanded access around the country.
“In the last few months we’ve done eight to 10 training workshops with local production staff — whether it’s creative producing, music producing, finance or our VFX workshops,” said Shergill. “We have the most amazing creators and creative voices in this market. How do we bring them to a new level with the resources that we can give them? Investing back is a very important goal and responsibility.”
Shergill noted that Netflix programs about three years out, which forced her team to constantly question if they were being innovative enough in everything from sketch comedy The Great Indian Kapil Show to the highest-cost dramas.
Elsewhere in the fireside chat with MPA’s Vivek Couto, Shergill said South India had become a priority, with its Hindi strategy firmly in place.
“Once we were established, we started to look at how we unlock different audience cohorts, taste clusters,” said Shergill. “It was important for us to look at the South, and we’re focused on showcasing the best South films. Just a month ago Maharaja, a Tamil film which was successful but not a breakout, suddenly experienced what we call ‘The Netflix Effect.’ It came on our service and it became an absolute winner, traveling across markets and bringing in new sets of audiences.”
She noted that “the same thing” had happened to Laapaata Ladies, which was this week selected as India’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film race for the Oscars. Shergill called the flick a “really charming gem of a film.”
Laapaata Ladies debuted on Netflix in April.
