India’s unscripted sector is moving from a market that adapts imported formats to one that builds and exports its own. The latest signal is Netflix captive reality show Lock Upp, produced by Balaji Telefilms, which hit 50 million viewing hours in its first three weeks on the service.
“The confidence is coming from the economics,” said Vivek Couto, founder and chief executive of analyst firm Media Partners Asia. He told Deadline that India’s major platforms are building for scale and, sooner or later, advertising, with Netflix setting the ground for a possible ad rollout in India in the next 24-36 months.
That logic pulls streamers towards repeatable, mass-audience formats. It is showing up in three ways: original Indian formats, local remakes of international hits that are heavily refreshed, and executives more willing to back noisy unscripted bets.
Three signs the market has shifted
- Local originals at scale: JioHotstar broke through with celebrity reality series Bhojpuri Bawaal, and gave Bigg Boss a six-language simultaneous relaunch in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bangla in September.
- Retooled hits: Lock Upp originally ran on MX Player and ALTBalaji from 2022 with little fanfare. After Netflix bought the rights and retooled it, the show became a breakout, with Netflix India’s Monika Shergill comparing its 50 million hours to 5,700 years of viewing.
- Exported formats: Prime Video made Alliance the first international remake of Talpa Studios’ competition format, and its Indian unscripted format One Mic Stand was later adapted in Germany.
Why this matters for the ad business
Unscripted formats matter to media planners because they deliver scheduled, returning audiences and are built for brand integrations. Couto’s point about advertising is the strategic spine: proven formats reduce risk when platforms need to fill ad inventory. Shergill said the Lock Upp format is generating “a lot of interest internally”, while Ekta Kapoor, who created Lock Upp, said streamers are no longer treating India as a one-size-fits-all content market.
Prime Video’s Nikhil Madhok framed the shift around The Traitors, which he said became an overnight sensation in 2025. Its Indian version is hosted by Karan Johar; a Telugu adaptation with Teja Sajja is next, and the BBC has picked up the show for iPlayer. Madhok said long-form streaming is allowing unscripted creators to experiment with formats and storytelling structures that linear television does not allow.
What media teams should track
The next 12-18 months will reward buyers who treat Indian unscripted as a reach vehicle, not a one-off. Watch for language-specific versions of proven titles, YouTube simulcasts like Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent, and more format licensing deals where India is the first market rather than the last.
“Instead of originating expensive formats from zero, streamers are buying proven audiences,” Couto said, citing Kapil Sharma’s move to Netflix after years on Sony, Lock Upp’s arrival via MX Player, and Desi Bling’s use of a template that had already worked globally. He said India is no longer just adapting formats but becoming a market where they are built and exported.
Source: Deadline
