🔴 What we can learn from Indian microdramas

Are you one of the millions of people who paid $0.99 for an individual song on iTunes back in the pre-streaming era?

Maybe you’ve purchased an episode of a TV show you couldn’t find on any of the streaming platforms you pay for. Today, guest writer Sabah Gurmat reports on the microdrama industry in India, where viewers often pay by the episode for 2-minute-long microdramas on apps like Moj, ReelShort, and KuKuTV.

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By Sabah Gurmat, a freelance journalist and writer based in Delhi, India.

Sitting in the New Delhi metro, my co-passengers' eyes are glued to their phone screens. Once upon a time, they’d be watching YouTube videos or series on Netflix and Indian streaming platforms like JioHotstar and SonyLIV.

Now, it’s likely they’re watching shows like Revenge of My Fake Boyfriend, a ‘show’ that boasts of 124 million views so far. Dubbed ‘microdramas’, these vertically shot, cliffhanger-packed episodes are typically under two minutes long. In India, a growing shift towards bite-sized reels and now serialized mobile-first dramas is changing the content economy and the country’s cultural landscape.

The success of global apps like ReelShort, which have racked up tens of millions of monthly active users with cliffhanger-heavy content, has also shown Indian entrepreneurs what’s possible. In a market where young audiences are far more likely to consume reels than long-form shows, microdramas represent a natural convergence of cultural appetite and technological habit.

India is a natural fit; there are 900 million internet connections, a mobile-first audience, and a melodrama-heavy culture already swept up by short-video apps. TikTok was used by nearly 200 million Indians before political tensions with China led to its ban in 2020.

Globally, industry forecasts project the microdrama market will surpass $10–13 billion by 2027–2030. Specifically in India, analysts estimate it will reach $5–10 billion over the next five years. And the numbers reflect this popularity. Indian microdrama platforms, such as Moj and ShareChat's ‘QuickTV’, are logging over 100 million microdrama episode views daily. Meanwhile, hybrid apps like Kuku TV have reported over 50 million downloads in six months and lead with 4.5 million paying users.

In India, dozens of vernacular languages and dialects compete for attention; as a result, studios localize stories at source instead of having them dubbed and retailored for specific audiences later. Across dialects and languages, the most successful microdramas tend to lean into familiar tropes already popular in soap operas and classic TV dramas.

These include classic themes like will-they-won’t-they romances, revenge arcs, true crime, forbidden love, sudden reversals of fortune, or power struggles within families. Titles like Balaji’s Kaal Nagri (Death City) or global hits such as ReelShort’s How to Tame a Silver Fox succeed because they distill melodrama into its purest form: compressed tension and emotional stakes delivered in bite-sized beats. Given the compressed time frame that requires viewers to be hooked instantly, these stories are far from subtle; they are compulsively watchable.

Other successful examples of shows are those inspired by Chinese and Korean romance-dramas. Kuku FM’s Revenge of My Fake Boyfriend, for instance, is a slick, K-drama-style, vertical-format series that involves both class aspirations and romance. Each episode of the show deals with the story of a rich woman fake-marrying a self-made businessman, and the romantic tensions brewing between them. The episodes are mostly only about 2.5 minutes long, as are most of Kuku TV’s other microdramas.

Production is fast-paced, and entire seasons can be shot in a week or so, often on compact, multipurpose sets or even at home. There’s no need for fancy equipment; many resort to smartphones. Captions or subtitles are embedded for silent viewing; music and sound effects are used liberally. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly employed for editing, dubbing, and even scripting.

The ecosystem is already crowded with players. And each new production house or startup has devised innovative ways to monetize this. For instance, venture capitalists helped the fledgling Flick TV raise over $2 million to build what it calls a “microdrama OTT.” Meanwhile, the ReelSaga app is live on Google Play after securing a similar funding round. India’s famed soap-opera production house, Balaji Telefilms, has also ventured into this business and launched ‘Kutingg’, a microdrama vertical inside its ‘ALTT’ app. Here, viewers unlock episodes using a virtual coins-based wallet.

The business models reflect a blend of global short-video economics and more localized innovation. Instead of relying solely on subscriptions, platforms mix in-app purchases, coin economies (pay-per-episode unlocks), ad integrations, and performance-marketing funnels. Production costs are fractional compared to full-length television or OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, yet advertisers see higher completion rates. The addictive nature of the bite-sized episodes also means audiences often pay to unlock new episodes faster.

Effectively, it’s an economy where creators, startups, and even legacy studios can all find their place, if done right. And while the ethical and artistic implications of AI spark concern, India’s microdrama platforms thrive by treating social media as the top of the funnel from the get-go. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are where stories first hook audiences, while apps and coin economies serve as the place to monetize. By working with, not against, the grammar of social platforms, Indian companies are building an industry that feels native to how audiences already consume content.

The model isn’t without challenges — rising user-acquisition costs and the risk of creative burnout persist — but momentum is undeniable. It’s no longer about length or the screen’s dimensions, nor the mode in which a series is shot; it’s now about rhythm, pacing, and platform. Microdramas are not a fad; they represent a new grammar of storytelling born in the doomscroll age.