Indian Streaming Still Awaits a Homegrown Superhero, Says Prime Video India’s Nikhil Madhok

At the recently concluded CII Big Picture Summit 2025, CII’s flagship event for India’s Media & Entertainment sector, Prime Video India’s senior leadership, Nikhil Madhok, director and head of Originals, took the stage for a PowerTalk titled “Prime Video and the Next Frontier of India’s Entertainment Revolution.” In a wide-ranging conversation with seasoned journalist Suhani Singh, Deputy Editor, India Today Magazine, Nikhil reflected on the evolving streaming landscape, scoping out the stories and genres currently missing, while highlighting Prime Video’s commitment to authentic storytelling, and new creative voices. He also highlighted the service’s continuous growth across India’s vast and highly diverse market and the key drivers propelling its success.

Underlining Prime Video’s growth trajectory in India since the inception of streaming in the country to now, Nikhil said, “This is probably the phase of the maximum amount of growth that we (Prime Video) have been seeing, and there are several signals to that – in the last one year, nearly 25% of the people who streamed content on Prime Video have been completely new to the service. Second, the number of shows, movies, unscripted shows, and regional content, that we are going to greenlight or have greenlit, and going to launch over the next 12 to 18 months, is the highest ever that we have done since our inception in India. We have over 100 Originals in various stages of negotiation, development, and production. Not just that, we have also started producing films for theatrical premieres. And we are also experimenting a lot with genres.”

When questioned about the genres that work and how streaming in its early days was dominated by crime thrillers, Nikhil spoke about the significant creative shifts underway. He noted that young audiences have always consumed a wide range of genres, but the creators earlier found thrillers easier to structure for binge viewing. Over time, however, greater confidence has enabled more layered and emotionally resonant storytelling. He added that audiences are embracing stories with deeper themes. “You may forget a show or plot, but you won’t forget how that show or story made you feel,” he said. Giving examples of Original series such as Panchayat, Gram Chikitsalay, and Dupahiya, he also highlighted the resurgence of rooted Indian narratives, as well as the rise of female-led, female-oriented stories like Khauf. More than 80% of Prime Video’s originals in development and production have women at HOD positions, and 60% feature women in the writers’ rooms.

On being asked about Prime Video’s greenlighting process, Nikhil offered an open look into the process. He noted that while the service receives 500–600 pitches a month, only a limited number can move forward, not because the service is not open to ideas, but because of the sheer volume and the need to consider factors such as whether a story is unique, if something similar is already done earlier or in development, whether it aligns with broader content strategy . He emphasized that what stands out most are passionate ideas backed by conviction, clear storytelling intent, and the hard work creators put into developing their vision. Khauf and Dupahiya are some of the examples of successful shows driven by first-time showrunners/creators who approached Prime Video with clarity and deeply developed story worlds. What does not work – pitches driven solely by a desire to fit a brief rather than a genuine creative urge, noting that when a creator asks, “Aapka brief kya hai? Uss hisaab se hum content pitch kar denge,” (“what is your brief; we will tailor our pitch as per the same”) it signals a lack of conviction—not the passion and ownership Prime Video looks for.

Nikhil challenged the misconception that stories need star power to be greenlit, stating, “We are not looking to cast big names, we’re looking to cast great talent,” he said, citing examples such as Mirzapur, where the entire cast rose to stardom through their performance, or Khauf, which featured several newcomers. He also highlighted how independent stories and creators continue to thrive on the service, mentioning titles such as Stolen, In Transit, and Girls Will Be Girls, to name a few.

Responding to Suhani’s question on how Prime Video continues to develop big franchises such as The Family Man, Paatal Lok, Panchayat, and Mirzapur, Nikhil emphasized the rigour behind sustaining successful IPs. “Creating a successful tentpole IP is difficult, but I think it’s even tougher to sustain it and make it grow,” he noted stating that in many cases, new seasons have brought in three to four times the audience of earlier seasons. The Family Man is a recent example – Season 3 of the franchise shattered records by becoming Prime Video India’s most watched series of 2025, marking the strongest opening for the franchise, surpassing benchmarks set by the show’s previous two seasons. More than 60% of fiction shows at Prime Video have gone into multiple seasons or have new seasons under development. He also highlighted how audiences are embracing new IPs, citing examples of successful first seasons of original series such as Call Me Bae, Dupahiya, and Khauf, which have led to second seasons being put into development. In the unscripted space, new IPs such as reality series The Traitors and Two Much with Kajol and Twinkle have also received great response from audiences.

But the streaming space in India is buzzing with a lot of untapped creative potential and stories that are just waiting to be explored, he noted. “That’s the beauty of storytelling. But if I were to name one thing, I think we haven’t told a great story of a true-blue Indian superhero,” he concluded, “This is not something we’re trying to adapt from the west. We have such a fantastic culture, such great mythology, can we create our own homegrown superhero on streaming? And that becomes the next big thing that inspires people!”