Netflix India had a consistently good 2023 with most of its offerings finding favour with audiences cutting across demographics and markets. The streaming giant recently announced its new programming slate, which, true to its DNA, packs in something for everyone. On the sidelines of the launch of its new titles at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studio, t2 chatted with Monika Shergill, vice-president of content to know more about the Netflix India story of past, present and future.

At the launch of the Next on Netflix slate, you spoke of some staggering numbers. Could you break it down for us?

Netflix reaches 260 million households across the world. By the most conservative estimate, even if two people per household watch Netflix, that in itself is more than half a billion people. We know that it is not just two people. We know that we have multiple profiles. In fact, in many countries, it is five profiles.

That speaks about the power of the platform and if you take into account the distribution that we have as a platform and the recommendations, it becomes huge. Look how it became with Squid Game or how The Railway Men has done... it has been trending for 100 days straight. When you have a film playing for 100 days in the theatres, you celebrate. These days nothing trends for more than a few days, but The Railway Men has done that amid all the new content and some very big films.

Year 2023 was a phenomenal year for Netflix India, perhaps one of your best yet. How do you look back?

Yes, 2023 was the most successful year... 2023 was better than 2022, which was better than 2021. It has been a progression for us and we have been very intentional in planning our programming slate. We look at the value we are giving to the audiences and it is never just value for money, it is also value for time.

Every new film or show that we bring to Netflix is a work in progress for at least two-and-a-half years. We are already deep into programming our 2025 and 2026 slate. About 20-25 shows are well into production. That is how ahead of time we have to work to deliver the quality at the scale and the volume that we do. It takes a village and then some more on every project.

If you greenlight your content so much in advance, isn’t there a worry about loss of relevance by the time it arrives on screen even if you base your creative decisions on consumer insights?

Actually, in the journey of creation, 2025-26 is not a long way off. Time flies when you are writing, casting, producing and post-producing.

In the titles that we have announced as part of the slate over the next few months is a deep understanding of how Netflix serves the consumer... and that is by bringing the most amazing diversity to the slate. Your Netflix is different from my Netflix. If you and I open our Netflix apps right now, we will have different recommendations based on our respective watch history.

Variety and very high quality are important for us. The third thing most important to us is making many, many stories that can bring together a consistent drumbeat of great content.

Monika Shergill, vice president, content, Netflix India

Stories are never told based on data. Data can help you understand the size of the audience. It can never help you understand whether you should programme a story or not. Data helps you know the genres that are working. You can figure that a lot of people like watching crime, that romance is a gap or that people love documentaries. But it can never tell you what kind of story to do in that genre. That always comes from the gut. With data, you know what investment value should you do it at. Then you come back to the gut when you are creating it.

When we make our content, there are some titles that we know which will definitely work with audiences. But how big will it become? You have to allow for that magic and that surprise to happen. It is not a math equation, it can never be.

And audience tastes are also very unpredictable, right?

Yes. The audience is so dynamic and evolving right now. Every day, audience taste is being shaped and reshaped by the stimuli that they are getting. They are watching so many different things. On Netflix itself, we see them watch six to eight genres in a month. From that, we understand that they are ready for a diverse range of stories. And I say this very humbly that we are the best equipped to programme so many different and fresh stories.

Just as a consumer, what are your picks from the Netflix slate of 2024?

Heeramandi (filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s web debut) for sure and The Great Indian Kapil Show. We are happy to get a creator like Neeraj Pandey to direct a film for Netflix, which is his first for a streaming platform. To get someone like (director) Anubhav Sinha to come and join us with IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack has been a big highlight. Also, to have such a distinctive voice like that of Imtiaz Ali to make such a distinctive film like Amar Singh Chamkila, along with (AR) Rahman and Diljit (Dosanjh) for Netflix. Yo Yo Honey Singh choosing Netflix to tell his story (with Yo Yo Honey Singh Famous) has been a huge high. What excites me is that we can be the service that will be something to everyone and move closer and closer to being many things to everyone.

We are the highest service by engagement. When you see your Top 10 (dashboard), you see it changing every day. Some titles remain, but they change every day. It shows you that it is a living, breathing app where people are constantly watching something.

Is sports programming on the cards for Netflix at all?

No, we are not into sports programming. But will we be interested in making sports-adjacent programming? Yes. We are doing that brilliantly the world over. We have rejuvenated sports. Chess has been rejuvenated (with The Queen’s Gambit), Formula One has been rejuvenated, WWE is on Netflix and that will spawn a whole new category of entertainment sports on the service. We endeavour to grow every category that entertains people.

Content from South India — whether it is original programming or licensed titles — has done very well for Netflix...

We are looking at more content from South India. Our South (Indian content) viewing has gone up 50 per cent year on year, which is phenomenal. Even the Hindi-speaking audience is watching so much of South Indian content.

Doesn’t Bengali original programming interest Netflix?

Currently, our priority is Hindi and South languages. I know that there are streaming services in Bengali that serve good content. We have, of course, had Bumbada (actor Prosenjit) come in and star in Scoop, like we gave the South Indian audiences R. Madhavan in The Railway Men and now Jyothika in Dabba Cartel. Neeraj Pandey’s Khakee has The Bengal Chapter coming up. Konkona (Sensharma) has been a part of so many amazing things for us, from Killer Soup to Lust Stories 2. That is our way of having talent come in that is so loved in their home states and their language. That is also a part of how you address a state and a language. We work with a lot of creative talent from Bengal, whether it is writers, directors or actors. They are a part of the Netflix family of creators.