How ‘The Traitors’, ‘Lock Upp’ & ‘The Alliance’ Are Driving An Indian Formats Boom
India's television production industry is experiencing a significant boom in unscripted formats, shifting from importing international shows to creating original content and refreshing global hits with local appeal. Streaming platforms including Netflix, JioHotstar and Prime Video are driving this growth through substantial investment in ambitious projects tailored to India's 1.4 billion people across multiple languages and cultures, with advertising revenue potential fuelling expansion.
Netflix's "Lock Upp" exemplifies this momentum, achieving 50 million viewing hours within three weeks of launch. The show, originally developed for MX Player and ALTBalaji before Netflix acquired and retooled it, features celebrities competing in a jail-themed format. JioHotstar has simultaneously invested in shows including "Bhojpuri Bawaal" and a refreshed "Bigg Boss" with six simultaneous language releases, whilst Prime Video achieved success with "Alliance," marking the first international remake of Talpa Studios' format to succeed in India.
- Indian platforms shifting from importing to creating original formats
- Netflix's Lock Upp achieved 50 million viewing hours in three weeks
- Streaming growth and advertising opportunity driving investment
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India is home to 1.4 billion people speaking multiple languages and with diverse cultural preferences across different regions, making it a potentially enormous market for entertainment content. Until recently, the country's television and streaming services relied heavily on importing international programmes, but the size and diversity of the Indian audience has created an opportunity for something different.
India's streaming platforms including Netflix, Prime Video and JioHotstar have begun investing heavily in creating or adapting television content specifically for Indian audiences. Rather than simply buying rights to international reality and competition-based formats, these companies are creating original shows or refreshing existing formats with local sensibilities to appeal to viewers in different language communities and regions.
This shift is significant because it positions India as a creator of television content rather than simply a consumer of international hits. Programmes made for specific audiences can attract larger viewerships and generate advertising revenue, providing financial incentive for the continued investment in Indian-produced content.
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The case for
The boom represents India's television industry maturing and developing substantial creative capacity, with platforms investing heavily to tailor entertainment across multiple languages and cultures for 1.4 billion people. This generates significant employment, demonstrates market viability, and allows Indian talent and audiences to drive content creation at scale rather than remain passive consumers of imported formats.
The case against
Whilst platform investment is positive, these successes remain largely adapted international formats rather than original Indian storytelling. The concentration on celebrity-driven reality entertainment risks marginalising distinctive cultural narratives, and the market's domination by three streaming platforms limits programming diversity in favour of commercial formulas that replicate global patterns rather than authentic Indian creative expression.