MUMBAI: “Don’t globalise it. Localise it, then watch it fly.” That was Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ mantra to Indian creators at the government of India’s Waves Global Summit 2025, where he shared the stage with actor Saif Ali Khan in a high-wattage fireside chat titled Streaming the New India: Culture, Connectivity & Creative Capital.
Sarandos came bearing stats—and swagger. Netflix’s investments in India from 2021 to 2024, he revealed, have generated over $2 billion in economic impact, filming across 23 states and 100+ cities, and collaborating with over 25,000 local cast and crew. “That’s not just entertainment—it’s employment, infrastructure, and skill-building,” he said.
And the viewership numbers? Eye-watering. In 2024 alone, three billion+ hours of Indian content were streamed globally on Netflix—nearly 60 million hours a week. An Indian title made it to the global Top 10 non-English list every single week of the year.
Saif Ali Khan, now a veteran of both big screens and binge-worthy epics, waxed lyrical about the creative freedoms offered by streaming. “It’s a gift,” he said. “Long-form storytelling lets you explore characters with nuance and intimacy. Streaming is a creative playground—with no school bell ringing at the end.”
When asked how Indian creators can crack global markets, Sarandos dropped the algorithmic truth: “If you try to engineer something for the world, you end up making it for no one,” he warned. “The most successful global stories—Korea’s Squid Game, Spain’s Money Heist—were deeply local. India must do the same. If it’s not loved here, it won’t work out there.”
He didn’t mince words. “Don’t water it down for the west. Audiences don’t want diluted. They want real.”
According to Sarandos, India is teetering on the edge of a Squid Game-scale global breakout. “Korea had years of storytelling before its global moment,” he said. “India is now at that inflection point. The creative base is solid. The reach is already here.”
Netflix is doubling down on that bet, with buzzy upcoming titles like The Royals and The B*****s of Bollywood joining global juggernauts like Squid Game S2, Stranger Things, and Wednesday.
When asked if streaming would cannibalise cinemas, Sarandos played diplomat. “India is fan-first,” he said. “Theatres and streaming aren’t rivals—they’re tag-team partners.” Streaming, he added, simply meets audiences where they are. “In India, films move from theatre to streaming at record speed. That’s not disruption—that’s democratisation. India, in many ways, was ahead of the curve.”
