Prime Video’s Nikhil Madhok charts India’s streaming future at CII Summit 2025

At the CII Big Picture Summit 2025, Prime Video India’s director and head of Originals, Nikhil Madhok, outlined how the platform is responding to shifts in audience behaviour, expanding content output and exploring new genres. In a conversation with journalist Suhani Singh, he described the current phase as one of the service’s strongest growth periods in India.

Madhok noted rising platform adoption and an increase in originals moving into production. “In the last one year, nearly 25% of the people who streamed content on Prime Video have been completely new to the service,” he said. He added that the number of shows and films greenlit for the next 12–18 months is the highest since the platform launched in India, with more than 100 originals in various stages of development.

On changing creative trends, he observed that early streaming years favoured crime thrillers due to binge-friendly structure, but audience tastes have since widened. He cited titles such as Panchayat, Gram Chikitsalay and Dupahiya as examples of viewers gravitating toward grounded, emotionally resonant storytelling. Madhok also highlighted the increasing prominence of women in creative roles, noting that “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.”

He also explained the platform’s approach to evaluating pitches, emphasising clarity of intent and developed story worlds. While Prime Video receives hundreds of pitches each month, only a small fraction move ahead due to volume and strategic alignment. He described creator conviction as a key differentiator, referencing Khauf and Dupahiya as projects that originated from first-time showrunners with a strong narrative foundation.

Addressing casting, he said the service does not prioritise star-driven projects. “We are not looking to cast big names, we’re looking to cast great talent,” he said, pointing to franchises such as Mirzapur, where several actors rose to prominence through the series.

Madhok also discussed the challenges of sustaining successful multi-season IPs. He noted that many Prime Video franchises, including The Family Man, have grown their audiences with each season. The third season of The Family Man, he said, marked the platform’s most-watched Indian series of 2025.

He added that newer IPs across scripted and unscripted categories, such as Call Me Bae, Dupahiya, Khauf, The Traitors, and Two Much, are also progressing to additional seasons following strong reception.

Looking ahead, Madhok reflected on creative opportunities still untapped in Indian streaming. “We haven’t told a great story of a true-blue Indian superhero,” he said. “We have such a fantastic culture, such great mythology, can we create our own homegrown superhero on streaming?”