Franchise Power in OTT: Criminal Justice, Ashram & Squid Game lead streaming charts

Even as the OTT landscape grows more crowded, India’s audience remains loyal to Hindi-language fiction—particularly franchise-led storytelling. According to Ormax Media Top 50 Streaming Originals report for Jan–Jun 2025, viewer attention continues to gravitate toward familiar characters, trusted production houses, and Hindi-first narratives. 

JioHotstar’s legal drama series “Criminal Justice: A Family Matter” topped the charts as India’s most-watched streaming original in the first half of 2025, with 27.7 million unique viewers. The fourth season of the crime series, produced by Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios India, drew 27.7 million viewers during the January-June period, narrowly edging out Amazon MX Player’s crime drama “Ek Badnaam Aashram” Season 3 Part 2 (27.1 million). 

Prime Video’s beloved rural comedy-drama “Panchayat” Season 4 garnered 23.8 million views and ranked third. 

Meanwhile, Netflix’s dystopian thriller Squid Game Season 3 emerged as the top international title, securing the fifth overall position with 16.5 million viewers, according to new data from Ormax Media.

While regional and international content is gaining ground, the big wins continue to come from Hindi series with repeat seasons and emotionally resonant arcs, suggests the report. 

The close contest at the top highlights the fierce competition among JioHotstar, Netflix and Prime Video for India’s streaming audience. 

JioHotstar has emerged as the frontrunners in India’s highly competitive OTT landscape for H1 2025, securing 16 titles, followed by Netflix with 14 titles in the coveted Top 50 list. Prime Video (9), MX Player (8), SonyLiv (2) and Zee5 (1). 

While Netflix dominated with a mix of international blockbusters and local youth-focused dramas, including Squid Game S3, The Royals, Jewel Thief and Dabba Cartel, Hotstar’s strength came from genre-spanning Indian originals like Criminal Justice, The Legend of Hanuman S6, and The Secret of the Shiledars, highlighting the platform’s stronghold on legal thrillers, mythology, animation and action formats.

Amazon Prime Video followed closely with 10 titles, led by franchise juggernauts like Panchayat S4 and Paatal Lok S2 and Gram Chikitsalay, Dupahiya and Traitors. The platform’s strategy of building long-running, high-engagement IPs appears to be paying off, with new entries like Dil Dosti Dilemma also gaining traction among younger audiences.

MX Player maintained relevance with 8 mass-appeal titles, including Aashram S4, Chidiya Udd and Reality show Hip Hop India, reaffirming its popularity in the Tier II–III belt. Sony LIV (2) with “Shark Tank: and “Bada Naam Karenge” and ZEE5 (1) with “Mrs” making entries. 

Regional originals such as Suzhal – The Vortex S2 (Tamil) and Kerala Crime Files S2 (Malayalam) made it to the mid-tier, underscoring the growing demand for vernacular storytelling across OTT platforms.

Franchise Power Drives Viewer Stickiness

The dominance of multi-season shows like Panchayat, Aashram, Criminal Justice, and The Legend of Hanuman proves that franchise fatigue is still far off in the Indian OTT market. Rather than chasing novelty, viewers appear to prefer narrative continuity and character familiarity. Production houses like TVF, Applause Entertainment, and Prakash Jha Productions have successfully built IPs that grow stronger with each passing season.

“Franchises are giving platforms a reliable tool for retention,” says an OTT industry executive. “Audiences are coming back not just for new stories, but for emotional closure, nostalgia, and character evolution.”

Reality, Animation & Films Expand Format Mix

Beyond scripted drama, reality shows like Hip Hop India S2, The Great Indian Kapil Show S3, and Shark Tank India S4 each clocked over 10 million unique viewers—indicating that audience appetite for non-fiction remains robust.

Meanwhile, animated content is proving its longevity. The Legend of Hanuman S6 stands as a top 10 performer with 16.2 million viewers—making it India’s most-watched animated original of the year so far.

In the film category, Netflix titles like Jewel Thief – The Heist Begins and Dhoom Dhaam drew strong audiences, demonstrating that platform-first films are now able to rival mid-tier theatrical releases in reach and recall.

Regional Content & International Titles Hold Steady

As India’s OTT ecosystem matures, content diversity is expanding—but the biggest audience magnets remain Hindi-language franchises with repeatable value and mass connect. Whether it’s small-town satire (Panchayat), courtroom drama (Criminal Justice), or cultural mythos (Hanuman), viewers are showing up—again and again. 

However, regional shows—such as Suzhal – The Vortex S2 (Tamil), Kerala Crime Files S2 (Malayalam), and Devika & Danny (Telugu)—secured mid-table positions, with viewership ranging between 5 and 8 million. This suggests growing traction, though still limited compared to Hindi-first originals.

International titles like Squid Game S3, The Last of Us S2, Reacher S3, and You S5 made the list, but only Squid Game entered the top 5. These series continue to attract premium metro audiences, yet remain secondary to local narratives in reach.