MPW 2022: How Netflix India's Monika Shergill made India the fastest growing market for the streaming giant

India is officially Netflix’s fastest growing market, with the highest net subscriber additions and a 25 per cent rise in revenues in 2022. Recent original films like Monica, O My Darling, original shows like Jamtara: Season 2, as well as licensed films such as RRR from the global streaming giant’s India stables have done well. These are exciting time for Netflix India, especially so after a rocky start to 2022 where it was struggling to grow its around six-million-strong subscriber base here.

And leading the charge on India content is Monika Shergill, part of the BT Most Powerful Women in Business 2022 list. “It was a tough journey when I started three years ago as we were already known for Sacred Games and Delhi Crime, but nothing after that. The burden of success is heavy when you are new and the bets on the service are not meeting audience expectations,” says the entertainment industry executive whose resume includes stints at Star India and Viacom18. But her focus during the time was on building a good team, understanding the audience's tastes and partnering with the right storytellers. “I feel good about the course we have set and this year we will do even better.”

Her confidence hinges on the recent documentary The Romantics, upcoming titles such as The Archies, drama series Heeramandi as well as the original stories in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam it is working on. Fingers crossed.