Monika Shergill details how Netflix India greenlights projects

Mumbai: At FICCI Frames 2025, Monika Shergill, Vice President, Content, Netflix India, said that success in entertainment will always be uncertain and that risk-taking is integral to creative and commercial breakthroughs. “The magic lies in taking the leap, with clarity, courage and craft,” she said.

Shergill said uncertainty is the industry’s only constant. “Every project in entertainment involves inherent risk. Even if you have the best judgment, there is no guarantee it will work.” 

She added that Netflix manages risk through creative clarity. “We are always looking for strong voices, clear storytelling and filmmakers who know the story they want to tell. That is what allows us to take creative risks with confidence.”

Citing Amar Singh Chamkila, she said the subject was familiar, but Imtiaz Ali took an experimental route. “We backed that because it came from a strong vision, and it paid off.” 

She said the film also resets assumptions about music on streaming, as songs are woven into the narrative. She linked this appetite to global trends and referenced the K-pop Demon Hunters wave.

Shergill reflected on a decade that changed how India tells its stories and how those stories travel. “This 10-year journey is really about the audiences in India. We are fortunate to have a country that loves entertainment so deeply.” 

She traced milestones from Sacred Games, opening the global door to International Emmys for Delhi Crime and Vir Das, worldwide breakouts like RRR and Gangubai Kathiawadi, and more recent titles such as The Ba***ds of Bollywood and Saiyaara. “These moments build on one another, creating a wave of stories travelling globally.”

On measurement, she said data is essential, but culture is the real verdict. “There are metrics like starts, completions and engagement, but success is when a story leaps off the screen and becomes part of everyday conversation, memes and cultural language.” 

She called this the Netflix effect, when titles begin to influence fashion, food, travel and the way people talk.

Shergill said streaming has shifted storytelling from a push era to a pull experience where audiences drive discovery. “Earlier, people watched whatever was given to them. Today, audiences pull stories toward them. The greatest stories are deeply crafted and widely loved.”

She challenged the “prestige versus popular” divide. “The hierarchy no longer makes sense.” She pointed to Kapil Sharma: I’m Not Done Yet and Maamla Legal Hai as mainstream shows that are fresh in tone and craft. “There is equal value in creating shows that appeal to a broad, diverse audience.”

On language travel, she said regional storytelling is now the heartbeat of global entertainment. A large share of global viewing happens on subtitles and dubs, which helps even hyperlocal stories find audiences worldwide. “Regional cinema today is not just national; it is international.”

Looking ahead, she said streaming habits will deepen with access and devices, but only quality storytelling sustains the habit. “Entertainment will continue to unite us and bring the joy, escape and comfort we seek every day. The next decade will belong to storytellers who blend authenticity with universality, where the line between prestige and popular no longer exists.”