Bite-sized blockbusters

Mini series and shows are the new rage as viewers binge watch on smartphone-friendly, ultra-short episodes with gripping storylines

- SHUBHANGI SHAH

A CHEESY LOVE triangle, diaoverly-dramatic logues, a mind-bogglingly unreal yet addictive storyline, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, lots and lots of werewolves, and more-all packed into bite-sized episodes spanning less than three minutes. Enter the world of ultra-short drama-streaming platforms that are increasingly gaining steam in India-a market where 86% of Internet users, which equals a whopping 707 million people, enjoy over-the-top (OTT) audio and video services, according to a recent report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and consulting firm Kantar.

The premise of such dramas is gripping, and so is the format-TikTok-style vertically-shot ultra-short videos that you scroll to watch the next episode.

ReelShort is one such streaming service that is increasingly grabbing eyeballs in India, a major consumer of both Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. In January itself, the app was downloaded 4 million times and generated a revenue of $3 million worldwide, according to market research company Sensor Tower.

While the United States is the biggest market for this China-backed app, India is the second-biggest, according to the data aggregation firm Similarweb.