---
title: Rise of the Indian TV Series
date: '2026-02-02T21:25:25+08:00'
categories:
- visualisation
description: Indian TV series now dominate the highest-rated recent IMDb titles, marking a real shift in where prestige storytelling is happening.
keywords: [IMDb, Indian TV series, entertainment trends, ratings analysis, streaming, cultural shift]
---

[![](https://files.s-anand.net/images/2026-02-02-rise-of-the-indian-tv-series.webp)](https://sanand0.github.io/imdb/#Year=%5E202)

If you look at the IMDb titles with a 9+ rating and 50K votes this decade, there are only 4 entries. Every single one of them is an Indian TV series.

| Title                                                                       |   Votes | Rating |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------: | -----: |
| [Aspirants](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt14392248/)                          | 316,390 |    9.1 |
| [Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt12392504/) | 166,400 |    9.2 |
| [Sandeep Bhaiya](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt28227737/)                     |  76,586 |    9.1 |
| [Sapne Vs Everyone](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt30263074/)                  |  74,342 |    9.3 |

This is a new phenomenon. Last decade, there was only one Indian TV series in the same list: [TVF Pitchers](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4742876/).

[![](https://files.s-anand.net/images/2026-02-02-rise-of-the-indian-tv-series-2010s.webp)](https://sanand0.github.io/imdb/#Year=%5E201)

| Title                                                               |     Votes | Rating |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------: | -----: |
| [Game of Thrones](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/)             | 2,464,912 |    9.2 |
| [Chernobyl](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7366338/)                   |   966,693 |    9.3 |
| [Attack on Titan](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2560140/)             |   634,731 |    9.1 |
| [Planet Earth II](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5491994/)             |   168,129 |    9.4 |
| [Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395695/) |   135,242 |    9.2 |
| [TVF Pitchers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4742876/)                |    76,241 |    9.1 |
| [The Chosen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5622316/)                  |    61,014 |    9.1 |
| [Our Planet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt9253866/)                  |    57,815 |    9.2 |
| [Blue Planet II](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6769208/)              |    52,847 |    9.3 |

... and none ever before.

Four out of these five are by [TFV: The Viral Fever](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Viral_Fever), which seems to have cracked the code for high-quality TV series. They're highly relatable to the digital natives, who are very IMDb rating-sensitive and the fans flock to rate them highly.

The growth of the Indian OTT market and high-speed Internet (the Jio effect) has also increased access dramatically. COVID lockdowns helped, too, I guess. Plus, these are available for free on YouTube - no HBO/Hotstar subscription required.

This is the decade of Indian TV series, clearly. (And I haven't seen a single one!)