Short takes, big applause as Kuku TV rolls out India’s first microdrama awards

MUMBAI: When stories come in snackable sizes, the celebrations can still be supersized. Kuku TV rolled out the red carpet for the country’s first awards ceremony dedicated entirely to microdramas, hosting the inaugural Kuku TV Awards 2025 on January 7 at The Nines, Juhu, Mumbai.

The evening marked a milestone moment for India’s fast-growing microdrama ecosystem, bringing together actors, creators and industry voices who are shaping this short-form storytelling boom. The event drew several familiar faces from television and digital entertainment, alongside Kuku TV’s founders and leadership team, underscoring the format’s growing cultural and commercial relevance.

Designed to celebrate a genre that thrives on brevity and binge-worthiness, the awards spanned 19 categories, with winners decided through a blend of audience engagement data and platform-led voting. The night balanced accolades with entertainment, featuring stand-up comedy by Anirban Dasgupta and live musical performances between award segments.

Among the top honours, My Homeless Billionaire Husband was named best microdrama, having clocked over 200 million views on the Kuku TV app. Abhyuday Pandey and Puja Bharati Sharma took home best actor and best actress respectively, while Nikhil Kulshrestha won best director, Ananya Patnayak best writer and Santosh Bajantre best cinematography.

Character-led storytelling took centre stage too. Awards were handed out for categories such as Best billionaire character, Best vamp character, most fashionable character, Best senior character and best child character, highlighting how even short-format narratives can build memorable screen personas.

In a nod to its community-driven ethos, several trophies were presented by Kuku TV users themselves, reinforcing the platform’s audience-first approach and the close creator–viewer loop that powers microdramas.

Commenting on the occasion, Kuku co-founder Vinod Kumar Meena said the awards were created to recognise the shows, performances and creators across Kuku TV’s ecosystem, reflecting how far both the platform and the microdrama format have come in India.

The debut edition of the Kuku TV Awards signals that while microdramas may be short on duration, they are no longer small on ambition or applause.