iWorld
Amazon MX Player unveils 150-show slate for 2026
Free streamer doubles down on originals, reality and microdramas as it courts 250m monthly viewers
MUMBAI: Amazon MX Player is going big in 2026. India’s free streaming service, which claims more than 250m monthly viewers, has unveiled its largest content slate yet—over 150 new and returning titles spanning drama, action, thrillers, reality and its mobile-first microdrama format.
Leading the scripted lineup is Made In India: The Titan Story, a sweeping ambition-and-legacy drama starring Naseeruddin Shah and Jim Sarbh. Also headlining the slate is Sankalp, a socio-political thriller exploring power and leadership, featuring Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor, Neeraj Kabi and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub.
The platform is stacking the deck with a mix of genres. Ab Hoga Hisaab, a justice-and-retribution thriller, stars Shaheer Sheikh, Mouni Roy and Sanjay Kapoor. Administrative drama The Bureaucrat features Amol Parashar, while action entertainer Kaptaan stars Saqib Saleem. The survival thriller Vimal Khanna features Sunny Hindhuja, cop drama Waiting Hai stars Divyenndu Sharma and Bhuvan Arora, and crime drama Clean Up Crew brings together Ravi Kishan, Amey Wagh and Vishal Jethwa.
The slate builds on the momentum of recent originals including courtroom drama Amar Vishwas, starring Rajeev Khandelwal, Aamir Ali, Ravi Behl and Barkha Bisht, and the romantic thriller Psycho Saiyaan featuring Tejasswi Prakash and Ravi Kishan, both of which drew strong audience engagement.
Reality programming remains a key pillar. Competition series Rise & Fall returns for a second season, while the fitness reality show Battleground also comes back for Season 2 with Shikhar Dhawan reprising his role as lead mentor. The platform recently wrapped Bharat Ke Super Founders, fronted by Suniel Shetty, which saw winning startups receive funding worth Rs100 crore ($10.8m).
Franchise favourites are also making a comeback. Crime saga Raktanchal returns for Season 3, alongside youth-focused titles Campus Beats Season 6, Campus Diaries Season 2, Heartbeats Season 2 and Who’s Your Gynac Season 2.
Karan Bedi, head of Amazon MX Player, said the platform is riding strong momentum as viewers gravitate towards free, premium streaming. “With our growing premium content slate and scale, we are uniquely positioned to drive the shift from linear television to streaming for millions of viewers across India.”
Amogh Dusad, head of content, said the focus is on building “a diverse and inclusive content ecosystem that reflects the many voices, cultures and experiences of audiences across the country.”
Beyond long-form shows, the platform is doubling down on MX Fatafat, its mobile-first microdrama vertical designed for short, snackable storytelling. It is also expanding MX Vdesi, its library of localised international content from Korea, China and Turkey, alongside a curated anime slate available in Japanese and Hindi.
Girish Prabhu, head of Amazon Ads India, framed the strategy in commercial terms. With a reach of 250m users, he said, brands can connect with audiences through content “powered by shopping and streaming signals” that generate measurable outcomes.
All titles will stream free on Amazon MX Player across mobile devices, connected TVs, the Amazon shopping app, Prime Video, Fire TV, Jio TV and Airtel Xtreme.
The message is clear: as India’s streaming wars intensify, Amazon MX Player is betting big on scale, speed and free access—flooding the zone with content and inviting millions of viewers to press play.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
