iWorld
Netflix bets big on Bharat: Ted Sarandos touts $2bn impact, calls India the next Korea
MUMBAI: “Don’t globalise it. Localise it, then watch it fly.” That was Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ mantra to Indian creators at the government of India’s Waves Global Summit 2025, where he shared the stage with actor Saif Ali Khan in a high-wattage fireside chat titled Streaming the New India: Culture, Connectivity & Creative Capital.
Sarandos came bearing stats—and swagger. Netflix’s investments in India from 2021 to 2024, he revealed, have generated over $2 billion in economic impact, filming across 23 states and 100+ cities, and collaborating with over 25,000 local cast and crew. “That’s not just entertainment—it’s employment, infrastructure, and skill-building,” he said.
And the viewership numbers? Eye-watering. In 2024 alone, three billion+ hours of Indian content were streamed globally on Netflix—nearly 60 million hours a week. An Indian title made it to the global Top 10 non-English list every single week of the year.
Saif Ali Khan, now a veteran of both big screens and binge-worthy epics, waxed lyrical about the creative freedoms offered by streaming. “It’s a gift,” he said. “Long-form storytelling lets you explore characters with nuance and intimacy. Streaming is a creative playground—with no school bell ringing at the end.”
When asked how Indian creators can crack global markets, Sarandos dropped the algorithmic truth: “If you try to engineer something for the world, you end up making it for no one,” he warned. “The most successful global stories—Korea’s Squid Game, Spain’s Money Heist—were deeply local. India must do the same. If it’s not loved here, it won’t work out there.”
He didn’t mince words. “Don’t water it down for the west. Audiences don’t want diluted. They want real.”
According to Sarandos, India is teetering on the edge of a Squid Game-scale global breakout. “Korea had years of storytelling before its global moment,” he said. “India is now at that inflection point. The creative base is solid. The reach is already here.”
Netflix is doubling down on that bet, with buzzy upcoming titles like The Royals and The B*****s of Bollywood joining global juggernauts like Squid Game S2, Stranger Things, and Wednesday.
When asked if streaming would cannibalise cinemas, Sarandos played diplomat. “India is fan-first,” he said. “Theatres and streaming aren’t rivals—they’re tag-team partners.” Streaming, he added, simply meets audiences where they are. “In India, films move from theatre to streaming at record speed. That’s not disruption—that’s democratisation. India, in many ways, was ahead of the curve.”
iWorld
Instagram Edits marks one year with 130 plus new features
Launched April 22, 2025, app adds teleprompter, ideas hub, weekly updates
MUMBAI: From rough cuts to smart edits, Instagram’s in-house creator tool has quietly been polishing its own story, one feature at a time. Instagram Edits, launched on April 22, 2025, has completed a year in the market with more than 130 features added since debut, reflecting a steady push to evolve into an all-in-one content creation platform.
Developed by Meta in collaboration with creators, the app was initially rolled out with a basic toolkit, with product development continuing post-launch through weekly updates shaped by user feedback. According to Brett Westervelt, who leads the Edits team, the approach has been iterative build, test, refine, repeat.
Over the past 12 months, the platform has focused on simplifying core editing tasks such as trimming, captioning, and audio-visual adjustments. Among the additions is an in-app teleprompter, designed to help users record content more seamlessly, alongside tools for script reading and voiceovers.
But Edits is no longer just about cutting clips. The app has expanded into the ideation phase with an “Ideas” hub, allowing users to store references such as saved reels, audio clips, and notes. It also offers personalised recommendations, comment insights, and automated prompts to help creators plan content more efficiently.
On the community front, the platform has introduced creator-led templates and educational tools, enabling users to explore and adapt project files to learn editing techniques. The next phase is expected to deepen this ecosystem, with more advanced templates and collaborative sharing features in the pipeline.
Looking ahead, Meta plans to roll out enhancements including bilingual captioning, advanced colour grading, and speed control tools, alongside greater customisation options that allow users to tailor workflows and interface layouts.
As short-form video continues to dominate digital consumption, Edits appears to be positioning itself not just as a tool, but as a creator companion, one that’s learning, quite literally, on the job.
