iWorld
Netflix India 2026 slate: 17 originals worth ditching your weekend plans for
MUMBAI: Marking a decade in India, Netflix has rolled out an ambitious 2026 content slate that doubles down on star power, regional storytelling and genre diversity. Unveiled at a glitzy showcase at JW Marriott, the line-up spans war dramas, crime thrillers, romantic sagas, historical epics, comedies and reality shows, reflecting the platform’s strategy to cater to “many Indias”.
Here’s a look at the full slate:
1. Operation Safed Sagar
A gripping war drama produced by Matchbox Shots and Feel Good Films, the show revisits a lesser-known chapter of the Kargil conflict. Created with the Indian Air Force’s backing and starring Jimmy Shergill, Siddharth, Mihir Ahuja, Abhay Verma, Taaruk Raina, Dia Mirza Adil Hussain and Prajakta Koli, the series follows IAF pilots on a daring mission, filmed across operational air force bases with real MiG aircraft.
2. Maa Behen
Madhuri Dixit, Ravi Kishan and Triptii Dimri team up for the first time in this darkly comic family thriller that marries emotional chaos with dark comedy.
3. Maamla Legal Hai: Season 2
The cult courtroom comedy returns as VD Tyagi steps into the judge’s chair. Familiar faces including Ravi Kishan, Nidhi Bisht and Kusha Kapila promise bigger cases and louder laughs.
4. Lust Stories: Season 3
The bold anthology returns with a powerhouse creative lineup featuring directors Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj. The season brings together an ensemble cast including Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Ali Fazal, Radhika Madan, Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth, promising intimate, provocative storytelling once again.
5. Mismatched: Final season
Netflix has confirmed the fourth and final season of its hit young romance series. Rohit Saraf and Prajakta Koli return as Dimple and Rishi, alongside Vidya Malvade, Rannvijay Singha, Ahsaas Channa, Taaruk Raina, Muskkaan Jaferi and Abhinav Sharma. The new season explores love, timing and second chances as former lovers are drawn back into each other’s lives.
6. Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai
A romantic thriller starring Shaheer Sheikh, Zoya Afroz and Mohit Mallik, set against the dark underbelly of organ trafficking where desperation leads to irreversible choices.
7. Chumbak
Led by Neena Gupta, this warm slice-of-life series is set in an old Mumbai row-house neighbourhood. From the makers of Khichdi and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, the show celebrates community, shared struggles and everyday joy as five families slowly form a surrogate family.
9. Legacy
R. Madhavan and Abhishek Banerjee star in this high-stakes saga about power, succession and betrayal within a ruthless criminal empire.
10. Hum Hindustani
Saif Ali Khan and Pratik Gandhi lead this historical drama inspired by India’s first general election in the years after Independence.
11. Musafir Cafe
A tender love story starring Vikrant Massey, Mahima Makwana and Vedika Pinto, exploring journeys of the heart in a mountain café setting.
12. Hello Bachhon
Vineet Kumar Singh fronts this social drama on India’s education system and the power of opportunity, releasing on 6 March.
13. Dhindora: Season 2
Bhuvan Bam returns with the second season of his breakout comedy, promising fresh chaos and fan-favourite characters.
14. Super Subbu
Netflix’s first Telugu original series stars Mithila Palker in a quirky comedy about an unlikely teacher navigating awkward lessons.
15. Ikka
Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna clash in a high-octane legal thriller packed with emotional depth and bitter rivalries.
16. Family Business
Created by Hansal Mehta, this intense drama stars Anil Kapoor and Vijay Varma in a battle between old money and new ambition.
17. The Great Indian Kapil Show: Season 5
The hugely popular comedy talk show returns with fresh celebrity guests and trademark humour.
iWorld
Meta introduces new AI tools to boost discovery-to-purchase journey
From shoppable Reels to generative video, platforms get smarter at turning attention into sales.
MUMBAI: Meta is turning “scroll and stop” into “scroll, stop, and shop” and it’s using AI to make the whole journey feel almost effortless. The company has announced several new tools and enhancements designed to help brands guide people from discovery to purchase more effectively, while delivering more relevant and personalised experiences across its platforms.
Creators can now add product links more broadly on Instagram Reels, turning their content into shoppable moments. Businesses in 22 countries, including India, will soon be able to share their product catalogues with creators, opening up a new sales channel for brands and fresh monetisation opportunities for creators.
The Creator Marketplace has also been upgraded with enhanced target audience filtering, integrated with Ads Manager. This helps businesses quickly find creators who are a strong match for their goals. Campaigns using Partnership Ads deliver, on average, 19 per cent lower CPAs, 13 per cent higher click-through rates, and 71 per cent higher median brand lift.
Meta is expanding Reels Trending Ads inventory with new content categories including TV & Movies, Travel, Business, Finance & Investments. According to Meta’s analysis of 59 studies, Reels Trending Ads delivered an incremental 6.6 percentage point Ad Recall lift compared to control groups.
AI-Powered Shopping Enhancements
- Product Set Optimisation is now in testing, allowing retail media networks to promote specific products with detailed reporting. Early results show 17 per cent lower median seller cost per purchase.
- Product Showcase is being expanded so marketers can upload one image or video and let Meta’s AI automatically add relevant products as a carousel when it improves performance.
Meta is expanding its generative AI capabilities with:
- UGC-style videos featuring avatars and voiceovers
- Easier voiceover translation and text overlay translation in a single streamlined flow
- New tools to automatically turn product catalogues into dynamic video ads for Reels
Early testing of the Advantage+ creative video generation tool showed a 10 per cent increase in CTR and 8 per cent increase in CVR on average. Campaigns using catalog product video saw 20 per cent more conversions per dollar, while Reels placements with catalog product video delivered 33 per cent higher incremental conversions.
Industry voices welcomed the updates. Vikas Chawla of Social Beat called Partnership Ads a “flywheel” for authentic content that converts. Niti Kumar of Spark Foundry and Sadhvi Dhawan of Blink Digital highlighted the power of Reels Trending Ads for cultural relevance and guaranteed share of voice. Ramasish Bhowmik of Adbuffs noted that Meta’s GenAI tools are giving teams a clear competitive edge.
In a world where attention is fleeting but shopping intent can spark in seconds, Meta is betting that smarter AI will help brands turn discovery into decisions faster than ever. The message is clear: the future of advertising isn’t just about reaching people, it’s about reaching them at exactly the right moment, with exactly the right product.
