iWorld
Ormax Reveals India’s top 50 streaming shows of 2025
MUMBAI: If 2025 had a remote control, India clearly knew where to point it. From spy thrillers and small-town comedies to reality television and global blockbusters, streaming audiences watched widely and decisively, according to Ormax Media’s latest Top 50 Streaming Originals in India report.
Topping the list is Special Ops S2 on JioHotstar, which pulled in a formidable 29.6 million viewers, reaffirming the nation’s enduring appetite for high-stakes espionage. Close on its heels were courtroom drama Criminal Justice: A Family Matter and the ever-controversial Ek Badnaam Aashram S3 Part 2, proving that familiar franchises still pack serious pulling power.
Prime Video continued its strong run with The Family Man S3 and Panchayat S4, shows that could not be more different in tone but share one crucial trait: deep emotional investment from viewers. Netflix, meanwhile, balanced homegrown hits such as Delhi Crime S3 and The Royals with global juggernauts like Stranger Things S5 and Squid Game S3, both of which found massive audiences in India.
Reality television refused to stay in the background. Bigg Boss Hindi S19 cracked the top ten, while formats such as Shark Tank India S4, The Great Indian Kapil Show S3 and The Traitors showed that unscripted content is no longer a side dish on streaming menus.
Yet beyond the rankings lies a bigger story. This is the final year Ormax Media will publish a standalone Originals list. From 2026, the company’s new StreamView framework will track everything together, from OTT originals and television programming to films, sports and news. The change reflects a simple truth: viewers no longer care where content comes from, only whether it is worth watching.
Based on weekly nationwide research that counts real viewers rather than accounts, the report offers a clear snapshot of how India streamed in 2025. It also quietly marks the end of an era, as the lines between originals, films and television blur into one crowded, competitive screen.
In short, India watched a lot, watched widely, and watched on its own terms. The labels may be changing, but the binge is very much on.
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.
