eNews
Think outside the colour box this Holi and explore these unique activities
Mumbai: Looking to add a splash of excitement to your festivities this Holi? While the festival’s usual splashes of colour are undeniably thrilling, who says you can’t have a blast without them? Whether you’re opting for a colour-free celebration for safety reasons or simply want to enjoy the long weekend differently, we’ve curated a lineup of exciting activities to ensure you have a fantastic time. From immersing yourself in audio entertainment to planning your dream getaway and indulging in some delicious treats, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Educate, entertain and enrich yourself with audio content on Audible
If you’re looking for entertainment, downtime with self-care or some self-development, Audible has got you covered with its diverse range of audio content. Be it romance, thriller, horror, comedy or self-help, there’s something for everyone to tune in to. Check out star-studded audio series such as the four seasons of ‘Marvel’s Wastelanders’ in Hindi or dive into shows like ‘Desi Down Under,’ or ‘Little Things: Jab Dhruv Met Kavya,’ which will transport you to a different world. Well, not just this, you can take advantage of the day indoors to pamper yourself and get that skincare regime in place by listening to tips from experts like Vasudha Rai or Jaishree Sharad from their audiobooks too. Alternatively, seize the opportunity to finally dive into that audiobook that has been sitting in your content library for ages.
Tick some titles off your watchlist on Amazon Prime Video
In the era of endless streaming options, there’s no shortage of binge-worthy content to dive into, making it the ultimate way to unwind during the Holi festivities. Whether you’re a sucker for suspenseful thrillers, heartwarming dramas, or gut-busting comedies, the vast array of web series and films across platforms like Amazon Prime Video guarantee there’s something for every taste. Consider adding recent releases like ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry,’ ‘Poacher’, ‘Indian Police Force’ and the upcoming release, ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan,’ to your Holi watchlist. So, grab your popcorn, pull the curtains, and get ready for a cinematic adventure right in the comfort of your own home!
Take that trip you’ve been dreaming of with Skyscanner!
Thinking of a quick getaway this weekend? Utilise the time off to plan an unforgettable trip with Skyscanner. For a relaxing getaway to a serene hill station or an adventurous international escapade, Skyscanner has got you covered. A recent survey by Skyscanner’s Travel in Focus Report 2023 revealed that 56% of Indians would squeeze in as many small trips as possible at the same price, rather than one big holiday. If you’re the same, then this weekend is for you. Plus, with a little bit of planning in advance, you can snag amazing deals and score big savings on your travel expenses. Whether you’re looking to explore the breathtaking landscapes of Himachal Pradesh or soak in the sun-kissed beaches of Thailand for a rejuvenating experience, there’s a destination out there calling your name.
Whip up some desserts for your folks!
What better way to celebrate Holi than by indulging in delicious homemade sweets? Channel your inner chef and whip up some mouthwatering treats for yourself and your family. From traditional Indian delicacies like ‘Thandai,’ ‘Dahi Bhalla,’ ‘Karanji,’ ‘Puranpoli’ to modern delights like ‘chocolate truffles’ and ‘fruit tarts,’ the options are endless. Not only is cooking a fun and rewarding activity, but it also allows you to bond with your loved ones over shared culinary experiences.
Pro tip: Remember to personalise your creations with colours, unique flavours and decorations to add a special touch to your Holi festivities! So, put on your chef’s hat, gather your ingredients, and treat yourself to some delectable homemade dishes!
Swipe right on love and find your ideal match on Tinder!
Spice up your Holi celebrations by creating a fun profile on Tinder and setting up a festive date with someone special. Whether you’re seeking a casual hangout or a meaningful connection, Holi can be the perfect opportunity to meet new people and add some excitement to your love life. Swipe through profiles, make connections, and plan a date to celebrate the festival of colours together. Who knows? You might just stumble upon your perfect match amidst the vibrant hues of Holi!
eNews
How short, addictive story videos quietly colonised the Indian smartphone
A landmark Meta-Ormax study of 2,000 viewers reveals a format that is growing fast, paying slowly and consumed almost entirely in secret
MUMBAI: India has a new entertainment habit, and it arrived without anyone really noticing. Micro dramas, those short, cliffhanger-driven episodic stories built for the smartphone screen, have quietly embedded themselves into the daily routines of millions of Indians, discovered not by design but by algorithmic accident, watched not in living rooms but in bedrooms, on commutes and in the five minutes before sleep.
That, in essence, is the finding of a sweeping new audience study released by Meta and media insights firm Ormax Media at Meta’s inaugural Marketing Summit: Micro-Drama Edition. Titled “Micro Dramas: The India Story” and based on 2,000 personal interviews and 50 depth interviews conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 across 14 states, it is the most comprehensive study of the category in India to date, and its findings are striking.
Sixty-five per cent of viewers discovered micro dramas within the last year. Of those, 89 per cent stumbled upon the format through social media feeds, primarily Instagram and Facebook, without ever searching for it. The algorithm did the heavy lifting. Discovery, as the report puts it bluntly, is algorithm-led, not intent-led.
The typical viewer journey begins with accidental exposure while scrolling, moves through a cliffhanger-driven incompletion hook that makes stopping feel unfinished, and is reinforced by algorithmic repetition until habitual consumption sets in. Only then, when a platform asks for an app download or a payment, does the viewer pause. Trust, not content quality, determines what happens next, and many simply return to the free feed rather than pay. It is a funnel with a wide mouth and a narrow neck.
The numbers on consumption tell their own story. Viewers spend a median of 3.5 hours per week watching micro dramas, spread across seven to eight sessions of roughly 30 minutes each, peaking sharply between 8pm and midnight. Daytime viewing is snackable and low-commitment, squeezed into morning commutes, work breaks and coffee pauses. Night-time is where the format truly lives: private, uninterrupted and, for many viewers, socially invisible. Ninety per cent watch alone, compared to just 43 per cent for long-form OTT content. Half the audience watches during their commute, well above the 37 per cent figure for streaming platforms, a direct reflection of the format’s low time investment advantage.
The audience itself breaks into three segments. Incidental viewers, comprising 39 per cent of the total, are passive consumers who stumble in and rarely seek content actively. Intent-building viewers, the largest group at 43 per cent, are beginning to form habits and seek out episodes but remain cautious. High-intent viewers, just 18 per cent, are the ones who download apps, tolerate ads and occasionally pay: skewing male, younger and urban.
What audiences want from the content is revealing. The top three genres are romance at 72 per cent, family drama at 64 per cent and comedy at 63 per cent, precisely the same top three as Hindi general entertainment television. The format rewards emotional familiarity over complexity. Romance in particular thrives because it demands low cognitive investment, needs no elaborate world-building and plays naturally into the private, pre-sleep viewing window where inhibitions lower and emotional intimacy feels safe.
The most-recalled shows, led by Kuku TV titles such as The Lady Boss Returns, The Billionaire Husband and Kiss My Luck, share a common narrative DNA: rich-poor conflict, hidden identities, power imbalances, melodrama and cliffhangers that make stopping feel physically uncomfortable. Predictability, the research warns, is fatal. Each episode must re-earn attention from scratch.
The terminology question is telling. Despite the industry’s embrace of the phrase “micro drama,” viewers have not adopted it. They call the content “short story videos,” “short dramas,” “reels with stories” or simply “serials.” One respondent from Chennai said bluntly that “micro sounds like a scientific word.” The category is at the stage that OTT occupied in 2019 and podcasts in the same year: widely consumed, poorly named and not yet crystallised in the public imagination.
Platform awareness remains alarmingly thin. Only three platforms, Kuku TV at 78 per cent, Story TV at 46 per cent and Quick TV at 28 per cent, have crossed the 20 per cent awareness threshold. The rest languish in single digits. This creates a trust deficit that directly throttles monetisation: viewers who cannot remember which app they used are hardly primed to enter their payment details.
Yet the appetite is clearly there. Sixty-five per cent of viewers watch only Indian content, drawn by the TV-serial familiarity of the storytelling, the comfort of Hindi as a shared language and the sight of actors they half-recognise from decades of television. South languages are rising fast: Tamil, Telugu and Kannada together account for 24 per cent of first-choice viewing. And AI-generated content, still a novelty, has landed better than expected: 47 per cent of viewers call it creative and unique, with only 6 per cent actively rejecting it.
Shweta Bajpai, director, media and entertainment (India) at Meta, called micro drama “a category that is rewriting the rules of Indian entertainment,” adding that the discovery engine being social distinguishes this wave from previous content formats. Shailesh Kapoor, founder and chief executive of Ormax Media, was characteristically measured: the format, he said, is showing “the early signs of becoming a distinct content category” and, given how closely it aligns with natural mobile behaviour, “has the potential to scale very quickly.”
The format’s fundamental mechanics are working. It enters lives quietly, through boredom and a scrolling thumb, and burrows in through incompletion and habit. The challenge now is monetisation: converting a category of highly engaged but deeply anonymous viewers into paying customers who trust the platform enough to hand over their UPI credentials. The story, as any micro-drama writer knows, is only as good as the next cliffhanger. India’s platforms had better have one ready.
