Rise Of Micro-dramas: How Two-minute 'Snackable' Episodes Are Changing The Entertainment Industry

If you open your phone right now chances are you would find a man dangling off a cliff, or a bride swapping faces with a stranger to escape an unwanted marriage, or a billionaire husband hiding his identity, all unfolding in 90 seconds. A few years ago, this would have sounded absurd and bizarre but today it is the fastest growing segment in India’s entertainment industry. This is the world of micro-dramas, or “bite-sized storytelling,” the revolution that happened on our phone screen.

A single episode can last as little as a minute, but there can be more than 50 of them in a series. Originating in China, these addictive, fast-paced thrillers and vertical web series —featuring intense twists, romance, and revenge—provide affordable, accessible entertainment for commuters and busy viewers looking for quick, guilty-pleasure escapes say while you are in public transport, or in a restaurant, or taking a break where someone would be probably getting slapped, kidnapped, beaten, betrayed, resurrected or married thrice.

The key reasons for the surge in popularity of micro-dramas include, bite-sized, content designed specifically for smartphones that fit perfectly into short breaks matching the consumption habits of users familiar with Instagram, reels or tik-tok. Despite their brevity, they are packed with high-intensity drama, including kidnappings, betrayal, and revenge, often concluding each episode with a dramatic cliff-hanger that compels the viewer to watch the next one.

These dramas are often free to start and highly accessible in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities in India, and globally, requiring less data compared to streaming full-length movies or shows. They provide rapid, intense, and often exaggerated emotional payoffs (a "dopamine high") that allow viewers to escape reality quickly. Also, because they are shot quickly (sometimes in just a few days) and are low-budget, producers can release a high volume of content that keeps audiences continuously engaged. The biggest players in India's rapidly growing billion micro-drama market include dedicated platforms like Kuku FM, Pocket TV, Flick TV, Story TV (Eloelo),QuickTV, Chai Shots, and ReelShort. Major industry players like Amazon MX Player (via Fatafat) Zee5 (via Bullet), and Balaji Telefilms are also entering this space.

With the business of vertical format story-telling growing with bigger budgets and cinematic visuals, it is leading to many television actors joining the fray. Giving an insight into the kind of story-telling that is working in short capsules, says Hiten Tejwani, best recognised for his portrayal of Pratham Mann in tele-serial Kutumb and Karan Virani in mammoth tele-show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, “In many of these micro-dramas, at the beginning the hero is humiliated in different ways, he is taken lightly and then he is back with a vengeance. This gives hope to the viewers while keeping them engaged. These are all two-minute episodes, it is easy on the viewers, and then every episode ends on a hook point. There is no time to justify anything. In the first episode he is harassed and insulted, in the next he goes to jail and viewers are left wondering what will he do? How will he save himself; will he flee...? so, in a short time they try to show as much to hook the viewers. The writers and creatives have to see to it that people come back on the new episode. After watching three to four episodes, you subscribe for it. In one day, they drop four to five stories on the App. There is a lot of curiosity among the audience.”

Tejwani recently starred in the Kuku TV vertical series, Family Man Ki Cheater Wife, a micro-drama with big twists where the actor played a "badass" character, contrasting with his previous roles. Chanakya Niti, CEO versus Hacker and Aakhri Rasta are few other vertical format stories that he has been part of.

Adds television actor Rohan Mehra known for mainstream tele soaps like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Sasural Simar Ka, “Micro-dramas are actually a positive shift for the acting industry. They reflect how audiences consume content today - fast, emotional and relatable. In a short format, actors don’t get the luxury of long build-ups, so performance becomes sharper and more impactful. It has also created more opportunities and direct visibility through digital platforms. Instead of waiting for prime-time television, talent can now connect instantly with the audience, which keeps the industry dynamic and evolving.”

Initially, when micro-dramas came into existence, shows like Hidden Identity were the biggest trope that became popular universally, in Korea, China, United States, Turkey and later on in India, according to the creatives of this format.

“Hidden Identity shows did really very well in both, international and Indian markets where a guy is actually a billionaire but people don’t know and he is humiliated until they realise he is a rich guy. That is a dream and fantasy of every poor, or middle-class man. We like stories which give us hope that our future will change and tomorrow we will become billionaires and people will treat us well. Fantasy of finding the perfect lover, the fantasy of being rich overnight, holding on to the dream… these are the kind of stories that would sell. These were consumed by truck drivers, rickshaw-walas, poor people… it was a peek into their lives and what they aspired to be. Now that genre is passe," explains Dipti Kalwani, producer-director, Alright micro-drama platform.

She further shares love stories have always been popular. But now they are exploring at more layered stories, of ambition, interesting good and bad characters.

"Now it is gradually opening up to newer formats which are not just restricted to humiliation, or hidden identity. The advantage with verticals is that we can do stories just about in any kind of format, we don’t have to restrict to soap operas because we are not on television, or OTT that requires dark themes or thrillers,” explains Dipti Kalwani, producer-director, Alright micro-drama platform."We need spectacular moments to snatch people’s attention in one stroke,” adds Kalwani.

Unlike streaming or TV, where viewers are "ready and willing to give up their time”, micro-dramas are competing with the allure of scrolling. Immensely popular due to their 90-second to 2-minute "snackable" vertical format, which offers instant, high-octane gratification perfect for short attention spans and mobile-first consumption.

“Romance has really done well in micro-dramas. We just like our actors to be available very quickly and if we like we binge on it and if we don’t like we watch a few episodes and move on to the next one. Entertainment has become simpler; it is at your fingertips. We don’t digress too much in micro-dramas, we don’t do horror, thriller ...we pretty much stick to revenge stories, or love stories. So, whenever you are travelling, it is easily accessible. Initially everybody thought this won’t last, it will fade quickly but looks like it’s not going anywhere because big players like Fox, Dharma, Yashraj are getting into it. Even internationally bigger stars are performing. It is easy snacking, it is relatable and it is not very expensive neither on time nor on money,” says Kalwani.

The short vertical cliff-hanger heavy serial exploded in 2020 and by 2024 China’s micro-drama market was worth seven billion dollars. So how did it come to India? Thanks to the ban on tik-tok in 2020 that left behind a lot of creators and a vacuum for vertical content leading to its mushrooming in India including Instagram reels and many other mini video platforms. Alongside viewers’ habits evolved with people losing patience for long episodes and craving for quick emotional hits. Micro dramas are engineered to give precisely that – a hook every 20 to 30 seconds, a thriller at the end and one twist after the other. This is how this genre exploded and it continues to grow.

According to market research, by 2030 it could be worth anywhere between one to five million dollars. In India, there are new apps almost every day with almost 40 million users watching micro drama content per month. As per experts, around 68 per cent of the audience in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities (where cinemas are rare, television patchy and streaming platforms inaccessible), drive massive growth using phones as primary screens with almost 40 per cent of the viewers being women. “This is not niche content but mass entertainment. Producing a full season costs 70 to 90 per cent less than an OTT series. It takes just three to four days to shoot a micro-drama with the requirement of a small crew and simple set that costs Rs 15,000 to 20,000 per minute of content. Entire season costs Rs 10 to 15 lakh and that is raised through subscription of Rs 20 to Rs 50 per month,” says award-winning filmmaker Neerat Kaur, who runs Maulshree Studios in Gurugram.

While the makers believe that 60-second reels are here to stay, it is the lack of proper structure and disorganised industry that worries them. “Every second day a lot of apps are coming up. I can have 10 apps on my phone to watch different micro-dramas but there is a need for some sort of an aggregator so that viewers can watch micro-dramas of their choice under one umbrella platform, you can’t have 100 apps running for you. We have to evolve with changing times. Since there are a lot of people watching these small capsules, there is a market but there are a lot of gaps right now. Once that gap is filled, the industry can really be scaled up, it will definitely take a lot of time to be more organised and become mainstream. There is definitely a lot of potential as viewers would be willing to pay to watch something good,” says Kaur.

“After a point of time only the best of production houses will survive, for three years at least micro-dramas are not going anywhere. We have constantly evolved. We did long form regular family dramas, then came reality shows, we moved to OTT and now we have micro-dramas, which are here to stay …all are going to co-exist. As long as phones with vertical screens exist, micro dramas are here to stay,” concludes Tejwani.

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