Netflix‘s dystopian survival thriller “Squid Game” Season 3 emerged as the top international title among Indian streaming audiences in the first half of 2025, ranking fifth overall with 16.5 million viewers, while JioHotstar‘s legal drama “Criminal Justice: A Family Matter” claimed the No. 1 spot, according ito new data from Ormax Media.
“Criminal Justice: A Family Matter,” the courtroom series, produced by Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios India, drew 27.7 million viewers during the January-June period, narrowly edging out Amazon MX Player’s crime drama “Ek Badnaam Aashram” Season 3 Part 2 (27.1 million) and Prime Video’s beloved rural comedy-drama “Panchayat” Season 4 (23.8 million).
The tight race at the top reflects intensifying competition for India’s streaming audience, with JioHotstar – India’s top streamer with 300 million subscribers – demonstrating remarkable strength across multiple genres. The platform secured seven titles in the top 50, including animated series “The Legend of Hanuman” Season 6 at No. 6 (16.2 million viewers) and thriller “The Secret of the Shiledars” at No. 8 (14.5 million viewers).
Prime Video showed strong performance with four top-20 entries, led by its continued partnership with The Viral Fever (TVF) on “Panchayat” and medical drama “Gram Chikitsalay” (11.8 million viewers). The platform also captured audiences with Tamil-language crime series “Suzhal – The Vortex” Season 2 (8.3 million viewers) and international action series “Reacher” Season 3 (7.5 million viewers).
The Ormax data reveals Indian viewers’ sustained appetite for crime dramas and legal thrillers, with small-town narratives performing particularly well. Reality programming also demonstrated strong appeal, with Amazon MX Player’s music competition “Hip Hop India” Season 2 (11.1 million viewers) and Netflix’s comedy variety show “The Great Indian Kapil Show” Season 3 (10.9 million viewers) both cracking the top 20.
The strong performance of “Squid Game” – produced by Firstman Studio and Siren Pictures – underscores the continued global appeal of international content in India, even as local productions dominated the upper reaches of Ormax’s top 50 rankings. Among Netflix’s international fare, English crime drama “Adolescence” (8.7 million viewers) and Korean romantic drama “When Life Gives You Tangerines” (5.9 million viewers) made the rankings.
While international content maintained presence throughout the rankings – including HBO post-apocalyptic drama “The Last of Us” Season 2 (8 million viewers) and Marvel superhero series “Daredevil: Born Again” (6.8 million viewers), both on JioHotstar, – Hindi-language productions dominated the upper tiers, suggesting local storytelling remains paramount for streaming success in India.
Ormax Media’s viewership estimates are based on weekly primary research conducted across India and multiple languages, projected to the country’s streaming universe. The methodology counts individual viewers who watched at least one full episode of a series or 30 minutes of a film, accounting for shared viewing on single accounts and including access through unauthorized means.
The research covers content launched between January and June 2025, with some late-June releases still being tracked. All language versions and dubbed content are included, though estimates are restricted to the Indian market.