True crime documentaries are one particular genre that has garnered substantial attention and intrigue from viewers worldwide, including in India, in recent years. In fact, according to research published by Ormax Media in 2024, since 2019, 40% of the 52 documentaries released on major Indian streaming platforms across all languages are true crime. Now, that’s a fact we cannot ignore. Major streaming platforms operating in India, including Netflix, haven’t ignored this one.
Netflix found a new life in India, especially during 2023 and 2024, in terms of both subscriber count and revenue. And a particular genre, though often overlooked, has played a key role in this scenario: true crime documentaries. Whether Indians are obsessed with watching the stories of real crimes unfold or are more interested in discovering the real details and reasons behind specific real-life cases, we don’t know.
But we do know this: Indians love streaming true crime documentaries, especially on Netflix. That’s the primary reason why popular Indian true crime docuseries such as Crime Stories: India Detectives, The Indian Predator series, Curry & Cyanide, House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths, and many more have achieved such great success (in terms of viewership) in India. This scenario also highlights a long-standing Indian fascination with the genre.
So, what happened with Netflix India in 2025?
It seems like Netflix India sort of forgot to release a high-profile Indian true crime documentary for its local subscribers this year. The last prominent, attention-grabbing Indian crime documentary that came out of the platform’s arsenal was The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth. It’s been well over a year, and we haven’t seen, or even heard, Netflix announcing a new project in the same genre.
Honestly, it’s surprising that Netflix hasn’t released any attention-grabbing Indian true crime documentaries for viewers in the country in 2025. Every one of the above-mentioned titles debuted straight on the platform’s Top 10 weekly streaming list in India. That alone should’ve been reason enough to drop at least one big documentary related to the genre.
Instead, what Indian viewers are getting now on Netflix are popular but old titles like CID and Crime Patrol. These shows do have a loyal fan base in India — no doubt about that. But they aren’t enough to help Netflix strengthen its roots here, especially considering they’re already available on cable TV and other streaming platforms.
If Netflix wants to maintain — and grow — its momentum in India, it needs to stop sleeping on the genre that helped fuel its cultural relevance here: true crime. This time, it could even consider uncovering lesser-known but equally gripping stories from regional India. There’s no shortage of compelling material, from cybercrime rings to financial scams to unsolved cold cases, all waiting to be told with cinematic depth.
Bringing Crime Patrol and CID to the platform is fine, but it’s just background noise. These are legacy shows, not genre-defining originals. Some might see this strategy as Netflix’s way of leveraging the nostalgia associated with these shows. But instead, the platform should focus on delivering chilling and gripping true crime stories that are still waiting to be explored, and it certainly has the means and financial muscle to do it.
Netflix India has a loyal, eager, and genre-hungry audience when it comes to true crime. Ignoring that audience, after already showing them what’s possible, is not just a creative miss. It’s a strategic one. As competition in the Indian OTT space intensifies in 2025, whoever dominates this genre again could end up owning the cultural conversation. Why shouldn’t that be Netflix?
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