Picture Credit: Alamy
Have you ever wished for movies that can be finished during a lunch break or a gap between work and dinner? Well, Netflix India seems to be exploring that very proposition with under-90-minute feature films designed for quick viewing.
According to multiple sources, the Indian content arm of the American streaming platform is increasingly embracing compact 60-to-85-minute-long films for audiences who may not always have time to commit to conventional 2- to 3-hour movies.
Broadening the Creative Canvas
Netflix hasn’t publicly defined this as a separate production category or financing model. People familiar with the development describe it instead as a part of Netflix’s broader strategy of expansion and growth. The company remains committed to investing in ambitious full-length feature films across genres and languages, with the new “under 90-minute” movie ecosystem further expanding the creative canvas by experimenting with new creators, subjects, and storytelling spaces. As Indian feature films continue to resonate across the globe, the streamer is doubling down on its film strategy.
The latest endeavor allows Netflix to collaborate with more young creative voices and explore genres and subjects that might not otherwise be possible to make as a conventional three-hour film. The strategy aligns with the streamer’s consumption model because a 90-minute film can work even when somebody has only a small window between activities. This provides a complete movie experience to viewers without asking them to commit two-and-a-half hours. There are creative and economic considerations as well. Some genres, such as taut thrillers, intimate family dramas and high-concept comedies, often work better at a tighter runtime. Furthermore, production is cheaper, turnaround is faster, and it allows the platform to experiment with unconventional content.
Early Success with Greater Kalesh
Picture Credit: Netflix
Netflix India has been attempting to experiment with under-90-minute featurettes since last year. Greater Kalesh, a 52-minute comedy drama starring Ahsaas Channa, is believed to be the first project in that direction, and its massive viewership — it featured in the Global Top 10 Non-English titles, garnering 1.7 million hours viewed during its first week of premiere in October 2025 — is understood to have strengthened their belief in experimenting with compact storytelling formats.
Upcoming Projects in the Pipeline
Sources say the streaming giant has already commissioned several projects that are currently in various stages of production. One film under this endeavor will be directed by NH10 fame Navdeep Singh, while another is produced by Aanand L. Rai under Yellow Color Productions. The latter will be helmed by Pushkar Mahabal, who directed last year’s popular mockumentary-style crime thriller series, Black, White & Gray: Love Kills. We will write about the new titles as and when we get the details.
Under-90-minute films are not an alien concept for Netflix globally.
The streaming giant does have an official “90-Minute Films” category and a separate “Movies Under 90 Minutes” category, designed specifically for viewers short on time. Several popular titles featured in this category include Bad Trip (86 minutes), Peddleton (89 minutes), and Vampires vs. the Bronx (86 minutes). However, that is primarily a content-discovery/consumer category, with no evidence of Netflix separately commissioning such projects. This makes Netflix India’s latest experimentation a landmark point, marking one of the first Netflix markets where the company systematically greenlights original features built to that length from the start.
