The study shares a few key findings. These are as follows: mass cinema finding huge acceptance, increasing creative collaborations across industries in India, changing dynamics of stars-fans relationships, and how genre and content have become more important than language of films.ET’s Rajesh N Naidu met with Yaminie Patodia, head, IMDb India, to understand the journey of the company in the rapidly changing entertainment landscape across the globe. Patodia explained that IMDb acts as a proper bridge in the entertainment ecosystem — connecting fans, content, and creators of content.
Here are the edited excerpts:
Your study of 25 years of Indian cinema has come at a critical phase of the Indian entertainment industry. An interesting aspect the study deals with is associating themes with southern film industries. Could you talk about that aspect?
We wanted to celebrate the excellence of Indian cinema over the past 25 years. When we began this project, we had to deal with several critical questions and approaches. We chose to focus on identifying the top five films each year. If a film made it into that category, it clearly reflected an enduring love and a global fan following. Today, Indian audiences are spread across countries. So, we arrived upon a list of 125 films.
As we began analysing these films in terms of their themes, narratives, and story structures, it became evident that each language industry exhibited a distinct creative identity. When we looked at this aspect with additional data points such as reviews, user opinions, and ratings on our service, we observed certain consistent patterns. The plots and sensibilities of these standout films revealed that audiences now associate certain expectations with content in each language.This connected with the broader viewing trends also. Despite the availability of dubbed and subtitled versions, there has been an incredible surge in cross-language consumption. This suggests that it is not merely about understanding the language. Audiences have been connecting to storytelling. For instance, the Malayalam cinema evokes a certain kind of realism, while the Telugu cinema often carries an expectation of scale and spectacle. So, this is how we established the thematic connection with southern film industries.Could you share a few things which have not been covered in the report?
Even though the report focused on the top five films, the key question remains: What about the ‘mid-level or mid-sized’ cinema? An increasing number of mid-sized films is being discovered through IMDb service.
Before 2019, only 30 to 50 titles would attract significant attention from users. But from 2019 onwards the number of films receiving at least a thousand IMDb votes has grown ten times to 400-500 titles. For IMDb, this surge serves as a key indicator of changing audience behaviour. The ways in which people are discovering movies are changing. Streaming services, digital distribution, and even short-form videos on services like TikTok and YouTube give films an after-life beyond theatrical releases.
The sustained relevance of films like Gangs of Wasseypur demonstrates this shift. By analysing page views over five years, IMDb identified a set of ten films which were not blockbusters initially but have secured enduring audiences over time. It is important to understand that theatres are constrained by time and space. They cannot capture this delayed but lasting engagement of users with films.
Services like IMDb now help smaller films reach audiences they deserve. Discovery of films may be gradual. But it is measurable. It also has a global reach. With Indian content finding fans outside the country, there is a growing appetite for authentic, diverse storytelling among audiences outside India. Films such as Kumbalangi Nights (2019) exemplify the power of distinct and culturally-rich narratives which resonate beyond local markets. So, I think ‘mid-sized films are thriving as more audiences discover them through our service. A film’s theatrical release alone may not reach a diaspora audience. But when a film is discovered online and earns the recognition it deserves, it is celebrated. And it travels across the world.
How do you gauge the accuracy of data on IMDb?
Currently, IMDb hosts around 25 million titles and 15 million individual profiles. This includes India also. The service processes an astounding 1.5 million data contributions every week, sourced from a mix of industry partners, registered contributors, and verified community members.
We achieve accuracy through a meticulous triangulation process. The service works directly with production houses and individual professionals who self-register on our website. These inputs are cross-checked with multiple sources and subjected to a robust vetting system that ensures consistency and reliability. We maintain an open-edit system for corrections, which allow users to report inaccuracies.
Given the sheer volume of global content—including thousands of films in India alone—IMDb also relies on a wide network of contributors. Active fans, industry insiders, and secondary sources such as published end credits all play a role in keeping the database comprehensive and up-to-date.
IMDb has been known primarily as a service for cast and crew details, trivia, and film information. According to you, what new aspects define IMDb today?
IMDb today serves as a bridge between entertainment fans and industry professionals. We began as a database for films. But we have evolved into a dynamic service which supports fans throughout their entertainment journey—from discovering new titles to deciding what to watch and engaging further after viewing films.
Our discovery tools such as trending lists, actor filmographies, and curated watchlists help fans explore new content they might otherwise miss. Ratings, reviews, trivia, and editorial features including interviews and behind-the-scenes insights keep our users informed and provide a holistic experience of films.
We also recognise that fans enjoy returning to IMDb after watching films. They visit our web site to read reviews, explore trivia, and deepen their connection with films. This engagement benefits both audiences and industry professionals. The viewing trends and engagement data generated by fans provide valuable insights to our partners. It helps them understand what audiences are watching and loving. In that sense, IMDb acts as a proper bridge in the entertainment ecosystem — connecting fans, content, and creators of content.
We currently have about 3,50,000 Indian names in our database. This is especially valuable for older films where details about writers or crew can be hard to find. IMDb aims to enable and facilitate discovery of talent across the entire film ecosystem. For instance, a Hindi producer can now discover a writer from Tamil cinema or an actor from Malayalam films using our data and contact information. So, fans discover content through our web site. And professionals discover talent and find networking opportunities.
According to you, what makes a work popular on IMDb?
When it comes to measuring popularity of a work, it is not just about ratings. We consider audience engagement. Popularity of a work is measured through page views. In this, we gauge the volume of audience interaction. While votes are used as a qualitative filter, it is ultimately the number of visits to a film’s page which defines its popularity.
According to you, how are Indian users different from non-Indian users?
India has a vast and diverse film industries. There are varied linguistic tastes. This presents a unique challenge. Globally, audiences tend to favour a dominant language for both conversations and watching content. In India, fans move fluidly across content in multiple languages. India has a rich oral and visual storytelling traditions. So, Indian users prefer video-rich experiences. Indian fans show a strong preference for curated rankings far more than audiences in other regions.
Over the years, we have observed a few changing trends in the way Indian fans consume films. Though blockbusters continue to dominate the consumption of Indian users, there is also a healthy ‘middle’ and a long tail of ‘smaller’ films which are gaining attention of Indian users. IMDb’s data shows that consumption of these films continues to grow through streaming services and online video. This shift has led to a wider discovery of films across budgets, genres, and languages.
Lastly, could you talk about certain specific goals IMDb plans to achieve?
Content is consumed at an unprecedented pace not only in India but also worldwide. India, notably, stands out as one of the few countries where local content dominates over Hollywood content. Also, Indian audiences are consuming increasingly diverse content. This includes anime, Korean dramas, Turkish and Israeli shows, and other content. In this context, there is a growing need for services which help viewers navigate the vast universe of content and provide them with the right and relevant choices. Our aim is to make this process faster, more comprehensive, and more relevant.
In India, IMDb aims to deepen its engagement with fans. We aim to make IMDb an integral part of the entire entertainment journey. We want fans to curate watchlists, explore filmographies, and use the service for discovery, decision-making, and sharing opinions. We do not want just passive consumption. We are also working closely with industry partners to strengthen our database and educate professionals on how to manage their profiles. By doing so, we plan to be a key reference point for casting, collaboration, and research related to content. We want IMDb to emerge as a key tool of information related to content for both fans and the industry people.
