As short-form vertical drama continues its rapid global expansion, the market remains heavily dominated by Chinese platforms like ReelShort and DramaBox, as well as Western content built on sensationalized tropes of billionaire romances and revenge plots. However, Indian content giant One Life Studios is charting a distinct path to global success by leveraging culturally rooted, emotion-first storytelling.
In an exclusive interview with Television Asia Plus, Shashank Singh, Lead – Syndication & Content Alliances at One Life Studios, shared insights on how the studio is building a globally scalable short-form library, expanding into Southeast Asia, and bridging the gap between grand television epics and mobile-first microdramas.
Differentiating Through Emotion-First Storytelling
Rather than duplicating the high-octane formulas of established global platforms, One Life Studios focuses on emotional depth and relational complexity.
“Indian storytelling has traditionally excelled at exploring layered relationships, family dynamics, moral dilemmas, and aspirational journeys,” Singh explains. “Rather than relying solely on sensational tropes, our catalogue combines the addictive pacing of short-form storytelling with narratives rooted in authentic human emotions.”
Singh emphasizes that India’s rich cultural backdrop, regional traditions, and genre-blending abilities act as points of discovery rather than barriers. By prioritizing the strongest emotional payoff rather than just the biggest plot twist, the studio delivers short-form series that resonate universally across cultures.
Southeast Asia as a Strategic Launchpad
One Life Studios recently closed licensing deals for 60 microdramas with platforms across Southeast Asia, including Vibe Entertainment & Interactive Films LLC. Singh highlights that Southeast Asia’s mobile-first demographic and cultural alignment make it an ideal growth market.
“Southeast Asia is culturally complementary to India. Many markets in the region share an affinity for family-centric narratives, romance, and values-driven characters,” says Singh. “The rapid speed of audience feedback in SEA provides real-time insights into viewing behavior, which helps us refine future productions.”
To ensure seamless viewing, One Life Studios employs professional dubbing and localized subtitling. The goal is not to strip away the Indian identity of the stories, but to make their universal emotional beats accessible to every market.
Synergies Between Epics and Microdramas
One Life Studios is globally recognized for its massive historical epics, such as Porus (recently licensed to JKN Global Media and Today TV in Vietnam) and Chandragupta Maurya (licensed to CBS in Cambodia, and ANTV and Vidio OTT in Indonesia). Translating that experience into 2-minute episodes requires precision.
“Whether we’re producing a 200-episode historical epic or a two-minute microdrama, the audience is ultimately driven by compelling characters and emotional conflict,” Singh notes. “Microdramas force us to think with greater precision, every scene and line of dialogue must earn its place. Conversely, our long-form background allows us to bring richer character arcs and higher production standards to short-form content.”
Scaling a 500+ Title Ecosystem
With a expanding catalogue exceeding 500 titles, One Life Studios operates across the entire content value chain by combining third-party acquisitions, original in-house productions, and international distribution. Their owned-and-operated studio infrastructure further enables both internal projects and third-party creator productions.
Looking to the future, Singh sees microdramas evolving toward original co-productions, technology-enabled workflows, and joint IP development. He views emerging AI tools as valuable aids for speeding up development, localization, and post-production without replacing human creative vision.
“Our ambition is to build a deep, commercially relevant, and exportable short-form library,” Singh concludes. “India has the storytelling heritage, creative talent, and production capabilities to become a global powerhouse in short-form episodic entertainment.”
