As the microdrama boom grows, creators and platforms are investing in AI-generated shows to amp up volumes and supply. So far, AI had been restricted to voiceovers and scripting, but producers are now looking at fully AI-native programming that can reduce costs by 25-50% with no real actors or live shoots required.
With efficiency the driver of such projects, platforms believe AI-led or animated shows could grow to 30-40% of the overall microdrama content mix by the end of 2026 even though live action dominates at the moment.
“AI is becoming an increasingly important creative tool across the media and entertainment industry and micro-content offers a particularly interesting environment to explore its potential,” said Stephan Bugaj–senior vice president, GenAI content and technology, JioStar. “The format's pace, volume and appetite for experimentation make it well-suited for testing new production workflows and visual styles.”
Bugaj added that TADKA, the company’s microdrama vertical, is already exploring AI-generated content for fantastical and animated formats.
In China, the world's most mature microdrama market, AI titles climbed from 7% to 38% of the top 100 chart in a single year. India is still early on that curve, but accelerating, particularly in fantasy, mythology and action, where spectacle drives engagement and audiences are already conditioned to suspend disbelief, according to Soumyadeep Mukherjee, chief technology officer and co-founder of Dashverse.
The company produced Raftaar, a fully AI-generated microdrama, and is launching new Indian AI shows every month for its app DashReels, besides licensing original titles to global platforms including ReelShort and DramaBox.
Amit Zunjarwad, chief product officer of ShareChat, Moj & Quick TV, said AI-generated microdramas account for almost 10% of the platform’s current content mix.
“This could grow to nearly 30-40% by the end of 2026, depending on audience response, performance benchmarks and production economics. The primary driver behind this shift is efficiency—AI-led production workflows are currently about 40% more cost-effective than traditional live-action production,” Zunjarwad said.
Cost advantage
From a business and production standpoint, the cost advantage is undeniable. AI can significantly slash the time and budgets spent on asset creation, dubbing, multilingual localization and rapid visual iterations.
For a platform operating in a high-volume content environment like microdramas, that efficiency lowers the cost of experimentation, allowing it to test unique hooks and concept ideas at a fraction of traditional production timelines.
GSN Aditya, chief operating officer at Story TV, said for embellishments, AI brings the cost down to roughly a fifth of what traditional VFX used to be. For end-to-end production, the cost today is lower as the difference is the quality and speed of execution, which is markedly different and getting better. The company produced Yakshini-Dev Hunter, a fully AI-generated Hindi microdrama, which crossed over 1 million views within days of launch.
While animation and AI remove many of live-action’s constraints, creatively, the biggest bottleneck is the talent gap in writing. Sharlton M, vice president - IP and key partnerships at Pratilipi, said writing for animation requires a fundamentally different approach to pacing, visual storytelling and character dynamics compared to live-action.
Currently, there is a severe dearth of specialized animation writers and solving this talent shortage is the first major hurdle to overcome as content evolves.
“Creatively, the equation requires a lot of nuances. Lower production costs don’t automatically equal great storytelling,” said Anshita Kulshrestha, founder of TukTuki Entertainments. “When content becomes easier and cheaper to produce, the bar for originality shoots up. Indian audiences are incredibly smart; they quickly catch on to formulaic or soulless narratives.”
Many creators view AI less as a replacement for creativity and more as a force multiplier. AI expands what is possible from a storytelling perspective, particularly for fantasy, action and visually intensive narratives that would otherwise be constrained by budget or production complexity.
Emotional authenticity
Ravindra Gautam, founder and creative producer at RG Pictures, which is working on microdramas, pointed out that if AI shows succeed, there will be nothing like it given the high cost of actors.
“Several creators continue to highlight challenges around emotional authenticity, audience connection and long-term engagement. In entertainment, viewers do not simply consume stories—they form attachments to characters and performers. Replicating that dynamic through AI remains an open challenge,” said Hemant Kaul, partner and leader, research and insights, at BDO India.
There is also a risk of creative convergence. As more creators rely on similar models and datasets, there could be an increase in repetitive narratives, visual styles and character archetypes.
“The platforms that succeed will likely be those that use AI to augment human creativity rather than replace it entirely,” Kaul added.