Saif Ali Khan on streaming platforms' impact on entertainment industry: 'The most liberating thing for actors in India and all over the world'

Actor Saif Ali Khan in conversation with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos at WAVES 2025.

At the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai, actor Saif Ali Khan shared his thoughts on the transformative impact of OTT and streaming platforms.

In a conversation with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, Saif highlighted how the rise of digital platforms has changed content consumption habits and opened new avenues for actors in the evolving entertainment landscape.

He said, "Netflix has revolutionised the way we watch content...It's very exciting time for Indian entertainment industry and Netflix plays a vital role."

Further explaining how streaming platforms have created better opportunities for Indian actors, the Jewel Thief actor emphasized, "Streaming platforms has been the most liberating thing for actors in India and all over the world. Writing for the films have become a lot more sharper and streaming allows you to go in depth with the characters, gives the opportunity of bringing longer stories to life."

Saif Ali Khan also expressed that India has a wealth of long-form stories like the Mahabharata, Ramayan, and Panchatantra, which, thanks to streaming platforms, now have the potential to reach global audiences. While he appreciates historical narratives and Japanese samurai tales, he emphasized his desire to see Indian culture and stories represented more prominently in cinema. He believes that the long-form format is ideally suited for epic sagas such as the Mahabharata.

Meanwhile, Ted Sarandos praised India's culture of cinema during the same session and said, "India has a great cinema culture. They love watching and talking about movies for many many decades. What's been great about India is it's very fan centric. We have been able to quickly bring movies from the theatres to streaming here."

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He further recalled the initial journey of Netflix in India with the release of Sacred Games in 2019. "We started with Sacred Games in India 9 years ago. It proved how good stories could transcend borders. To try to engineer something for global viewership, you are making it for nobody. Nothing will work outside if that content will not work in your own country. Stories need to be true to its roots...don't have to be reverse engineered," Ted added.

The WAVES Summit 2025 is being held from May 1-4 at the Jio World Centre.