Netflix India’s January 2026 slate came in with a clear headline: big mainstream hits for mass bingeing, plus at least one prestige-leaning thriller series designed for viewers who like their crime stories procedural and grounded. The month’s loudest arrival is Dhurandhar, a 2025 Hindi spy thriller that Netflix has now made available to stream, while the platform also rolled out a new Netflix series, Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web, centered on customs enforcement and airport smuggling networks.
What’s interesting about this month’s lineup isn’t just the volume of titles—it’s the range. January’s additions span courtroom drama, action-fantasy spectacle, romance and relationship comedy, crime thrillers, and historical sports storytelling, building a buffet that’s clearly aimed at both casual viewers and genre loyalists.
The Big January Headliner: Dhurandhar
If there’s one title Netflix wants Indian cinema fans to notice this month, it’s Dhurandhar. The film arrived on Netflix in late January and is positioned as a major action-spy play with multiple audio options for wider reach across regions and languages.
There’s also already conversation around its runtime on streaming compared to the theatrical cut. Reports indicate the Netflix version runs slightly shorter than the theatrical release, prompting viewer speculation online about trims for the OTT version. Netflix presents the film as a 2025 thriller about an undercover operative infiltrating Karachi’s underworld, leaning into the long-haul espionage angle that typically plays well with fans of gritty, mission-first narratives.
For Netflix, this is the kind of acquisition that drives “weekend event” viewing—long runtime, high stakes, and a plot engineered for discussion the moment it drops.
Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web Brings Customs to Center Stage
On the series side, Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web is the month’s big Netflix Original push. The story follows a dedicated customs officer and his team as they take on a notorious smuggler running a sophisticated global network through Mumbai’s busy international airport.
The show launched in mid-January and has been framed as a seven-episode crime thriller that spotlights customs enforcement work—an angle Indian crime storytelling doesn’t explore as often as police or intelligence agencies. For audiences fatigued by “one cop beats the system” clichés, the show’s appeal is its procedural promise: surveillance, logistics, movement of goods, and the kind of incremental case-building that feels closer to real investigations than heroic spectacle.
A Crime-Thriller Boost: Mardaani and Mardaani 2
Netflix also strengthened its crime library by adding Mardaani and Mardaani 2, giving viewers a ready-made double feature of Rani Mukerji’s Shivani Shivaji Roy ahead of the franchise’s next theatrical installment. This is a smart catalog strategy: bring in earlier films to push completion viewing, then catch the wave of interest around the new release.
More January Variety: Courtroom Drama, Rom-Com, Action, and History
Beyond the headline titles, Netflix’s January Indian lineup covers multiple viewing moods:
- Haq adds a courtroom-driven social drama lane, the sort of title that tends to travel well among viewers who want issue-based storytelling with strong lead performances.
- De De Pyaar De 2 brings a mainstream romantic-comedy angle built around generational mismatch and family pushback.
- Akhanda 2: Thaandavam fills the mass-action slot, with a multi-language release approach that reflects Netflix’s push for pan-Indian accessibility.
- Champion offers a historical sports narrative set around the turbulence of post-independence India, combining period backdrop with athletic ambition.
Why This Slate Matters
January 2026 shows Netflix continuing two key strategies in India: securing large, conversation-starting theatrical hits for streaming momentum, and building franchise or genre “watch paths” that keep viewers inside the app longer (crime thrillers leading into more crime thrillers, sequels prompting rewatches, and multi-language options expanding reach).
If you’re planning your watchlist, the simplest way to approach this month is by mood: go Dhurandhar for a long, high-stakes spy binge; choose Taskaree if you want procedural tension and a fresh angle on law enforcement; and use the rest of the slate as genre supplements depending on whether you want romance, action fantasy, courtroom drama, or sports history.
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