A micro-drama app is an app that shows dramas filmed upright for the phone, in episodes only a minute or two long, each unlocked and paid for one at a time. A single story may have 60 to 100 episodes. These dramas are also called short dramas or vertical dramas, because they are filmed in the upright shape of a phone screen.
The format began in China and became a global business within a few years. Indian apps now make micro-dramas in Hindi and in regional languages, for viewers who watch on their phones while travelling or in short breaks. The stories are simple and fast: romance, revenge, a hidden heir or a family feud. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger, a moment of suspense that makes the viewer want the next one.
How does an app earn from them? The first several episodes are free. After that, each episode must be unlocked with coins, a virtual currency bought with rupees. Viewers can also buy a weekly pass that unlocks everything. Some apps also let the viewer unlock an episode by watching an ad instead.
Say a shopkeeper in Lucknow starts a Hindi drama about a son who returns to take back his family's business. The drama has 80 episodes of 90 seconds each. The first 10 episodes are free. On the 10th, the son is thrown out of his father's house, and the shopkeeper wants to know what happens next. Episode 11 costs 30 coins, and 300 coins cost ₹49. He buys a weekly pass for ₹99 instead, and finishes the drama in three evenings.
Micro-dramas are cheap to make, compared with a film or a series. A whole drama may be shot in a week or two. So an app can release many new stories every month and keep the ones that viewers pay for. AI is making them cheaper still. AI models help write the scripts. AI dubbing and lip sync turns a Hindi drama into Tamil, Telugu or Bengali. Speech and voice AI can produce the dubbed voices. Some scenes are even generated by AI. This makes micro-drama one of the first kinds of entertainment in which much of the production is done by AI, as the page on AI-generated content explains.
The format suits India's vernacular internet, the large audience that prefers its own language. A similar format exists for listening. An audio series app tells stories in hundreds of short audio episodes, also unlocked with coins.