“Can’t smile any wider, and can’t stop smiling either!"
On December 5, 2020, IMDb announced the breakout stars featured in an Indian streaming film or web series for the first time ever.
The world’s most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content, IMDb unveiled the 2020 Top 10 Breakout Stars of Indian OTT platforms.
IMDb determines its definitive top 10 lists using data from IMDbPro STARmeter rankings.
These are based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly IMDb visitors.
OTT (Over-the-top) platforms include the likes of Netflix but there are a variety of Indian platforms like ALTBalaji and Zee5 available.
Streaming platforms have become more popular in 2020 owing to the Coronavirus pandemic. As cinemas have been shut, a lot of films have seen digital releases instead.
Sanjana Sanghi was named first-place on IMDb’s list.
She starred in the 2020 film Dil Bechara, which is based on the popular book and film, The Fault in Our Stars, and also starred the late Sushant Singh Rajput.
Sanjana took to her Instagram handle to express her happiness for the same and said the feeling is beyond surreal.
She dedicated the award to her audience, saying it belongs to them first.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIYLZ88lDUp/
While expressing her gratitude to everyone, she wrote:
“Can’t smile any wider, and can’t stop smiling either! @imdb @imdbpro: THANKYOU for this immense honour.
“Being declared as your No 1 Breakout Star of the Year is beyond surreal.
“To the best audiences in the world, this is first yours and then mine.
“Literally, since this recognition is entirely audience generated YOU made it all happen!
“So grateful for all the incredible geniuses I have the privilege of working with who recognise potential in me that I could never see in myself.
“All of your ceaseless love makes me want to tell stories forever, work even harder and be better every day.”
Web series Mirzapur landed actresses Isha Talwar and Harshita Gaur the second and third spots on the Breakout Stars list.
Three actors from the series Paatal Lok earned spots on the year-end list: Swastika Mukherjee, Jaideep Alawat and Niharika Lyra Dutt.
Swastika Mukherjee achieved the fourth spot, while Jaideep Alawat and Niharika Lyra Dutt landed in eighth and tenth respectively.
The Amazon Prime crime thriller series has proved to be a major success among Indian OTT streamers.
Watch the Paatal Lok trailer
Netflix India creation Betaal‘s actress Aahana Kumra ranked fifth in the list of the 2020 Top 10 Breakout Stars of Indian OTT platforms.
The actress has become a fan favourite for her portrayal of a police officer in the hit series.
Actress Shreya Dhanwanthary, who starred in SonyLIV’s original, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, ranked sixth on the list.
Tripti Dimri from Netflix’s Bulbbul is in seventh place while Amazon Prime’s Breathe: Into the Shadows actress Nithya Menen is in ninth place.
Matt Kumin, Head of IMDbPro, said:
“With the unprecedented popularity of streaming movies and web series this year, we are thrilled to highlight the Indian actors and actresses from these projects who saw a tremendous rise on the IMDbPro STARmeter chart as fans and professionals turned to IMDb and IMDbPro to learn more about them.”