Real-life inspired stories: Tracing the growing popularity of documentaries

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Fiction is okay, but what’s real? On the popular demand of the masses, digital platforms have dished out a long list of documentaries, be it series or films. After the much success of original documentaries such as The Tiger King, The Social Dilemma, Bad Boy Billionaires: India, The Last Dance and Time in 2020, we bring you the trends that followed this year in the world of documentaries.

Beyond the sports

‘Why write a book when you can say it with a documentary’ – seems to be the mantra of 2021 as sports personalities of the likes of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes or ace Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher take OTT route to tell their stories.

In Break Point on Zee 5, the star jodi of Indian Tennis, Mahesh and Leander come out of their comfort zone to narrate their first-hand experiences and their share of controversies. “It’s great to have inspiring stories for this generation,” says Bhupathi as he names The Last Dance, docu-series, that chronicles the rise of basketball player Michael Jordan and 1990s Chicago Bulls of 2020, to be his all-time favourite.

And it is not just the iconic tales of legendary players that are becoming the pitch-perfect content for documentaries, Bad Sport on Netflix has a mix of sports and crime. It brings forth the accounts of six notorious players and the crimes they have pulled off on and off field. From largest match-fixing scandal of Italian football to NFL suspending star players Alex Karras and Paul Hornung for gambling in 1963, it has it all.

Natural route

“It is but natural for people to be drawn to reality in the form of documentary,” says Madhureeta Anand who is an independent director, writer and producer. The documentaries that really made an impact on her are Three Perfect Strangers, The Social Dilemma and Into the Inferno. “And, I am greatly looking forward to Leena Yadav’s series House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths,” she adds.

Singing it with celebs

When it comes to celeb, the one thing 2021 will be rembered for is the #FreeBritneyMovement. And the root-cause of it all was the documentary, The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears which had highlighted the tale of global popstar Britney Spears and what fame had brought her. Released on Februrary 5, it was followed by another documentary Britney Vs Spears.

Teen singing sensation Billie Eilish and the audience interest in her life invoked not one but two documentaries on her in a single year — Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry and Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles. Justin Bieber: Our World is releasing this Friday for the Beliebers.

What’s sensational

Director Kamlesh K Mishra says, “Today, there’s too much information and media picking sides have made truth a far-reaching thing. That is why you would see, documentaries trending.”

Which brings us to a conclusion why sensational series like, House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths, (releasing Friday), Untold: Crime & Penalties (August 31) and Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror (September 1) are some the documentaries brought forward by OTT platforms.

Top slot

Top ranking documentaries according to IMDb in recent years are Seaspiracy, The One Where They Get Back Together, David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, Godspeed, Los Polacos! and My Octopus Teacher.

Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance (with IMDb rating – 9.1/10) won 23.8 million global audiences; Tiger King (7.5/10) reportedly was seen by 64 million households. According to sources and Blogspot which keeps an eye on Indian viewership, documentary viewing grew 100 per cent in 2020 over 2019. Bad Boy Billionaires (IMDB – 8.0/10), The Social Dilemma (7.6/10) and Money Heist: The Phenomenon (7.5/10) were the most popular documentaries on Netflix in India in 2020.

Top 5 documentaries on Netflix among Indian audiences are: The Creative Indians (8.3/10), Bad Boy Billionaires, Alma Matters(8.0/10), Crime Stories: Indian Detectives(7.5/10) and Searching For Sheela (4.3/10). Whereas, currently on Disney+Hotstar, Among the Stars (released this Wednesday), Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story (7.7/10) and Stuntman (6.8/10) sit at Top 3 in the documentary category.