OTT shows like The Family Man (Season 3), Paatal Lok (Season 2) and Delhi Crime (Season 3) showcased the Northeast region’s lush landscapes, layered cultures and raw, unfiltered settings, sparking fresh curiosity around lesser-explored destinations
Monalisa Changkija
A late-year PTI report was an encouraging boost for us in the Northeast—not just for tourism enhancement and the corollary economic advantages across several sectors, but more importantly as a way of affirming that this region has arrived in more ways than one. A December 27, 2025 PTI report stated:
“India’s popular OTT shows are doing more than driving viewership—they are putting the North East firmly on the travel map, as flight bookings to cities like Imphal, Dimapur and Agartala recorded strong growth during the year, according to an ixigo report.
“OTT shows like The Family Man (Season 3), Paatal Lok (Season 2) and Delhi Crime (Season 3) showcased the Northeast region’s lush landscape, layered cultures and raw, unfiltered settings, sparking fresh curiosity around lesser-explored destinations.”
The report further added: “This on-screen spotlight translated into real-world travel demand in 2025, with ixigo witnessing strong YoY growth in flight bookings to key Northeastern cities: Dimapur, Agartala, Guwahati, Imphal and Itanagar.”
“According to ixigo’s The Great Indian Travel Index 2025, flight bookings to key cities in the country’s North East, including Dimapur, Agartala, Guwahati and Imphal, soared during the year. India’s binge-worthy OTT hits are doing more than driving viewership—they’re putting the North East firmly on the travel map.”
Clearly, some OTT shows have so far been more successful in showcasing the Northeast than decades of mainstream Bollywood movies, from which this region has largely been excluded. But that is not really the main issue here. Besides, any form of art has creative licence and cannot be categorised along political calculations and considerations. Makers of OTT shows appear to have a different perspective and come across as more inclusive.
However, the Northeast is also increasingly more visible, and over the years, many Northeasterners have gained a strong presence in the cinematic world. There are factors galore behind the Northeast’s slow but sure presence on the small screen; however, exclusive Northeast-based storylines are still missing, and Northeastern actors are yet to play lead roles.
Be that as it may, what Northeasterners need to focus on is how best to take advantage of the increased interest and footfalls in our region. Indubitably, the numerous festivals, business summits and other widely publicised events over almost thirty years across Northeastern states have definitely impacted our visibility. Technology has also played a pivotal role in increasing the Northeast’s visibility in mainland India and beyond. Besides, our sportspersons, musicians, models, designers, beauty queens, writers, poets, etc., have also made a huge difference in asserting our existence. An increasing number of Northeasterners in the hospitality sector, as well as those branching out into indigenous Northeastern food entrepreneurship across India, has also created awareness about the region.
However, the moot point is: how well and how productively are our State Governments, related sectors and even the people investing in this positive development?
As the aforesaid report mentions, the “…Northeast region’s lush landscapes, layered cultures and raw, unfiltered settings” are sparking fresh curiosity around lesser-explored destinations. Now, what are we doing to preserve our “lush landscapes, layered cultures and raw, unfiltered settings”? Against reports of increasing deforestation, degraded rivers and other water sources, disappearing wildlife, flora and fauna, destruction of the environment, the sale of traditional indigenous land to house urban cities and polluting industries, the displacement of indigenous communities, our unwillingness and inability to live peaceful, neighbourly lives, our contempt for the different and the ‘other’, and our predilection to prioritise ideologies over tolerance—how long will our region retain its lush landscapes, layered cultures and raw, unfiltered settings for filmmakers, literary giants and visual and performing artists to cast their favoured sights upon?
Simultaneously, without these very attributes, how many will travel here as their preferred destination for holidays or business?
For decades, the Northeast barely existed in the nation’s psyche, much less as a holiday or work destination, owing to the unhappy situation that prevailed. In fact, we ourselves despaired for our lives amid the most stifling, harrowing and fearsome political and economic environment. Yes, the guns no longer roar as they once did, but issues remain unresolved, creating an ambience of uncertainty—a kind of calm before the storm.
Now, somehow, people are realising that we are not as bad as we were painted to be, and that our causes are not inimical to anyone’s future—that we are merely asserting our existence, destiny and the rights we too deserve. We have been misread and misunderstood, sometimes deliberately and sometimes due to parochial and paranoiac perspectives. Now here is the opportunity to let the world see that we too crave the colours, rhythms and poetry that speak of our humanness. Shouldn’t we grab this opportunity of increased footfalls with both hands?
The Northeast’s USP is its untamed land, unique collage of cultures, rare mix of communities and incomparable talents. Once we abandon these to emulate those who now command from great heights, we will lose our identity. And once we lose our identity, our land, communities, cultures and talents will dissolve into a sea of anonymity, leaving us as just another destination—if that at all.
(The Columnist is a Dimapur-based veteran journalist, poet and former Editor of Nagaland Page. Published in the January 18, 2026 issue of North East Now)
