'It's about time': How 'Indian Matchmaking' found love - and success - on Netflix
Smriti Mundhra began pitching her reality TV dating show around 2008. Several media companies rejected it as too "niche" before the show found a home on Netflix. It's now entering its third season.
It took Smriti Mundhra 10 years to get Indian Matchmaking made.
Mundhra says she first began pitching the reality TV dating show, which focuses on the work of longtime matchmaker Sima Taparia, around 2008, before Netflix even offered original series or streaming television content.
As Mundhra approached other big media companies, she says they all had the same response: "[They said] wow, this is very niche ... The question was, 'Does she ever work with Americans?' I said, 'She does work with Americans. They just happen to be Indian Americans."
She stuck with the idea, eventually pitching it to Netflix's then-head of unscripted content Bela Bajaria – an Indian American, unleashing an international discussion about arranged marriage.
