For the longest time, being an anime fan in India felt like being a member of a vast, invisible secret society. We lived in the digital shadows, navigating the dark corners of the internet to find our fix, all while battling the constant fear of not fitting in.
In recent years, though, the tide has shifted. Legal streaming platforms and OTT services finally bridged the supply gap, and even pushed anime into the eyes of mainstream audiences. Yet, even with this newfound popularity, a lingering skepticism continued to be associated with the medium.
In the eyes of the traditional Indian household and legacy media, anime was still dismissible, often mislabeled as “cartoons” or waved off as niche content for children. However, that lock has finally been picked.
In a move that serves as the ultimate validation for millions of Indian fans, Zee Cafe has launched The Great Indian Anime Show. You would be mistaken if you assumed this was just a playlist of dubbed episodes or a rehash of content we have already seen.
No sir.
What we are seeing here is India’s first-ever dedicated anime talk show, placing anime creators and serious discourse front and center in a prime-time spot.
Last month, I had the opportunity to visit Sahilaryan and Aryansahil Innamdar, the show’s co-creators and co-directors best known for their Ani-Lyst podcast, in Pune. Walking into the location in the midst of the shoot, I was naive to expect a standard content creator setup — perhaps a couple of microphones on a table and a DSLR on a tripod — screaming “PODCAST” from every wall and ceiling.
That was not the case though.
What I walked into was a buzzing, professional studio environment. There was a crew of around ten production specialists moving around, adjusting lighting rigs, managing soundboards, and cuing segments. I stood there flabbergasted. It was a level of scale and seriousness I never assumed an anime content creator in India would, or could, attempt.
My first interaction with the Innamdar brothers, other than being a guest on Ani-Lyst, was at Mumbai Comic Con, when Sahilaryan donned his Naruto costume and decided to do the Naruto run. Standing amidst the chaos of production, I could almost see him in that attire, tapping my shoulder and saying, ‘Believe it.’
While the prospect of nailing down a prime time TV spot may have seemed impossible to me, the brothers had firm belief that they would scale this peak.
“I always wanted to be the biggest and the number one anime creator—this show just made me one,” Aryansahil said. “Television was always the final boss. Television gives you cultural validation in India. Being featured on national television—and not as a gimmick, but as the hosts of India’s first dedicated anime talk show—feels surreal.”
His brother, Sahilaryan, nodded in agreement. “For years, anime fans were told this interest was too niche, too internet-specific. This show proves that anime is big enough to hold a prime-time conversation. This isn’t just our win; it’s the community’s win.”
The Ani-Lyst Origins: Tracing the Beginnings
The journey to the living rooms of Indian households is a leap that many dream to pull off. Sahilaryan and Aryansahil definitely take pride in being the first anime creators to feature on a linear television channel, but their beginnings were as humble as any fan’s.
It started with The Ani-Lyst Podcast, which was born out of frustration and love in equal measure. Frustration, because they felt anime conversations in India were often limited to surface-level reactions or rigid breakdowns. Love, because anime had shaped their childhood, values, and worldview.
“We are big fans of Trash Taste and noticed that there were no good anime podcasts on YouTube in India,” they explained. “We marketed Ani-Lyst as India’s number one anime podcast, and the SEO worked. We were the number one search result on YouTube, Google, and Meta.”
What the brothers said holds weight. The Indian anime fandom is accustomed to anime creators, many of who put out eccentric community-centric content, walking the line of many influencers who graced the stage before them.
However, these two decided to pivot away from that established sphere. And while they were in the process of building up their follower base and reaching more audiences, a massive opportunity came calling: JioCinema.
This marked the first big jump for the Innamdar brothers, kickstarting what would turn out to be a very unique journey to the top of the ladder.
While any other newbie anime creator would have doubled down on their existing strategy, Aryansahil and Sahilaryan started plotting their exit strategy.
The brothers, by this time, had become aware of the limitations of a platform like YouTube and they knew that the hop to JioCinema would truly set them apart and bring them one step closer to their dreams of being the biggest anime content creators.
At the time, JioCinema was aggressively expanding its “Anime Hub” with heavy hitters like Demon Slayer and Spy x Family. While they had the library, what they lacked was a voice to bridge the gap between corporate licensing and the larger anime community.
Enter The Ani-Lyst Show.
By joining the platform’s “Creators Adda” segment, Sahil and Aryan became the first Indian anime creators to have their own show on a major OTT platform.
“YouTube is powerful, but it has a ceiling,” Aryansahil noted, analyzing the move with a business mindset. “We wanted to see if anime conversations could survive—and thrive—outside algorithm dependency. Other creators are very creative; they might have us beat there. But in business expansion? We are at the top,” he added with a cocky confidence.
Aryansahil and Sahilaryan realized that they cannot hope for a lucky break in this atmosphere, where the stakes were tangible and the corporate hierarchy was as real as it gets. Given the situation, the brothers had no choice but to up their game.
“OTT forced us to raise our standards—better structure, better storytelling, and real accountability,” Sahilaryan explains. It was during this tenure that they pulled off a significant coup: featuring Jason Paige, the original voice of the Pokémon theme song, for an exclusive interview.
Becoming the Biggest Anime Creators:
Their show’s success on JioCinema served as a proof that anime conversations could capture a serious, engaged audience beyond the niche corners of the internet. But the Innamdar brothers knew that breaking into linear television would be akin to a siege.
In hindsight, the JioCinema era was the boot camp for broadcast television. It taught them the unglamorous but vital skills of media production. These were the exact skills that would eventually convince Zee Cafe to hand them the keys to a slot on their channel.
“To take anime to the next level, I personally took the leap to Zee Café’s AniFest, pitching the vision directly to the main people at this network,” said Aryansahil, who did majority of the legwork required for the show.
The co-creator pointed out that there were no guarantees or shortcuts involved in the process, and that he had decided to go ahead backed by data, community trust, and months of preparation.
What followed was a grueling year of development hell. This involved not just reaching out to the potential sponsors who would help the show see the daylight, but also getting a prospective list of guests to be a part of the show. After all, the people who sat on the opposite end of the sofa played an equally important role in piquing the interest of the viewers.
“My past experience with The Ani-Lyst helped massively because creators already knew two things about me: one, I respect anime culture, and two, I don’t use creators as clickbait. That trust opened doors very quickly,” Aryansahil explained.
However, while they had a foot in the door, the process of getting creators was never going to be easy.
“Everyone has opinions, schedules, egos, and expectations. Some were instantly excited because they understood the larger vision of anime on national TV, while others needed convincing, reassurance, or clarity on how this wasn’t just another YouTube-style appearance,” he added.
While the creator part was shaping up nicely, there were few hiccups when it came to convincing the sponsors.
Given their track record with The Ani-Lyst and JioCinema, Sahilaryan and Aryansahil had the credibility to walk into meetings with confidence. Yet, the television industry has a way of humbling even the most prepared.
Despite months of meticulous planning, a key sponsor abruptly pulled the plug mid-journey. It was the kind of eleventh-hour collapse that usually kills a show before the cameras even roll.
Instead of giving up, Aryansahil simply decided to double down and find more sponsors for the show. And soon enough, the situation would change with Ōta Life, an anime-inspired lifestyle and merchandise brand built for India’s growing otaku community, entering the picture. In a way, the brothers felt that the brand was a perfect fit for what they were looking to build.
By the time everything was done, Aryansahil was content that the “right” creators and brands had shown up to be a part of The Great Indian Anime Show.
“The ones who stayed through uncertainty were the ones who truly belonged to the show’s vision. In hindsight, every setback just clarified who was here for anime, and who was here only for convenience.”
The Great Indian Anime Show has aired five episodes at the time of writing this piece. However, Aryansahil’s ambitions run deeper. Despite bagging a prime television spot and truly elevating himself to becoming the best anime creator in India, he has managed to keep himself busy.
In whatever time he got, he has been writing a book, chronicling his journey to the top. Titled My Story of Becoming India’s #1 Anime Content Creator, it is now available to buy on Amazon.
