Akka remains at No. 1 on Netflix India's Top 10, with Keerthy Suresh and Radhika Apte leading a matriarchal gangster drama that’s defying genre expectations.
Keerthy Suresh and Radhika Apte’s Akka is still ruling Netflix India’s Top 10 — and showing no signs of stepping down. The gangster drama, set in the fictional matriarchal kingdom of Pernuru, has held the No. 1 spot for a full week, making it the most-watched show on the platform in India right now.
That’s not just a chart position. It’s a statement. In a market where South Indian content often finds its audience after a slow burn, Akka exploded from launch, and hasn’t looked back. The series, created and directed by Dharmaraj Shetty and produced by YRF Entertainment, flips the script on the genre.
Instead of the usual male-led power plays, it centres on women who’ve ruled Pernuru for generations. Keerthy Suresh plays Bhavani, a queen turned gangster whose legacy is under threat when Radhika Apte enters as Rudra, a challenger with her own claim to the throne. Their clash isn’t just physical. It’s ideological.
One built on tradition. The other on disruption. Keerthy called the role transformative. “Akka introduced me to a side of myself as an actor that I hadn’t explored before,” she said.
Bhavani, she explained, isn’t just strong, she’s burdened. Her choices are never easy. And yet, she fights. Not for glory.
For survival. Radhika Apte, meanwhile, found the world of Akka refreshing. “It doesn’t feel like a conventional gangster story,” she said. “Rudra enters a system with its own rules, history, power structures.” She praised the show’s boldness: giving women agency not as exceptions, but as the norm.
“It was exciting to be part of a story that allows them to occupy this space with such strength.”
Shetty, the writer-director, admitted he started with a tired trope, another gangster tale, only to realise how saturated the genre had become. Then he dug into South India’s real-life matriarchal traditions.
“That’s when I knew,” he said. “This could be something fresh.” The result? A world where loyalty is currency, betrayal is ritual, and power is inherited, or seized. And audiences agree.
They’re watching. They’re rewatching. They’re talking. The hairpin killing style, a detail credited entirely to Keerthy Suresh, has become a meme.
The chemistry between the leads? Electric. The visuals? Stark.
The tone? Unapologetically fierce. With Akka still at the top, the question isn’t whether it’ll stay there. It’s what comes next.
Will YRF double down? Is this the start of a franchise? Or just a one-off firestorm? One thing’s certain: the kingdom of Pernuru has already claimed its place in streaming history.
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