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. She stuck with the idea, eventually pitching it to Netflix's then-head of unscripted content Bela Bajaria – an Indian American woman who, Mundhra says, understood the international appeal of the series right away. Critics have said Indian Matchmaking glosses over important problems in the arranged marriage system, normalizing preferences for lighter skinned partners, discrimination through the caste system and focusing on Taparia's wealthy, mostly Hindu clientele.