Netflix is currently the latest go-to platform for our daily dose of entertainment. The global streaming giant, on Friday, announced the release of nine new Indian original films at the See What’s Next event in Singapore which include projects by Priyanka Chopra, Madhuri Dixit and Anushka Sharma, among others.
Speaking at the event, Netflix chief content officer, Ted Sarandos said that Asia, and particularly India, maybe a territory of key importance in the streaming service’s future plans.
A bit about the films:
Produced by the mother-daughter duo, Priyanka Chopra and mother Madhu Chopra, Fireband is a Marathi film that high on drama. The movie tells the story of a successful lawyer, a sexual assault victim played by Usha Jadhav and how she tackles difficult family cases while also dealing with intimacy issues in her own marriage.
Madhuri Dixit will also be debuting on Netflix as a producer of a Marathi film titled 15th August. Set in a Mumbai chawl, the film is a satire about the struggles of middle-class India.
Scheduled to release in November, Rajma Chawal is directed by Leena Yadav and stars Rishi Kapoor, who plays a widowed father wanting to reconnect with his son. The film is a humorous family drama set in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi.
Manav Kaul will play an emotionally disturbed music teacher in Music Teacher who gets an opportunity to come to terms with his bitterness with an estranged student, now a famous celebrity singer of Bollywood. The film will also star Neena Gupta and Divya Dutta and is directed by Sarthak Dasgupta
Chopsticks starring Abhay Deol and Mithila Palkar is currently in production. It’s “about an under-confident but talented girl, sidestepped at every stage of her life, who seeks out an enigmatic con to help recover her stolen car from a goat-loving, crazy Mumbai gangster. In the process, she finds her confidence and place in the sun,†read a statement. Chopsticks is produced by Ashvini Yardi of Vineyard Productions and directed by Sachin Yardi.
Bulbul produced by Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma’s Clean Slate Films, “is a period piece set in a vibrant atmosphere amidst age-old beliefs and superstitions.â€
Hotel Mumbai tells the startling true story of the victims and survivors of the unfortunate attacks on Mumbai in 2008. The film is directed by Anthony Maras and stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher, Jason Isaacs. The film, about the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, premiered to positive reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival and will now release as a Netflix original in 2019.
A bromance, titled Upstarts is about three college graduates from small-town India, fascinated by the startup mania sweeping the country. This film is supported by real-life heroes from the startup world in Bengaluru and is directed by Udai Singh Pawar. Upstarts is produced by Raja Menon, Janani Ravichandran and Jawahar Sharma of Bandra West Productions.
Cobalt Blue, based on the novel of the same name, is the tale of a brother and sister who fall in love with the same man, and how a traditional Marathi family is shattered by the events.
The Netflix list of programmes keeps expanding by the day giving us more and more options to choose from. Which Indian original film are you more excited for?
