Netflix Announces 8 Original Films & One Original Series From India

Netflix concluded its inaugural content event in Asia, “See What’s Next: Asia” with a celebration of the company’s rapidly growing diverse content slate in India.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos joined performers and creators from India to announce eight original films and a new original series.

The showcase also included updates on four Indian original series that were previously announced.

“We celebrate India today with an incredible line-up of original films and series that are right now filming across India. This line-up cuts across genres from horror to fantasy and in locations from Leh to Mumbai. The breadth of stories with its local settings and complex characters is incredibleand we can’t wait for people to discover and fall in love with them,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer for Netflix.

Mrunal Thakur speaks during a panel on day two of the Netflix See What’s Next: Asia event at the Marina Bay Sands on November 9, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Ore Huiying/Getty Images for Netflix)

The “Celebrating India” session at the event saw media and influencers from 11 countries across Asia witness the breadth and depth of Netflix Indian Originals. The updates on four original series include:

• A trailer for Rajma Chawal, a humorous family drama set in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, which is set to release globally on Netflix on November 30, 2018.

• A teaser trailer for Selection Day, a series based on Aravind Adiga’s book of the same name. Produced by Anil Kapoor Film Company and Seven Stories Ltd, Selection Day is a coming-of- age drama about two brothers who are raised by their strict, obsessive father to be star cricket players.

• The cast of upcoming series Baahubali: Before the Beginning, with Mrunal Thakur as Sivagami, Rahul Bose as Skandadasa, Atul Kulkarni, Vaquar Shaikh, Jameel Khan, Siddharth Arora and Anup Soni.
• The cast of Leila, a dystopian fiction series produced by Deepa Mehta, including Huma Qureshi in the title role and Siddharth Suryanarayan.

Netflix content executive Simran Sethi, Aseem Bajaj, Anand Tucker, Udayan Prasad and Marston Bloom speak during a panel on day two of the Netflix See What’s Next: Asia event at the Marina Bay Sands on November 9, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Ore Huiying/Getty Images for Netflix)

Netflix rounded off these updates with the announcement of a new original series:

Typewriter is about a haunted house and a haunted book that stir the imagination of a group of young, wannabe ghost hunters, and a dog, determined to capture the ghost that plagues the notorious home in their neighbourhood in Goa. When a new family and their captivating daughter move into the haunted home, the crew finds it difficult to balance the demands of school and chores with the renewed urgency to capture the neighbourhood ghost before it is too late.

Underlining its investment in original films in India, Netflix unveiled eight new original Indian films spanning genres and involving the best of established and new Indian talent:

Chopsticks is 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. Along with Mithila Palkar who won hearts in Netflix series Little Things 02, Abhay Deol and Vijay Raaz will act in the film.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 setin a vibrant atmosphere amidst age-old beliefs and superstitions. Satya and his brother’s childbride, Bulbul, were inseparable until he was sent to England for his education. On his return, he finds Bulbul has been abandoned by his brother and now lives a solitary existence as the enigmatic lady-of-the-palace, dedicating herself to the welfare of the people. But their ancestral village is plagued by mysterious deaths and stories of a haunting by a woman who lives in the trees. Satyamust find the truth behind the lore and save his village from the evil “chudail with the inverted feet”.

Netflix content executive Simran Sethi, Deva Katta, Praveen Sattaru, Mrunal Thakur and Prasad Devineni speak during a panel on day two of the Netflix See What’s Next: Asia event at the Marina Bay Sands on November 9, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Ore Huiying/Getty Images for Netflix)

Upstarts is a bromance about three college graduates from small-town India, captivated by the startup mania sweeping the country. As they enter the rollercoaster startup ecosystem of big dreams, big money and bigger sharks, they are faced with a big choice – their dreams, or their friendship. Directed by Udai Singh Pawar, Upstarts is produced by Raja Menon, Janani Ravichandran and Jawahar Sharma of Bandra West Productions. This film is supported by real-life heroes from the startup world in Bengaluru.

Cobalt Blue, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, is the story of a brother and sister who fall in love with the same man, and how a traditional Marathi family is shattered by the ensuing events. This story brings out the pain and the beauty of forbidden love, and is written and directed by Sachin Kundalkar.

15th August, produced by Madhuri Dixit, is set in a Mumbai Chawl, and follows the course of a single day as its residents prepare for the flag-hoisting ceremony. This Marathi film is about the struggles of middles-class India and in a soaring climax, it is about how love sets us free.