Netflix announces five new Indian original series
On Tuesday, streaming giant Netflix announced five upcoming Indian original series. Ranging across a wide array of genres, including horror, comedy, drama, and thriller, these shows will be produced in collaboration with major domestic studios, like Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment and Anushka Sharma co-founded Clean Slate Films. Here are the details.
Announcing the new projects, Netflix's International Originals VP, Bela Bajaria said, "India is home to some of the world's greatest stories. It's been thrilling to watch these amazing storytellers embrace the artistic freedom possible at Netflix to create entertaining stories."
Created and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava (Lipstick Under My Burkha, Made in Heaven), and produced by Chernin Entertainment and Endemol Shine India, Bombay Begums is a celebration of womanhood. The show chronicles the lives of five women from contemporary urban India, battling with desires, personal crisis, and vulnerabilities on way to triumph, while creating an unexpected bond with each other, in the process.
Excited about the venture, Alankrita said, "Collaborating with Netflix has been extremely exciting and fulfilling because they see the urgency and value of women telling their own stories, through the female gaze." "Bombay Begums is an attempt to tell a story about the lives of urban Indian women, as honestly as I can. I hope that women can connect to this story," she elaborated.
Written by Atul Mongia, and produced by Anushka Sharma co-led Clean Slate Films, Mai follows the tragic personal story of a middle-aged woman who finds herself entangled in a web of crime, politics, and power. Talking about the new production, Anushka said, "This is my second collaboration with Netflix and we are again looking to disrupt the kind of content audiences are consuming."
Red Chillies Entertainment's second Netflix series, Betaal, with Patrick Graham (Ghoul) serving as the writer/director, will be an edge-of-the-seat horror show. Executive produced by Blumhouse Television and Ivanhoe Pictures, the show will showcase a breathless battle in a humble Indian village after a two-century-old British Indian Army officer and his battalion of zombie redcoats are let loose.
Co-produced by David Bernard, Ruben Fleischer, and Mutant Films, Messy stars American actor/director Ravi Patel, who will also serve as the show's creator and co-writer. The series will chronicle the life of Beanie, a Mumbai-based standup comic, struggling to find a voice of her own while being conflicted in a mayhem comprising a yuppie day-job boss, peculiar BFF, persistent parents, and proposal-popping boyfriend.
Created and produced by Viniyard Films, and directed by Sonam Nair, Masaba Masaba is based on the the "glorious mess" that is the life of designer Masaba Gupta. Featuring tongue-in-cheek humor, this joyous-yet-inspiring series will follow her unique background, her relation with fashion and family, and her foray back into dating-world. Interestingly, it will be enacted by real-life mother-daughter duo Neena and Masaba Gupta.
Expressing her excitement about the new show, Masaba said, "It's been a rollercoaster, honestly, and I feel that the moments I've experienced are both unique to my journey and relatable to people the world over. I can't wait for the audience to watch it."
