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Netflix Announces 17 Titles; All The Details Here

On July 15, several Bollywood celebrities took to social media to release videos and boomerangs (videos on Instagram) of themselves waiting to announce something significant but refraining from doing so while shouting out loud the words ‘Come On Netflix’. Their posts also carried the words as a hashtag which went viral piquing the curiosity of Twitterati and people on the ‘Gram. Netflix also put out a tweet with three of the zipped mouth emojis and the hashtag.

On Thursday, July 16, Netflix announced the arrival of 17 titles, starring a horde of actors, to the streamer which included direct OTT releases, Netflix originals, and web series’. The announcement video was simple and did not reveal too many details about the projects.

The list of direct releases comprises Sharan Sharma’s Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Anurag Basu‘s Ludo, Alankrita Shrivastava’s Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, Honey Trehan’s Raat Akeli Hai, Puneet Khanna’s Ginny Weds Sunny, Girish Malik’s Torbaaz, and Gitanjali Rao’s Bombay Rose.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl

Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl stars Janhvi Kapoor in the titular character and is based on Lucknow based Gunjan Saxena, the first woman Air Force Officer to enter a war zone. She drove the Cheetah Helicopter in the 1999 Kargil War and paved the way for several other women to enter the battlefield. The film is a biopic of Gunjan.

Helmed by debutant Sharan Sharma and bankrolled by Dharma Productions and Zee Studios, the film also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Viineet Kumar Singh, Angad Bedi, and Manav Vij in important roles. On the technical front, music is by John Stewart Eduri, cinematography by R Dee, and editing by Aarif Sheikh. Nikhil Mehrotra has penned the story along with Sharan Sharma.

The film was initially pushed for a theatrical release from 13 March 2020 to 24 April 2020 due to the COVID19 pandemic and has now opted for a direct release on Netflix. It will stream on the platform from August 12th.

Ludo

Ludo follows the journey of four different lives, set in the backdrop of a quintessential Indian metro, who meet at crossroads, only to know that their convergence is much more than just a mere coincidence. It centres on the unavoidable jeopardies of life, dealing with it through four different stories.

The film stars Abhishek BachchanRajkummar RaoAditya Roy KapurPankaj TripathiFatima Sana Shaikh, and Sanya Malhotra in the lead roles. Presented by Gulshan Kumar’s T-Series in association with Anurag Basu Productions, the film is being bankrolled by Bhushan Kumar, Anurag Basu, Divya Khosla Kumar, Taani Somarita Basu, and Krishan Kumar.

Actors Asha Negi, Pearle Maaney, and, Rohit Suresh Saraf have also landed important roles in the film. Pritam has composed music and Ajay Sharma has edited the film.

The director shot major portions of the film with Bachchan in Mumbai and Kolkata in 2018 and for 15 days the following January with Fatima and Rajkummar Rao in Bhopal. A report in Mid Day said Fatima did not even see the script and accepted the offer once it came her way. “There are some directors whose worlds you simply wish to be part of,” she added.

The film that was earlier supposed to hit theatres on 13 March was postponed to 24 April 2020 which fell through due to the COVID19 pandemic. The film will now stream on Netflix; the date is yet to be announced.

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare deals with two rebellious cousins played by Bhumi Pednekar and Konkona Sen Sharma on their journey to seek independence and freedom to embrace their desires. Set in Greater Noida, the film reportedly celebrates womanhood and talks about several social stigmas.

Alankrita Shrivastava is helming the film under Ekta Kapoor and Ruchikaa Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures/Telefilms banner. The film also stars Vikrant Massey, Karan Kundrra, Kubbra Sait, Aamir Bashir, and Amol Parashar in important roles. John Jacob Payyapalli has handled the camera, Aarti Bajaj on edit, and Arjuna Harjai &
Jasleen Royal on the music.

After doing the rounds in the festival circuit, including the Busan Film Festival and the Glasgow Film Festival, the film will finally see a release on Netflix soon. Initially planned for a theatrical release in May, the release was scrubbed due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Raat Akeli Hai

Raat Akeli Hai revolves around a small-town cop, Jatil Yadav, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is assigned to investigate the twisted death case of an extremely powerful local politician. Helmed by Honey Trehan, the film is bankrolled by Ronnie Screwvala under his RSVP Movies banner.

The film also stars Radhika Apte, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Shweta Tripathi, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Nishant Dahiya, Ila Arun, Swanand Kirkire and Aditya Srivastava in important roles. While Pankaj Kumar is on the camera for the film, the rest of the crew is yet to be revealed.

The film marks the fourth association of Nawazuddin and Radhika after their 2015 flicks Badlapur and Manjhi – The Mountain Man, and Netflix web series Sacred Games.

The gripping trailer of Raat Akeli Hai dropped on Friday on Netflix revealing that the film will hit the platform on July 31 skipping the originally planned theatrical release.

Ginny Weds Sunny

Ginny Weds Sunny deals with a couple Ginny and Sunny whose lives take a beautiful turn after they’re paired up by Ginny’s matchmaker mother for the sole purpose of marriage. Ginny is played by Yami Gautam and Sunny by Vikrant Massey, marking the first association of the actors.

Helmed by debutant Puneet Khanna, the film has been bankrolled by Vinod Bachchan under the Soundrya Production banner. The film also stars Suhail Nayyar and Gurpreet Saini in important roles. Navjot Gulati has penned the story and Sumit Arora is in charge of dialogues. Nuthan Nagraj has handled the cinematography for the film.

The romantic-comedy shot in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Manali was slated for a theatrical release at the beginning of 2020 but will now hit Netflix directly.

Torbaaz

Torbaaz is the story of a man who emerges from a personal tragedy and decides to transform the lives of a few endangered refugee camp kids through the game of cricket. It stars Sanjay Dutt, (as a doctor), and Nargis Fakhri in the lead roles.

Helmed by Girish Malik, the film is being bankrolled by Raju Chadha and Rahul Mittra under their Wave Cinemas banner. Rameez Raja, the acclaimed cricketer turned commentator, had reportedly approached Girish with the film’s idea and asked him to translate it onto the screen after watching his first film Jal.

The film also stars Rahul Dev, who plays the antagonist, Pransh Chopra and Humayoon Shams Khan. Hiroo Keswani has handled cinematography, Dilip Deo is on the edit, and Bharti Jakhar has helped with the screenplay.

The buzz around Torbaaz remained low because the film has been shot entirely abroad, most of it being in Kyrgyzstan. The film which completed shooting and post-production last year has been awaiting a release for a while and will now directly hit Netflix soon.

Bombay Rose

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Bombay Rose is an animated feature film based on true events. It follows a young club dancer, escaping from child marriage and living in the streets of Bombay, who is made to decide between supporting her family and finding love with a boy orphaned by the militancy. The film has been painted frame by frame and has a red rose serving as a crucial element.

Helmed by Gitanjali Rao, Bombay Rose has been bankrolled by Rohit Khattar’s Cinestaan Film Company and Mahindra Group’s Anand Mahindra with Deborah Sathe and Tessa Inkelaar executive producing (India and UK) and by Charlotte Uzu and Serge Lalou under the Les Films d’Ici banner (France).

It features the voices of Amit Deondi, Cyli Khare, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Makrand Deshpande, Shishir Sharma, Virendra Saxena and Amardeep Jha.

The film was the first Indian animated feature ever selected to open ‘Venice International Film Critics’ Week’. It has also been selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the BFI London Film Festival and was honoured at the Chicago and Mumbai film festivals.

The list of Netflix originals that will drop soon comprises Vikramaditya Motwane‘s AK Vs AK, Terrie Samundra’s Kaali Khuhi, Renuka Shahane’s Tribhanga, Sudhir Mishra’s Serious Men (based on Manu Joseph’s novel), and Atul Sabharwal’s Class Of 83.

AK Vs AK

AK Vs AK is the battle between a ruthless director and top actor after the director kidnaps the daughter of the star for the sole purpose of producing a blockbuster by filming the desperate search of the star in real-time. Anurag Kashyap and Anil Kapoor essay their real-life roles—the director and the star respectively and their initials attributing for the title.

Helmed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the film is being bankrolled by Andolan Films and Netflix India. It will also star Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in important roles. Alokananda Dasgupta is composing music, Vikram Dahiya on the stunt, Shruti Kapoor on costumes, and Ishika Mohan Motwane on the stills.

The film has been shot extensively in the slums of Dharavi and will hit Netflix soon.

Kaali Khuhi

Kaali Khuhi revolves around a 10-year-old Shivangi who is required to save her village in Punjab from its ghastly past. Uri: The Surgical Strike fame Riva Arora essays the role of Shivangi alongside Sanjeeda Sheikh and Shabana Azmi.

Helmed by Terrie Samundra, the film is being bankrolled by Ramon Chibb and Anku Pande’s Manomay Motion Pictures and Netflix India. The film will also see Satyadeep Misra and Leela Samson in important roles. Walter Lech has penned the story along with Terrie Samundra.

The Netflix original announced a year ago will stream soon on the platform. It has been shot entirely in Punjab.

Tribhanga – Tedhi Medhi Crazy

Tribhanga deals with the lives of three women—Anu, Nayan, and Masha, from the same family but hailing from different generations. They are compared to the Odissi dance pose, the title, ‘Tribhanga’ that is asymmetrical, yet mesmerising and sensuous. Kajol plays Anu, Tanvi Azmi plays Nayan, and Mithila Palkar plays Masha.

Helmed by Renuka Shahane, the film has been bankrolled by Ajay Devgn‘s Ajay Devgn FFilms, Deepak Dhar’s Banijay Group Asia, and Siddharth P Malhotra and Sapna Malhotra’s Alchemy Films Pvt Ltd. The film marks the digital debut of Kajol. Tribhanga also stars Kunaal Roy Kapur, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, and Manav Gohil in important roles. Baba Azmi has handled the cinematography for Tribhanga.

The film shot entirely in Mumbai was originally rolled out to be a small Marathi film but later turned into a Hindi Netflix Original after Kajol and Alchemy Films were brought onboard.

Serious Men

Serious Men is about a wily underprivileged man who cons the country into believing that his unintelligent 10-year-old son is a genius and earns a fortune, not realising that the only and actual victim of his dangerous game is his son. The film is based on Manu Joseph’s 2010 book of the same name.

Adapted and directed for the screen by Sudhir Mishra, the film has been bankrolled by Bhavesh Mandalia’s Bombay Fables and Cineraas Entertainment along with Netflix India. The film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Ayyan Mani alongside Sejal Shah. Bhavesh Mandalia has also written the screenplay for the film. The rest of the cast and crew details is yet to be revealed.

The Netflix Original has been shot in Mumbai and will hit the platform soon.

Class Of 83

Class Of 83 explores the story of an upright policeman-turned-trainer whose students grapple with the complexities of honour, morals, and devotion to the nation. Bobby Deol who plays the lead character Dean Vijay Singh decides to punish the corrupt bureaucracy and its criminal allies who are behind the shunt with the help of his students.

Helmed by Atul Sabharwal, the film has been bankrolled by Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma under the Red Chillies Entertainment banner along with Netflix India. The film also stars Bhpendra Jadawat, Hitesh Bhojraj, Annup Sonii, and Joy Sengupta in important roles. The film is the official adaptation of S Hussain Zaidi’s 2019 book The Class of 83: The Punishers of Mumbai Police.

On the technical front, Viju Shah is on the music, Mario Poljac is on the cinematography, Manas Mittal on the edit, and Abhijeet Deshpande has adapted the story for the screen.

Shot in Mumbai, the film will hit Netflix soon.

The list of web series to drop on Netflix comprises Alankrita Shrivastava and Bornila Chatterjee’s Bombay Begums, Sonam Nair’s Masaba Masaba, Akarsh Khurana and Nipun Dharmadhikari’s Mismatched, Ravi V Patel and Neel Shah’s Bhaag Beanie Bhaag, and Mira Nair‘s A Suitable Boy.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Bombay Begums

Bombay Begums is about five women across generations thrown into the workplace who battle with desire, ethics, personal crises, and vulnerabilities together. They are required to make difficult choices to achieve their ambition, in contemporary urban India. The lead women characters are being essayed by Pooja Bhatt, Amruta Subhash, Shahana Goswami, Plabita Borthakur, and Aadhya Anand.

Helmed by Alankrita Shrivastava and Bornila Chatterjee, the series has been bankrolled by Abhishek Rege, Gaurav Gokhale, and Mrinalini Khanna under their Endemol Shine India banner. It also stars Rahul Bose, Manish Chaudhari, and Rituraj K Singh in important roles. While the rest of the crew has not been revealed, Shruti Mahajan has taken care of casting for the series.

Shot in Mumbai, the series will hit Netflix soon.

Masaba Masaba

Masaba Masaba is a scripted series based on the real-life moments from entrepreneur Masaba Gupta’s life. The series celebrates her life offering a glimpse into her fashion, romance, heartbreaks, and struggles she’s braved. It stars herself and mother Neena Gupta in the lead roles. It also marks the debut of Masaba.

Helmed by Sonam Nair, the series is being bankrolled by Ashvini Yardi’s Viniyard Films. The series also stars Neil Bhoopalam, Satyadeep Misra, Rytasha Rathod, and Suchitra Pillai in important roles.

The rest of the crew details are yet to be revealed.

The Netflix Original will stream on the platform soon.

Mismatched

Mismatched deals with the love and problems between two opposites Dimple and Rishi before they find their happily ever after. Dimple is a focussed tech wizard who wants to develop an app and Rishi is the happy-go-lucky boy straight out of a fairytale. Youtube fame Prajakta Koli plays Dimple, marking her debut into Bollywood and Rohit Saraf plays Rishi in the series.

The series is the Indian adaptation of Indian American author Sandhya Menon’s 2017 novel When Dimple Met Rishi.

Helmed by Akarsh Khurana and Nipun Dharmadhikari, the series is being bankrolled by Ronnie Screwvala and Sanaya Irani Zohrabi under the RSVP Movies banner. Gazal Dhaliwal, Sunayana Kumari, Aarsh Vora, and Akshay Jhunjhunwala have adapted the story of Mismatched for Indian audiences. The rest of the crew is yet to be revealed.

Bhaag Beanie Bhaag

Bhaag Beanie Bhaag is the journey of Beanie discovering herself in the midst of her emerging career in standup, a weird BFF, a yuppie boss, persistent parents, and a proposal-popping boyfriend. Earlier titled Messy, it has now been changed to Bhaag Beanie Bhaag starring Swara Bhaskar in the lead.

Helmed by Ravi V Patel and Neel Shah, the series has been bankrolled by Seher Aly Latif and Shivani Saran’s Mutant Films and David Bernad and Ruben Fleischer’s The District along with Netflix India. It also stars Varun Thakur, Mona Ambegaonkar, Girish Kulkarni, Dolly Singh, and Varun Bhagat in important roles. Debbie Rao and Abi Varghese have co-written the script with Ishaan Nair on the stills. The rest of the crew members are yet to be revealed.

A Suitable Boy

A Suitable Boy is a six-part series that deals with the journey of a passionate literature student Lata Mehra who defies traditional norms of selecting a partner and seeks love in 1951, encountering three different men. It features Tanya Maniktala, Tabu, and Ishaan Khatter in the lead roles.

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Helmed by Mira Nair, the series has been bankrolled by BBC Studios India for BBC One which will now also stream on Netflix with Netflix India coming on board. The series also stars Rasika Dugal, Vijay Varma, Namit Das, Randeep Hooda, Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Ram Kapoor, Shahana Goswami, Manoj Pahwa, Sadaf Jafar, Aamir Bashir, Mansi Multani, Vivaan Shah, and Vijay Raaz. Andrew Davies has written the script for the series. The rest of the crew is yet to be revealed.

The series is based on Indian author Vikram Seth’s 1993 novel of the same name and is one of the longest novels ever published in a single volume in the English language with 1,349 pages in total.

A Suitable Boy will stream on BBC One and Iplayer for viewers in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2020, while its premiere date on Netflix is yet to be revealed.

Read: With ‘She’ and ‘A Suitable Boy’, Vijay Varma Is Breaking Out Of The ‘Gully Boy’ Mould

While the slew of films, series’, and originals have managed to grab the attention of audiences, the South Indian audience is gutted with the list of films since it is bereft of any South Indian content. The streamer’s inclination towards Bollywood has left audiences with the impression that Netflix is being biased.

Some users even suggested that the streamer be renamed ‘Bollyflix’ or ‘Netflix North India’.

Watch the announcement video here: