After Lust Stories, Rajma Chawal, Netflix announces eight new original films and one series from India

Netflix announced on 9 November that a total of eight Indian original films will be coming on its platform soon. With this, the streaming giant continues to expand its footprint in India. Simran Sethi, Content Executive at Netflix, made the announcement at Sea What’s Next: Asia event in Singapore. Netflix also lifted the curtains off its plans for Asia expansion by announcing the launch of 17 new originals. The announcement was made by Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos at See What’s Next: Asia. [caption id=“attachment_5487461” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rajma Chawal. Image via Facebook[/caption] The original series from India currently being made include Baahubali: Before the Beginning, Bard of Blood and an official adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. The Baahubali prequel will star Smaran Sahu, Mrunal Thakur, Rahul Bose, Atul Kulkarni, Sahib Verma and Sunil Palwal, the company announced. At a panel discussion, Simran Sethi, Director, International Originals, India talked about another Indian original Leila, which has celebrated director Deepa Mehta and scriptwriter Urmi Juvekar on board. “Leila is an amazing story. It is from a novel by author Prayaag Akbar. We optioned the book because it is a very powerful story of a mother’s quest to find her daughter in dystopic future.” Leila will feature Huma Qureshi, Sidharth and Sanjay Suri. Netflix is also working with Sujoy Ghosh on a new original, Typewriter, a Goa-set horror thriller in which a group of young, wannabe ghost hunters, and a dog, set out to capture the ghost that plagues the notorious home in their neighbourhood. There are four projects _Rajma Chawal_ , Priyanka Chopra’s Firebrand, 15 August and Music Teacher which will soon be available on the streaming platform. Netflix is developing other works including Chopsticks, Bulbul, produced by Anushka Sharma, Upstarts, Cobalt Blue. The streaming giant also announced that Dev Patel and Armie Hammer-starrer Hotel Mumbai will be coming on its platform mid 2019. “What we do is very special. We invest in stories and we commission some of the best stories around the world,” Hastings said. The line-up of its made-in-Asia shows also includes five Anime titles from Japan and original productions in Thai, Korean and Chinese languages. “Our core belief is that great stories can come from anywhere and right now, they are also coming from Asia. Whether it is _Sacred Games_ or _Lust Stories_ , we are fortunate to be able to work with the best storytellers from Asia,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos. Apart from India, Netflix will also a launch a slew of new anime series, including ones based on Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon. Other anime projects include Cagaster of an Insect Cage, a series from Gonzo that’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where a disease has turned people into giant insects; Yasuke, which is about a former warrior tasked with protecting a child targeted by dark forces; and Trese, which is based on a Philippine graphic novel about a woman going up against elements of a supernatural criminal underworld. The Thai-language shows include the live-action mystery series The Stranded and drama Shimmers, which is about five teens, stranded in a remote school, who are visited by terrifying forces. The streaming giant also announced a Chinese language Taiwanese show, Triad Princess, apart from the already commissioned series Nowhere Man. (With inputs from the Press Trust of India)