I am not sure I get excited about too many TV series coming from India. I love the turn Indian Film industry took in past 5-7 years. Indie movie makers are coming of age and the content we’re getting from India has amazing value and depth. I am not so much of a fan of over-the-top action but I don’t detest it either. I do appreciate once a while indulgence with such genre for amusement rather than hero worshiping the movie cast. I may confess I am no saint either and there are certain actors I rate well above than some and the Khan triad doesn’t make the cut there (Certain projects by Aamir are definitely worthy of watching but even he is guilty of excessive marketing his work to maximize the dividends of One-Movie-At-A-Time policy). Well, by getting the disclaimer out, I am feeling much lighter to talk about what’s on my mind.
A Brilliant Stroke or Happy Coincidence
A visionary and very bold step taken by Netflix is going to shake things up in India and as much as I am thrilled, I am nervous too. Netflix knew for a price conscious market like India, the penetration may not happen till they don’t bring the local language content. Yes, India has a healthy number of subscribers that watch international content and has a strong Game of Thrones & Narcos following, but the explosive growth India can trigger for Netflix if local language content is offered.
The selection of Sacred Games was part of the 7 initial projects that Netflix had of which, Selection Day seems to be the only movie, rest are web-series, was a brilliant move. Bringing Strong actors like Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Saif Ali Khan, it made sure both the theater audience and mainstream Bollywood audience get their worth of time and interest in the series. A country that’s obsessed with Politics, Sex and Violence it was hardly a surprise that the three ingredients mixed with good blend of story plots will engage millions and create an instant buzz for he projects in pipeline.
Netflix’s 7 Projects to kick start India Originals lineup:
- Sacred Games based on Vikram Chandra‘s book by the same name.
- Selection Day, a movie based on Aravind Adiga‘s The White Tiger novel
- Again, written by Marisha Mukerjee who also wrote Quantico
- Bard of Blood by Bilal Siddiqi, Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment
- Leila based on a book by Prayaag Akbar
- Ghoul, Written and directed by Patrick Graham, a series based on Arabic folklore
- Crocodile, written by Binky Mendez
Censorship getting Censored
A long standing gripe between creative side and governance side in Indian Film industry is when we see quite often the censor Board and Directors try to tussle it out to get the content out to public with last amount of cuts. Where Directors cry foul of stifling the creative liberties and exploring the more depth in human psychology with their characters and Censor Board refusing to play ball in the name of exposing “UNETHICAL” content to the public at large.
With Sacred Games directly airing to 190 countries (thanks to Netflix’s global reach) the reason to get a certificate from Indian Censor Board is not needed at all. This can set an ominous trend for aspiring directors and writers, as writers who always remained conservative in exploring the layers of their characters as they knew Censor Board might curtail anything remotely controversial use to keep their characters light in execution. Also the Directors even when making any TV Series or Movie out of a novel that had any detailed graphic content used to shy away in depicting that in the movie may turn towards Netflix to express such stories.
Anurag Kashyap’s public spat with Censor board is still in peoples’ minds. I am sure Censor board will be watching this keenly too, that how is the reception of this web-series is going to get in India. If they word of mouth spreads fast like a wild fire (which seems to be the case), this will set interesting trends for the upcoming series by Netflix and also for Sacred Games second season. I won’t be surprised if as a retaliation, Netflix’s Indian entity comes under severe regulation and reprimand in taxes by Indian Govt, recommended by CBFC.
Is Bollywood being challenged?
This is an obvious question that comes to many people’s mind after the early success of Sacred Games and things may seem to be tilting more in favour of deep pockets and global reach of Netflix but I am not so sure Netflix will be able to topple the Bollywood’s tried and tested formula that people keep buying for more than 100 years.
Almost a decade back when global studios started coming to India to look for content and to take over big Indian studios in order to penetrate the Indian market and woo the Indian audiences, Bollywood transformed itself and a new variety of content come to surface and we discovered the appetite of Indian audience was indeed increasing and the taste of Indian urban class was evolving. More projects were surfacing where the run-of-the-mill formula of over the top action was giving way to more sensitive and sensible cinema.
I don’t want to list the path breaking movies that have come about in past decade showing entirely new face of Indian cinema, but it seems Indian audience has a hunger to consume any sort of content, and in a country of 1.4 bn them. Netflix has opened a new door for the Urban audience market, but only time will tell hoe effective they would be in tier II cities and rural segments where the standard and proven Bollywood formula films will keep a hold for some time to come.
One thing is for sure for Indian audience, there are exciting times ahead indeed!!!
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Thoughts Unplugged !!! 