Netflix unveils Indian investments

Dev Patel will star in Hotel Mumbai

Netflix is bolstering its Indian offering with local commissions for a drama set in Goa and eight movies, including one starring Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel.

Supernatural drama series Typewriter will follow a group of young ghost hunters who attempt to catch spirits that have haunted a house. Producer details have not yet been revealed.

The streamer, which has targeted India during the past 12 months as a source of subscriber growth, has also ordered movies including Hotel Mumbai, starring Oscar-nominated actor Patel.

It explores the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and is being directed by Anthony Maras. The film will be available on Netflix in India as well as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Chopsticks is from director Sachin Yardi and follows a shy woman who teams up with a gangster to recover her stolen car, while relationship-focused period drama Bulbul is from India’s Clean Slate Films.

Upstarts, from director Udai Singh Pawar and Bandra West Productions, explores the local start-up scene, while Cobalt Blue is based on the bestselling novel that follows a brother and sister who fall in love with the same man.

The three other movies are 15th August, which revolves around the lives of those living in a cramped Mumbai apartment; Music Teacher, about a professor who meets up with a former pupil who has become a Bollywood star; and Firebrand, about a lawyer dealing with sexual assault claims.

Netflix’s Indian slate already includes forthcoming cricket drama Selection Day and Sacred Games, which has been extended into a second season. Two-thirds of viewers who have watched the latter are from outside of the country, Netflix said yesterday.

The latest commissions were revealed at the company’s See What’s Next: Asia event yesterday, where it unveiled a slate of new dramas from the region.