Netflix teams signs deal to produce first Indian series

NEW DELHI: US online streaming service Netflix said on Monday its first original Indian series will be based on Vikram Chandra’s acclaimed novel “Sacred Games”,

NEW DELHI: US online streaming service Netflix said on Monday its first original Indian series will be based on Vikram Chandra’s acclaimed novel “Sacred Games”, which centres round the organised crime and politics of Mumbai.

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Netflix has turned to original series to drive growth in markets around the world, producing hit series, such as, “Daredevil”, “House Of Cards” and “Narcos”. The firm’s net profit fell to $122.6 million in 2015, from $266.8 million in the previous year.

Sacred Games, to be shot in India, will be produced by Netflix and India’s Phantom Films. The Hindi-English series will be available to Netflix subscribers globally.

The series, set in India’s financial hub, will delve into Mumbai’s “intricate web of organised crime, corruption, politics and espionage that lie beneath India’s economic renaissance”. It will interweave the “lives of the privileged, the famous, the wretched and the bloodthirsty”.

“I’m confident that all the colour and vitality and music of the fictional world will come fully alive on the large-scale canvas provided by Netflix,” Chandra said in a statement. “Over the last few years, I’ve watched with great excitement as Netflix has transformed narrative television with its ground-breaking, genre-bending shows.”

“We are extremely confident that together we will create some exciting and groundbreaking television content, said Madhu Mantena of Phantom Films.

Erik Barmack, vice-president of international original series at Netflix, said Chandra’s novel will be brought to life with the best Indian and global film talent.

Netflix is the world’s leading internet video-streaming service with more than 81 million subscribers in more than 190 countries, who access some 125 million hours of TV shows and movies a day.

Phantom Films, formed by Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena in 2011, has been behind films such as “Lootera”, “Hasee Toh Phasee”, “Queen” and “NH10”.