Netflix adds10 new original films across various genres in India

With these additions, a total of 15 new original Indian films will be available to Netflix users around the world by the end of 2020.

Business Standard : Continuing its investment in Indian content, global streaming giant Netflix on Monday announced a slate of 10 new original films, across a range of genres and subjects.

With these additions, a total of 15 new original Indian films -- including previously announced titles "Music Teacher", "Cobalt Blue", "Chopsticks", "Upstarts" and "Bulbul" -- will be available to Netflix users around the world by the end of 2020.

"When Netflix launched in India, we changed the way Indian audiences enjoy their films," Srishti Behl Arya, Director - International Original Film, India, Netflix, said in a statement.

"Given our diversity, history and culture, India is home to powerful stories waiting to be told to audiences around the world. The depth of talent and vision of our creators is enabling us to create films our members will love. We want to be a home for India's finest filmmakers where their stories travel to more people than ever before," Arya added.

As part of the new slate, viewers can expect "Ghost Stories", which will reunite directors Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap after "Lust Stories" to tell spine-chilling tales. This will be produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP and Ashi Dua.

Dibaker has also directed and produced "Freedom", the story of an Indian family interwoven with the personal, ideological and sexual history of India and how desire plays a common role in each.

ALSO READ: Netflix strengthens position as theater owners assess industry future

Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment is producing "Class of 83". Directed by Atul Sabharwal, it explores the story of an upright policeman-turned-trainer whose students grapple with the complexities of honour, morals and devotion to the nation.

There will be thrills and chills with "Mrs. Serial Killer", directed by Shirish Kunder and produced by his filmmaker wife Farah Khan.

"The Internet is an exciting place for telling stories that are multi genre and multi layered," said Farah.

"Guilty", produced by Dharmatic and directed by Ruchi Narain, explores the versions of truth that emerge when a small town girl accuses the college heartthrob of rape.

Thugs of Hindostan' is like Koffee with Karan, albeit without the gossip

It's time we retire the films that put the stardom of actors above content and form.

Business Standard : Movies appeal to us for a variety of reasons. Some stand out for their ‘what’ (content), some for their ‘how’ (form), some for their both ‘what’ and ‘how’. 

Then there’s the fourth kind: the one about ‘who’. This is the cinema of the privileged – the moneyed producers who make the ‘who’ possible, the factor transcending ‘what’ and ‘how’. The main curiosity here revolves around the stars. That gets multiplied if the makers manage a casting coup: convincing two big names, not known for their collaboration, to share screen time. That in itself is enough – to the extent that the craft of filmmaking becomes irrelevant. The audience gets its doze of voyeurism: watching stars react to each other. It’s a bit like Koffee with Karan, albeit without gossip and with some pretense of storytelling.

Such films will always be in demand because we don’t just love our stars, we revere them. Which is why it’s not surprising that the cinema of ‘who’ hits the theatres during festivals. This Diwali, we have Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan, produced by Yash Raj Films, featuring stars that have never acted in a film together: Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. A period drama, Thugs of Hindostan is set in 1795 when the East India Company has begun its rapid colonisation of the country. Resistance comes through a band of thugs, led by Khudabaksh Azaad (Bachchan), who aspires to free the Indian subcontinent – Hindostan – from the foreign rule. Then there’s another thug, the small-time conman Firangi Mallah (Khan), thoroughly devoid of conscience and purpose, hired by the British to capture Azaad and dismantle his group.

You don’t need to re-read the synopsis to figure out the mechanics of this movie. Two big stars, cast opposite each other, spawning hype and intrigue: check. Casting them as characters hostile to each other to generate conflict and tension: check. Bringing them together later in the guise of fighting the common enemy (because stars, obsessively guarding their images, can do no wrong): check. Enough action sequences to keep you distracted: check. Heated confrontations culminating in sweet resolution and reunion: check. This is predictable and clichéd filmmaking, and, if you’ve seen enough multi-starrers, Thugs of Hindostan – with one eye at the box-office and the other at the vanity of the stars – will not come as a surprise.

This lack of ambition, however, isn’t as much of a problem as is the lack of effort. At its best, Thugs of Hindostan could have been a straightforward, by-the-numbers crowd-pleaser. Which would have been fine: nothing more was expected of it. And for that to happen, its principal actors had to do just one thing: show up to work. But they fail to cross that ridiculously low bar as well.... Read More

From 'Sanju' to 'Neerja', Fox Star Studios' focus on alliances pays off

After a disastrous 2015, the studio went back to the drawing board to realign its strategy and has been able to turn things around.

Three years back, two major multi-national film studios -- Disney India and Fox Star Studios (FSS) -- found themselves in a super slump at the Bollywood box office. Both had a bad run at the movies with films like Bombay Velvet and Tamasha failing to make an impact, despite a commendable cast and director. As a result, Disney India decided to take a step back from Bollywood.

For the second studio, FSS, 2015 was an exceptionally bad year with just one of the seven releases making an impact at the box office. However, instead of calling it quits, FSS decided to take a step back, re-evaluate its strategy, and start anew. Three years on, the new strategy seems to be paying off.

There continue to be some hits and misses, but FSS has managed to churn out commercially and critically successful films over the past couple of years, including titles like Neerja, Kapoor and Sons, and, most recently, Sanju.

Going back to the drawing board, the studio realised that the focus needs to shift from actors to characters, or in other words, from scale to script. Thus came a renewed emphasis on story and working with partners -- actors, directors or co-creators, who brought as much to the table as FSS did. While the studio continues to have a long-standing working relationship with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, it has also entered partnerships with Sajid Nadiadwala and Rajkumar Hirani.

"We had decided on two focus areas. The first was to do more home productions where our creative teams are driving the entire process, starting with the script. The other equally important agenda was to scale up through strategic alliances with key creative production houses who share our vision. These alliances include our longstanding partnership with Dharma, which we are very proud of, our successful association with Sajid Nadiadwala and, more recently, with Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It's important to work with partners over several films to develop a shared agenda that maximises the synergies for both parties," says Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios.

The strategy of alliances seems to be working since some of the biggest hits from FSS in recent years have come from the co-production slate like Kapoor and Sons (Dharma), Baaghi 2 (Sajid Nadiadwala) and, most recently, Sanju (Hirani and Chopra). FSS' home productions like Neerja and MS Dhoni have also managed to hit the bullseye.

Read More

Article Source BS