Netflix in India is trying its best to get the better of Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video in terms of subscription numbers. It has an estimated 5.5-million-strong subscriber base. But Disney+ Hotstar has nearly 35 million and Amazon Prime Video is close to 19.7 million.
Netflix's biggest issue is getting the content pie right. Some of its previous recent releases have not worked as well as it might have expected. But the streaming platform is trying its best. And some of its impending releases indeed offer plenty of promise.
Among the many, we have picked three. They are: Vaashi, Indian Predator and Darlings. We have picked the three because they represent different genres and sensibilities. Darlings is a dark comedy in Hindi. Vaashi is a gritty court drama in Malayalam. And Indian Predator is a docu series on a serial killer.
The three are set to stream within a month.
Vaashi - July 17
Tovino Thomas and Netflix make for a good combination. His biggest hit on streaming platforms was his direct-on-OTT release Minnal Murali, the Indian super hero movie. It was among the most watched movies on Netflix last year. just last week, Tovino Thomas' Dear Friend also started streaming. This beautiful movie on modern-day friendship has been going under the radar. Though the ending is a bit unconvincing, the film for the most part, is special. Tovino Thomas' Forensic and Kilometres and Kilometres have also done well on Netflix.
In the event, Vaashi, which features him and Keerthy Suresh in the leads, has a lot of expectation riding on it. This engaging court room drama earned good reviews upon its release in the theatres last month. The Malayalam film, which is directed by Vishnu G Raghav, will be available in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada as well on Netflix.
Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi - July 20
Netflix has had good success with two Indian docu-series in the past. The first one, House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths was indeed spine-chilling. It was on what is now known as Burari deaths, as an entire family of 11 was found hanging on the terrace with the lone survivor being the family dog. The second one was Crime Stories: India Detectives, which followed the Bengaluru police as they attempted to solve four violent crimes.
Now Netflix is set to stream Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi, which is a docu-series on a psychotic serial killer who murdered people, decapitated their corpses and even left the bodies at the gate of Tihar jail in Delhi. Along the dead bodies, he left a note for the police, mocking them and challenging them to grab him if they can. The show highlights the cat and mouse game between the police officers and the murderer. The killer Chandrakant Jha was eventually caught. But this macabre tale is worth telling.
Darlings - August 5
When big Bollywood stars make their digital debuts they invariably choose Netflix. Recently we saw Madhuri Dixit take the plunge through the suspense thriller The Fame Game. Now Alia Bhatt, among the top stars in Bollywood now, is turning a producer under the banner Eternal Sunshine Productions. Her debut production venture --- jointly with Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma (both (Red Chillies Entertainment), is called Darlings, and is all set to premiere on August 5. Aside from Alia, the film brings together a stellar cast of Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma and Roshan Mathew.
Darlings, the feature film debut for director Jasmeet K Reen, is a dark comedy drama which explores the lives of a mother-daughter duo trying to find their place in Mumbai.
- Veetla Vishesham, Jaadugar, Kunjeldho lead OTT releases - July 15 weekend
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