• Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Watches & Jewellery
  • Culture
  • SUSTAINABILITY
  • Female TV
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Watches & Jewellery
  • Culture
  • SUSTAINABILITY
  • FemaleTV
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Subscribe Now!
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu 1
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Contact
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Policy
SPH Media

MCI (P) 032/12/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Watches & Jewellery
  • Culture
  • SUSTAINABILITY
  • Female TV

Culture

Putting The Spotlight On Indian Cinema And Television

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Culture

Putting The Spotlight On Indian Cinema And Television

In the coming months, 17 films and television series will be released on Netflix.

by John Lui  /   August 21, 2020

Netflix viewers can expect more made-in-India titles as the streaming service ramps up its investment in shows from the nation.

In the coming months, 17 films and television series will be released, running the gamut from romance and drama to comedies and thrillers.

In an e-mail, Monika Shergill, vice-president of content at Netflix India, tells The Straits Times that the slate is “well-balanced”.

“It gives almost equal representation to male and female writers, directors, producers and actors. These stories from India’s finest creators represent the tremendous diversity that Indian storytelling holds for the world,” she says.

One film, released last week, is the biopic Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (PG13, 112 minutes). The story of India’s first female air force officer to fly in combat is now among the top 10 most-watched films on Netflix Singapore.

Director Sharan Sharma says in a separate e-mail interview that shooting the aerial scenes – mostly in the European nation of Georgia – was a “surreal” experience.

The production team was “clear from the start” that real aircraft would be used as much as possible, instead of relying on computer effects.

Crime thriller Raat Akeli Hai looks at the shady side of small-town India through the eyes of a policeman.

“The aerial action was definitely a major challenge, as it needed a very specific kind of expertise. However, it was also the most thrilling part of the shoot,” says the director, who makes his feature debut with the film.

The flying scenes depict helicopter pilot Gunjan Saxena – played by young actress Janhvi Kapoor – in training as well as in action during the 1999 Kargil War, an armed conflict between India and Pakistan.

“It was almost surreal for me, my director of photography and Janhvi to be up in the air, filming for six days. We were glad we stuck to that decision. It was a lot more challenging and probably more expensive, but I feel it was worth it,” Sharma says.

The story depicts Saxena’s struggle against the prejudices of the ’90s. Officially, the walls stopping women from becoming pilots had come down, but unofficially, male pilots created new obstacles.

Viewing women as enemies of cherished masculine traditions, the men set up women pilots to fail, such as by refusing to build women’s changing rooms and assigning flight duties to only men.

“The film is a reflection of Saxena’s journey and the kind of mindsets she had to tackle. It is a reflection of the world we lived in and continue to live in. In 2020, it feels like a lot has changed, but there still is a long way to go,” Sharma says.

“It gives almost equal representation to male and female writers, directors, producers and actors. These stories from India’s finest creators represent the tremendous diversity that Indian storytelling holds for the world.” – Monika Shergill, vice-president of content at Netflix India

Also making his feature film debut is director Honey Trehan, whose crime thriller Raat Akeli Hai (NC16, 149 minutes) was released on July 31. Through the eyes of policeman Yadav, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the norms of life outside India’s major cities are exposed.

The screenplay, written by Smita Singh, shows how “culture in a lot of small towns is still steeped in a feudalistic mentality,” says Trehan viae-mail.

Yadav’s attempt at tracking down a murderer is complicated by the involvement of a powerful family who is linked to the trafficking of women. The cop is repeatedly reminded of his place in the local pecking order, one defined not just by family connections, but also by caste.

“The darkness is always hidden deep within, where everyone knows it exists but nobody talks about it,” he says.

Coming to Netflix Singapore on Aug 21 is the crime thriller Class Of ’83 (NC16, 98 minutes).

Janhvi Kapoor takes on the role of India’s first female air force officer to fly in combat in the biopic Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl.

Set in the 1980s, it stars Bobby Deol as Vijay Singh, the tough but mysterious dean of the police academy in Bombay (now Mumbai). He recruits a group of cadets and shapes them into a secret vigilante team, embedded with the police but acting outside the law.

Director Atul Sabharwal says the film, loosely based on a non-fiction book by S. Hussain Zaidi, seeks to capture the spirit of a turbulent period.

He says in an e-mail: “1980s India holds a special interest for my generation. It was eventful, and not always in the best possible ways.”

It was a time of increased militancy and political assassinations, and closed markets made smuggling a lucrative business. Anyone seeking to open a business had to obtain a bewildering array of permits issued by bureaucracy dubbed the “Licence Raj”.

“Corruption was rampant in government departments because of the Licence Raj,” Sabharwal says.

The story, which deals with the use of murder to clean up the streets, is not based on any single case.

“Mr Zaidi, the writer of the book, was present as a research consultant and always helpful with anecdotes and facts,” Sabharwal says.

“The film uses fictional archetypes, in situations inspired by real events all over the country, not just from Bombay of the ’80s.”

Here are some upcoming made-in-India works on Netflix. Release dates are to be confirmed.

This article first appeared in The Straits Times.

Related Articles

How Singapore Chinese-Ghanaian Fashion Model Keyana Is Speaking Up On Racism

Binge On 106 Singapore TV And Film Classics On Netflix This August

Diya Prabhakar: The Singapore Supermodel In The Making

https://www.femalemag.com.sg/gallery/culture/spotlight-netflix-indian-cinema-and-television-diversity-pop-culture/
Putting The Spotlight On Indian Cinema And Television
A Suitable Boy
image

Directed by the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated Mira Nair (for the 1988 crime drama Salaam Bombay!), this four-episode miniseries is produced by BBC One and distributed by Netflix in this region.

 

It is adapted from Vikram Seth’s celebrated 1993 novel of the same name. Screenwriter Andrew Davies (romantic comedy Bridget Jones’ Diary, 2001, and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, 2004) tells the story of college student Lata (Tanya Maniktala) and her friends and family in 1950s India as they aspire to love and stability in a rapidly-changing nation.

Ludo
image

This comedy-drama, which stars Abhishek A. Bachchan and Rajkummar Rao, is about four people whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways. Called a “dark comedy anthology” by some news sites, it is helmed by reality show judge and film-maker Anurag Basu.

AK vs AK
image

This drama stars two of India’s biggest male leads, Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap, who play versions of themselves. In this film-within-a-film mind-twister, Kashyap is a film director who kidnaps Kapoor’s daughter and films the actor’s desperate search in real time in the hope of creating a hit.

  • TAGS:
  • diversity
  • films
  • indian cinema
  • netflix
  • pop culture
  • race relations
  • television
SHARE THIS ON

Trending

Culture

Korean Rock Star LØREN Ushers In New Age Of Indie

Culture

Discover The Potential Of SEA Art At This Specially Curated Showcase

Culture

New And Fashionable Restaurants That Will Impress Your Dinner Date

Culture

What's In Store In 2023 For The Singapore Visual Artists And Image Makers Making Waves Overseas

Culture

Get To Know These Emerging Artists In Singapore

Culture

The Young Singapore Musicians Breaking Genres And Conventions

Culture

A Sake Boom Is Brewing Right Now

Culture

The Singapore Artist Creating The Most Fantastical Dining Environments

Culture

The 4-1-1 On Upcoming Concerts In Singapore

Culture

Best Upcoming Parties Popping Up In Singapore In February 2023

Culture

Things To Do In Singapore: A Radical New Gallery Opens On Ann Siang Hill & More

Culture

Things To Do In Singapore: Singapore Art Week 2023 Kicks Off!

Editor’s Picks
  • Culture New And Fashionable Restaurants That Will Impress Your Dinner Date
  • Culture What's In Store In 2023 For The Singapore Visual Artists And Image Makers Mak...
  • Culture Get To Know These Emerging Artists In Singapore
  • Culture The Young Singapore Musicians Breaking Genres And Conventions
  • Culture A Sake Boom Is Brewing Right Now
  • Culture The 4-1-1 On Upcoming Concerts In Singapore
Female Newsletter
Sign up for one of our free newsletters to receive the latest news, commentary and fashion features straight from FEMALE.

By signing up, you indicate that you have read and agreed with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Policy
SPH Media

MCI (P) 032/12/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.