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 The success of original U.S. shows like "House of Cards,"
"Orange is the New Black" and "Stranger Things" has been at the
heart of Netflix’s seduction of 125 million subscribers
globally.
But like other U.S. entertainment firms, it has identified the
need to create local content as important in winning viewers in
some of the big emerging markets which are likely to dominate
growth over the next decade.
A Hindi-language thriller set in Mumbai, "Sacred Games" launches
less than a month after the success of its Indian film "Lust
Stories" and comes at a time when fellow U.S. heavyweights
Comcast Corp <CMCSA.O> and Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> are vying for
control of Indian pay TV network Tata Sky as part of their fight
for Twenty-First Century Fox Inc <FOXA.O>.
Both "Lust Stories" and "Sacred Games" seek to marry the Western
styles and values that exposure to Netflix and Amazon has
brought to younger Indians with the rich and varied output of
the country’s massive domestic film industry.
Netflix is spending $8 billion this year on original content and
has said that figure will rise as it seeks to cement its
position at the head of the streaming industry globally. The
company’s international streaming revenue grew over 58 percent
last year, according to latest filings. With China’s heavily
censored market proving a hard nut to crack, India is at the
heart of that growth. Netflix plans to release another three
original shows there this year compared to Amazon’s planned 10
while both have also been battling to sign some of the country’s
leading stand-ups for specials.
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An action-driven police procedural that will also be familiar to
foreign viewers, "Sacred Games" is anchored by Bollywood star
Saif Ali Khan as a policeman with 25 days to head off a
terrorist threat to Mumbai. It is directed by Bollywood veteran
Anurag Kashyap and also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika
Apte.
"Sacred Games" outlines the life of a police officer, Sartaj
Singh, tipped by an anonymous call one morning promising him an
opportunity to capture the powerful criminal Ganesh Gaitonde.
As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that there is a lot more
at stake in the game than initially seemed.
The film's stars and directors, all well known veterans of
India's huge Bollywood film system, greeted more than 250
specially invited Netflix fans and celebrities outside tech
capital Bengaluru's Forum Mall for the premiere.
(Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Writng
by Patrick Graham; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
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