R. Madhavan, Rajkummar Rao Lead Netflix India Films at the Tokyo event
Netflix unveiled three Indian productions in its APAC showcase in Tokyo, with Rajkummar Rao and R. Madhavan who led the slate of upcoming titles set for the Release of 2025.
The presentation, led by Netflix India Original films Head Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh, emphasized the growing dedication of the streaming platform for various Indian stories about languages and genres.
“This year our most diverse year so far,” Sheikh told those present. “After the wild lover ‘Pushpa 2’, Dragon ‘and’ Chhaava ‘, we have an exciting line -up of some of the greatest theatrical films that come to Netflix in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.”
Currently streaming is “test”, Netflix’s first Tamil-Taal original film, a sports drama with R. Madhavan, Nayanthara and Siddharth. Sheikh also spoke the upcoming release of “Jewel Thief”, described as a “High Octane Heist-Action movie” with Saif Ali Khan and Jaideep Ahlawwat, planned to debut within days of the showcase.
The spotlight then turned to three upcoming productions. “Monkey Jaisa Koi” (someone like you) plays R. Madhavan and Fatima Sana Sheikh in what sheikh described as “a heart -warming romantic drama” in Kolkata. The film, directed by Vivek Soni, marks the return of Madhavan to the romance genre and follows an unlikely relationship between an introverted teacher of 40-Like and a self-assured woman of 30 who is a French teacher.
‘Inspector sent’, with Manoj Bajpayee and Jim Sarbh, draw inspiration from real events. The 1980s film directed by Chinmay Mandlekar Chronicles Madhukar Bapurao sent, an “ordinary agent with an extraordinary sense of justice”, pursuing the infamous international criminal Carl Bhojraj.
Also on display was “Toaster”, Rajkummar Rao’s newest comedy and the first production of Kampa Films, The New Production House launched by Rao and his wife, actor Patalekhaa. The film shows Rao as a gap whose obsession with a wedding gift – a toaster – activates ‘murder and chaos’. The cast of the ensemble includes Sanya Malhotra, Abhishek Banerjee, Seema Pahwa and Archaa Puran Singh.
Sheikh emphasized the recent successes of the platform and noted that ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, ‘Maharaja’ and ‘Laapata Ladies’ had broken cultural barriers to ‘some of the most viewed Indian films on Netflix worldwide’.
During a conversation on stage with Sheikh, Rao discussed the Genesis of Kampa Films: “We were on vacation in Goa, and our friend visited us from Delhi, who does not come from the industry at all … He said:” Why don’t you produce? “”
Rao also revealed his approach to comedy: “I am not trying to be funny while doing comedy, which is a very difficult task, because you sometimes get greedy … but that would just ruin the scene. So you have to be very controlled while doing comedy.”
The showcase emphasized the growing dedication of Netflix to Indian films, where sheikh stated: “For Netflix in India, almost half of the view from film, which is one of the highest worldwide. In the past year, an Indian film was shown in Netflix’s Global Top 10 (non-English) list every week.”
