Netflix Shelves Indian Film ‘Tees’, Director Dibakar Banerjee Seeks New Buyer

Netflix will splash the cash in the APAC region this year, boosting content investment by 15% as revenues grow by 12%, according to a report from Media Partners Asia (MPA).

EXCLUSIVE: Karan Anshuman and Suparn Varma, two of the first writers, directors and showrunners to move into India’s web series space, have co-directed Rana Naidu, Netflix’s Indian remake of Ray Donovan, produced by Sunder Aaron’s Locomotive Global. The Hindi-language show starts streaming worldwide from this Friday (March 10). 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming operation Netflix is forecast to spend $1.9 billion on local content in the Asia-Pacific region this year as group revenue from the region accelerates to 12%, according to a new report. The content investment spending figure represents a 15% hike. Netflix will grow revenues this year by 12% year-on-year to exceed $4 billion compared with 9% growth in 2022, says a new report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia.

enjoy actual exotic dancing, check out the 2015 sequel “Magic Mike XXL” starring Channing Tatum and fellow eye/guy candy Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash, Joe Manganiello and Adam Rodriguez. The movie makes its way to Netflix on March. 1.

Florida Man,” which premieres April 13. With creator, showrunner and executive producer Donald Todd (“This is Us”), the show depicts an ex-cop (Edgar Ramírez) who has to come home to Florida and find a runaway girlfriend. The quick gig turns into a long journey that uncovers family secrets. In addition to Ramírez, the show stars Anthony LaPaglia, Abbey Lee, Otmara Marrero, Lex Scott Davis, Emory Cohen, Clark Gregg, Isaiah Johnson, Paul Schneider and Lauren Buglioli. Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan executive produced the series for Aggregate.

Naman Ramachandran “Pushpa” star Allu Arjun will headline an as-yet-untitled Indian film to be directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga (“Kabir Singh”). The film will be produced by Bhushan Kumar’s film studio and music label T-Series and Vanga’s Bhadrakali Pictures (“Arjun Reddy”). Kumar and Pranay Reddy Vanga will serve as producers, while Shiv Chanana will be a coproducer. The shoot will commence after the wrap of Prabhas starrer “Spirit,” also produced by T-Series and directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. Bhadrakali Pictures and T-Series also have Vanga’s “Animal,” starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna, in the works.

Naman Ramachandran “The Elephant Whisperers,” the Indian film nominated in the Oscars’ documentary short film category, has received an outpouring of love globally with young fans sending their fan art and appreciation in hundreds of emails to the filmmakers. The film follows a couple, Bomman and Bellie, who devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu. Director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga, along with the film’s team in India and the U.S., have been receiving fan art depicting their love for the orphaned babies and the caring couple from the film. They have also received testimonials from many parents and some fans who sent video clips of their own animal companions watching the film at home.

Australian actor Pallavi Sharda has signed with ColorCreative and WME for representation in all areas. 

Netflix is cutting prices in dozens of countries by as much as half.“We’re always exploring ways to improve our members’ experience,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “We can confirm that we are updating the pricing of our plans in certain countries.”The streamer in recent months cut prices in a host of countries in the Middle East, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and parts of Asia.

Angelique Jackson The cast of Ava DuVernay’s latest film, inspired by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” is now complete with the addition of Blair Underwood, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Isha Blaaker, Leonardo Nam, Donna Mills and Emily Yancy. The seven actors join Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis, who was previously announced as the lead in the film, as well as Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga, Niecy Nash-Betts, Nick Offerman, Jon Bernthal, Audra McDonald, Connie Nielsen, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Myles Frost. Announced in October 2020, DuVernay serves as the writer and director of “Caste,” which adapts Wilkerson’s acclaimed book. Described in The New York Times as “an instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far,” the book — and subsequently DuVernay’s film — examines the system of hierarchy that has shaped America.

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed a continued investment push in the Indian market on Saturday. In a freewheeling chat with Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Mumbai to promote the latter’s upcoming Netflix series “Heeramandi,” Sarandos was bullish about India, repeating what he said on Friday to local media about the market’s growth. “India is the fastest growing Netflix market in the world this year and because of that, we’re able to continue to invest in great storytelling. And I think when you see ‘Heeramandi,’ you’re gonna see why it has been such the honor of a lifetime to work with Sanjay and to be able to bring this to screen. And you ain’t seen nothing yet,” Sarandos said.

Netflix’s Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has told an audience of Indian filmmakers that they “ain’t seen nothing yet” in terms of the streamer’s ambitions in the country.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Within a week of its publication on Jan.

Shalini Dore Features News Editor Smriti Mundhra, the creator of “Indian Matchmaking,” has launched a show called “The Romantics” on Netflix just in time for Valentine’s Day. The docuseries centers on a bastion of Hindi cinema, Yash Raj Films, which just released the smash hit “Pathaan.” Netflix releases the series day and date in India, the U.S. and around the world. And it is coming just as interest in films from the subcontinent are piquing international interest. “It was sort of on my bucket list to make something about Indian cinema, broadly,” she tells Variety. “The intention was to look at the formative, most iconic films in Indian cinema, or the filmmakers — something that gives a glimpse into our industry.”

“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” is coming to Netflix on May 4.

Almost a decade ago, a passenger plane went missing mid-flight with more than 200 people on board. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 suddenly disappeared from radar around 40 minutes after takeoff on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport in China.

The Netflix limited series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is set to premiere on May 4, 2023, creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes revealed at a virtual fan event on Tuesday. A first look at the project can be seen in the teaser trailer above.

teaser released by Netflix on Tuesday.“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” which consists of six episodes following Queen Charlotte’s journey to becoming the most powerful figure in the Bridgerton-verse, will premiere May 4, 2023. Unlike “Bridgerton” which she only executive produces, Shonda Rhimes serves as the showrunner for “Queen Charlotte.”The teaser picks up from the first look clip shared this fall in which young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) unknowingly encounters the mysterious and elusive young King George (Corey Mylchreest) in a thorny meet-cute, introducing the queen to her soon-to-be husband.What comes next is both a whirlwind romance and an exercise in high-stakes pressure as voices echo “your marriage is the business of this country; this cannot go wrong.”The trailer also teases the systemic obstacles Queen Charlotte faces as she enters England’s royal circle, as her confidants remind her, “You are the first of your kind, you must secure your position.” Despite Queen Charlotte’s adversity, she cements her status as stating, “This is my home, I am the queen.”The trailer, premiere date and additional imagery were unveiled at a virtual event Tuesday, in which Netflix revealed that the Queen’s Ball Experience will take place in New York City.

The BBC’s offices in Mumbai and New Delhi have been raided by income tax authorities.