Netflix’s first original offering to India will be based on Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games.
The Hindi-English screen adaptation of the 2006 novel by the Indian author will be set in Mumbai. The series will be produced in collaboration with Phantom Films, although Netflix did not share the release date of the show. Sacred Games will join the company’s growing inventory of original content such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.
The show, a thriller, explores Mumbai’s organized crime, politics and corruption. The Guardian described the book as an “epic thriller which doubles as an anatomy of modern India.”
This is the first attempt by the American company at localizing content in the country.
Original programming is part of Netflix’s plan to boost content across 190 markets it currently streams its programs in. In 2016, Netflix promised to spend $5 billion on “new and vintage films and TV shows this year, more than any network,” according to a Bloomberg report.
Netflix launched in India in January this year. However, the country received only 7% of Netflix’s US library and limited local content, disappointing many viewers hooked to its American shows. The company has been updating its content for India since its launch.