Ali Fazal's Khufiya and Madhuri Dixit's Finding Anamika's teaser, Meenakshi Sundareshwar's song unveiled by Netflix

    Netflix shares glimpse of upcoming projects

    Ali Fazal's Khufiya and Madhuri Dixit's Finding Anamika's teaser, Meenakshi Sundareshwar's song unveiled by Netflix

    Streaming platform Netflix on Saturday unveiled exclusive footage from its upcoming projects, including Vishal Bhardwaj's film "Khufiya", Madhuri Dixit Nene's "Finding Anamika", Kartik Aaryan-starrer "Dhamaka" during its global fan event TUDUM. The event, hosted by Ali Fazal and Radhika Apte, invited director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for his debut series Heeramadi".

    "I'm the caretaker and this magical place is called the Netflix library where you come to watch what's recommended for you or watch shows that have always been there for you or to continue your recently watched but today we are going to show you what's new," Fazal said.

    The actor then showcased new footage from Kartik Aaryan's "Dhamaka". Aaryan will be seen for the first time in an intense avatar in Ram Madhvani-directed thriller "Dhamaka". The streamer is yet to announce the film's release date. Aaryan plays a journalist in the film in the middle of a live broadcast of a terror attack in Mumbai.

    Fazal also gave a sneak peek into Riteish Deshmukh's digital debut film, a quirky comedy "Plan A Plan B", co-starring Tamannaah Bhatia. A song from Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu's "Meenakshi Sundareshwar" was also a part of the virtual event.

    Apte, who has starred in various Netflix projects like Lust Stories, Sacred Games and Ghoul , then took over from Fazal to share a teaser of "Finding Anamika", which marks the digital debut of Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit Nene. Directed by Karishma Kohli and Bejoy Nambiar and produced by Karan Johar's Dharmatic, the series revolves around Dixit Nene's character and what happens when she suddenly vanishes without a trace.

    Referring to Vishal Bhardwaj as a magician storyteller, Apte said the filmmaker turns any story into gold through his camera. Bhardwaj is coming up with a spy thriller film Khufiya, featuring Tabu, Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi and Ashish Vidyarthi. "The cherry on the top is that he is composing the music too. How can someone be so talented? This is a mystery just like the film," Apte said, before sharing a glimpse of "Khufiya".


    Next in line was Bhansali's pre-Independence set series "Heeramandi". Talking about how the idea of "Heeramandi" was born, the 58-year-old filmmaker said his friend Moin Baig introduced him to the story 14 years ago, which he later presented to Netflix and they loved it. "It's very ambitious, it's very big, very vast. It tells you the story of the courtesans, pre-independence in Lahore. They kept music, poetry, dance and the art of living. The politics within the brothels and how to emerge as the winner," Bhansali said. "It's a difficult one, but I hope we come across with flying colors this time," he added. Bhansali, known for his opulent films such as Devdas , Bajirao Mastani and "Padmaavat , also talked about completing 25 years in film industry. He made his directorial debut with "Khamoshi: The Musical" in 1996. His other major projects include "Black", Guzaarish , "Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela" and others.

    "When I look back at 25 years and I think it's very precious to me because you have to be blessed to be able to get a chance to make a film and that's why I cling on to the studio because the studio floor is the most magical That's my temple, that's my everything, he added.

    This was followed by the unveiling of a teaser trailer for Raveena Tandon's debut series "Aranyak", in which she plays a cop.

    Besides these major Hindi projects, the streaming platform also shared the look of filmmaker Basil Joseph's upcoming Malayalam-language superhero film "Minnal Murali", featuring south star Tovino Thomas in the lead.

    "When they came to me with the story it was narrated like a comic book story. But when the script was written it turned into this big story. It is an original superhero script in Malayalam and we wondered how that would turn out. 'Minnal Murali' in my career as an actor is the biggest film I have ever done," Thomas said. Joseph said there are challenges in making a film in the superhero genre and to make it in Malayalam it was all the more challenging.

    The trailer of fourth and final season of actors Dhruv Sehgal and Mithila Palkar's much-loved series Little Things was also unveiled. It will premiere on Netflix on October 15.