Filmmakers Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar on Tuesday announced a host of projects, including shows such as Ananya Pandey-starrer Call Me Bae and Mirzapur 3, which will debut on streaming service Prime Video this year.
At the streamer's slate announcement event Prime Video Presents, Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment announced three original shows -- Call Me Bae, Daring Partners, and The Tribe -- besides unveiling the trailer of soon-to-release Ae Watan Mere Watan with the film’s cast Sara Ali Khan, Emraan Hashmi, Sparsh Srivastava and Sachin Khedekar.
Musician Sukhwinder Singh was in attendance and performed a song from the pre-independence drama movie, directed by Kannan Iyer.
Pandey’s Call Me Bae is about an heiress who is disowned and has to make a living out of her smarts. It is directed by Collin D'Cunha.
Ishita Moitra of Rocky Rani Kii Prem Kahani fame serves as the creator and writer. The cast includes Vir Das, Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, and Mini Mathur.
"We were looking for someone who is uber stylish, but also someone who can take a joke on herself and break the stereotype. Ananya is having a moment and we all are just basking in her glory,” said D'Cunha.
Actors Diana Penty and Tamannaah Bhatia will be seen playing two best friends in the upcoming show Daring Partners.
The series will follow the two best-friends, who embark on a daring journey as partners in an alcohol start-up, where they challenge norms, bend rules, and craft their destiny within a male-dominated industry.
“Thank you for putting out this amazing story for women, who just want to be there, and be unapologetic about it. It's a beautifully written show. It is a delicious meaty part to play. I'm super excited. I'm so happy to be doing this with Diana,” Bhatia said.
“It's a show that will really shine. This is my debut OTT series and to be able to do so for Prime Video and Dharma is the best thing I could have asked for,” Penty added.
The Tribe, which stars Alanna Panday, Alaviaa Jaaferi, Srushti Porey, Alfia Jafry, Aryaana Gandhi, and Hardik Zaveri, is a reality show from Dharmatic, revolves around a group of influencers, including Ananya’s cousin.
Johar's film production banner Dharma Productions announced that their recently-released movie, "Yodha", will be available for streaming on Prime Video after its theatrical run.
Fronted by Sidharth Malhotra, the action movie has garnered mixed response at the box office since its release on March 15. The streaming release date of Yodha, which also stars Raashi Khanna, and Disha Patani, is yet to be announced.
Another Dharma movie, Vicky Kaushal-starrer Bad Newz, will stream on Prime Video as well after its theatrical release on July 19. The rib-tickling comedy, which co-stars Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk, is directed by Anand Tiwari.
Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's banner Excel Entertainment announced their upcoming slate of movies and OTT shows that will be out on Prime Video.
Their film line-up includes Ranveer Singh-Kiara Advani's Don 3, Siddhant Chaturvedi's actioner Yudhra, Emraan Hashmi's Ground Zero, Rahul Dholakia-directed Agni, actor Kunal Kemmu's caper comedy Madgaon Express, and Reema Kagti's directorial Supermen of Malegaon, which is an Amazon original movie and is co-produced by Zoya Akhtar and Kagti’s Tiger Baby Productions.
Kagti, who had a great success in Dahaad on Prime Video last year, said the film, based on a true story, is a “homage to filmmaking”. The movie will feature Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, and Shashank Arora.
"Supermen of Malegaon follows the journey of an aspiring filmmaker as he bands together his group of friends to make a film for his small town of Malegaon."
“It is about love, friendship and longing, there’s a lot of stuff actually. I'm very excited to present this sizzle and look forward to the release,” she added.
Zoya said the script of Superman of Malegaon, penned by Varun Grover, is amazing.
“The film is a representation. You want to see yourself on screen, there are so many kinds of people and they put themselves on screen, and that’s so inspiring,” she added.
Chaturvedi headlines Excel's action movie Yudhra, which will land on Prime Video post its debut in Indian theatres.
“I’m a big fan of action movies and I wanted to do something that pushes the bar, which is new and exciting. ‘Yudhra’ is an emotion. I’ve had a great time working on it," the actor said.
Directed by Ravi Udyaar, Yudhra also stars Malavika Mohanan, Raghav Juyal, Ram Kapoor, Gajraj Rao, Raj Arjun, and Shilpa Shukla.
Dholakia's Agni stars Pratik Gandhi, Divyenndu, Saiyami Kher, Sai Tamhankar, Jitendra Joshi, Udit Arora, Kabir Shah.
The film is set in a city engulfed by a mysterious surge in fires. It follows Vithal, a courageous fireman, and his brother-in-law, Samit, a hotshot policeman, begrudgingly join forces to unravel the escalating crisis.
"As they battle their own differences and a race against time, they must reconcile personal conflicts to crack the case and protect Mumbai from impending disaster," the official plotline read.
Ground Zero, directed by Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar, is set in the aftermath of the Indian Parliament attack in 2001.
It follows BSF 2nd in Command Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey who embarks on a two-year-long investigation leading to the encounter of Jaish-e-Mohammad’s chief and mastermind behind the attack- Ghazi Baba, enabling India’s most successful counter-terrorism operation in history, the description read.
Among the streaming shows from Excel is the fan-favourite Mirzapur, which returns with its much-awaited season three, as well as the new series, Karan Anshuman-helmed Andhera.
Featuring an ensemble cast of Priya Bapat, Karanvir Malhotra, Prajakta Koli, Surveen Chawla, Vatsal Sheth, Parvin Dabas, and Pranay Pachauri, the new show is created by Gaurav Desai and directed by Raaghav Dar.
Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti's Tiger Baby is also bringing In Transit, a documentary series on trans and non-binary people navigating love, identity and gender. It is directed by Ayesha Sood.
Shai Guy
