For International Mother Language Day (February 21), Netflix India’s Director of International Originals also gives us the inside scoop on what’s slated for 2020

In an exclusive interview with MetroPlus Srishti Arya, Netflix India’s Director of International Originals, recalls a group of women in south Delhi who got so hooked on a wave of Korean film and television, that they started learning to speak Korean and even the cuisine. This little anecdote reminds her of “the ultimate truth of how stories transcend language and borders,” especially in these polarising times. As of October 2019, Netflix globally released 100 seasons of local language, original scripted series from 17 countries and have plans for over 130 seasons more in 2020.

Netflix broke into the Indian market just three years ago and the ripple effect is remarkable. According to the streaming giant, Spanish, Korean and Japanese drove the highest viewing in India as they were released, after English and local Indian languages. Popular Spanish titles included La Casa de Papel (which was watched across 44 million households globally, making it Netflix’s most-watched international series in a non-English language) and horror movie Veronica. Japanese titles included The Naked Director and Ultraman, while Korean titles included Boys Over Flowers and Something in the Rain.

Of course, there is the business side of filmmaking; filming in other parts of the world is also less expensive while also tapping into more diverse talent pools. That said, this year will see the OTT platform tap into more cultures, affirms Srishti. She adds,” One of coolest line-ups has to be the slate from African countries; and its incredible to see the representation. We also release our content globally at the same time [unlike theatrical releases]. When we are working on anything in any region, we work for that region first but we are also working for the world.”

Across the industry The evolution is not just OTT-specific; Oscar-winning Parasite is the first Korean film that received a theatrical release in India, emphasising there is a niche but growing market for small-scale and plot-driven foreign films in India as around the world. Japanese film Shoplifters (which is on Netflix) achieved over 90% occupancy in its first run itself in cities like Chennai and also 95% occupancy in markets such as Ahmedabad and Chandigarh that otherwise witness an occupancy of 60 to 70% over weekends.

Srishti agrees that OTT platforms have essentially proven that Hollywood can no longer be officially labelled ‘an international institution’ and she finds this reckoning “liberating, because this is the Golden Age for content creators. We are examining the democratisation of content, and the access is there for you to dip into any culture you want. I think it keeps us, as creators, on our toes to make sure that it is about authenticity and that fact that great stories can come from anywhere and they go everywhere.”

Part data, part human

Much of Netflix’s innovation relies on its mammoth databases and evolving algorithms of people’s watching patterns. “We are looking at dubbing our own content from India into roughly 30 languages between dubs and subs. We also find that people are not being so ‘sticky’ about the language of origin as long as it is a compelling story. The data also shows us the areas in which we can improve.”

Series such as Spanish-spoken Hache have taken on different languages as part of the narrative which often shifts in location, which reflects how language is still an integral anthropological element for such content. “This year, we have a Hindi film coming out but the characters are Maharashtrians but the kids grew up with the family in Kerala, so when the kids want to hide something from their parents, they speak in Malayalam, but the parents speak Marathi. And when the kids go to school where they speak English. In meetings with the filmmaker, he was open to changing the language to keep it uniform, but we said, ‘no.’ This is the power of being where you are right now and you keep it honest and true. Your mother tongue is something you find comfort in and invites feelings of security. That advantage is for the storyteller and with dubbing and subbing, there is no reason why nobody else can enjoy it.”

Still from Spanish-language (and other languages too) series ‘Hache’ | Photo Credit: Netflix

Srishti adds that the innovation teams at Netflix’s Los Gatos office make sure that content releases are staggered, so as not to overwhelm audiences and so that great content is not lost in the woodwork, but elaborates, “We serve our content not by language, but by what we believe you would like to see and what would be meaningful to you, based on what you’re watching. And we’ve seen this interest since Sacred Games, which has subtitles in 30 languages, and was dubbed in English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), and Turkish. People are curious about how other people live. We are working on Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali content. We would not say no to even tribal dialects if they serve the story best.”

Then there’s licensing, which the streaming giant takes seriously. Netflix continually expands its library by collaborating with local and international studios. - If we are talking about the ‘mega regional films,’ there is the Vijay-starrer Sarkar and Rajinikanth-starrer Petta. The library also extends to non-English films which have done well on the awards circuit.

It is interesting, Srishti concludes, that 15 years ago, only a handful would have thought the creative and the empirical datasets go hand-in-hand, but with the way streaming has evolved, the two mediums are symbiotic.