Two Farooki films land on Netflix

Netflix, a company that started out as a DVD sale and rental service in 1997, has become one of the biggest players in visual entertainment globally, becoming the top on-demand streaming services for films and TV content, as well as a major player in content production. And although the service has been available in Bangladesh from January 2016 (when it completed its launch to 190 countries worldwide), there is still no Bangladeshi content on the service. But that is about to change.

“Television” and “Pipra Bidya”, two films by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki – one of the very few of Bangladesh’s flag-bearers in world cinema today -- will be released on Netflix on May 15, the filmmaker informed The Daily Star. “This is going to open up a new road for Bangladeshi films in general,” Farooki said. “Netflix and Amazon have had content from India for a long time, but nothing from us,” he added.

Netflix, that reportedly has over 93 million subscribers worldwide, has emerged in the last few years as a major content producer as well. The company released 126 original films or series in 2016, more than any other network or cable channel. Their shows have won major awards – shows like “Orange is the New Black”, “House of Cards” and “Stranger Things” have been darlings of award shows as well as a global audience.

The company has been very active in India in recent times, especially after the launch of rival streaming service Amazon Prime. As an example, Netflix partnered with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment in December last year – to put 30 films by the production house on their catalogue, and any future films by the banner.

In a country where digital on-demand entertainment is on the rise with YouTube becoming a bigger platform for consumption of TV plays than the TV channels themselves, and movies also ending up on locally-owned on-demand streaming services like Bongo or 3rdbell, having Bangladeshi content released on a global platform can give hope to Bangladeshi filmmakers and content creators at large to take their content to a worldwide audience, and is also a silver lining for Bangladeshi and Bangla-speaking audiences worldwide who can find more Bangla content on a service as widespread as Netflix.