Deepa Mehta’s ready to go digital

Deepa Mehta, the Indo-Canadian filmmaker best known for her elemental-trilogy — Fire, Earth and Water, reportedly has a web-series in the pipeline. She’s been approached by Netflix India to make a show for Indian and international audiences, and she’s reportedly in talks with a few Indian actors, including Huma Qureshi, to star the project.

A source reveals, “She is looking at a lot of actors. She wants some really talented stars to feature in her web-series. Huma is one such talent.”

The success of Indian shows like Sacred Games has prompted digital platforms to bankroll more high-quality web-series.

“The performance of Sacred Games, which was made at a cost of `50 crore and marketed for almost double that amount, has every major filmmaker lusting for the new medium. Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar and gang also ventured into the digital platform with Lust Stories. Many Indian production houses are now working on shows for platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Others are using smaller indie platforms like Alt Balaji and Zee5 for their shows. The kind of money that can be earned on a digital platform is humungous – so why not?” says a trade analyst.

— Sanskriti Media