NEW DELHI: The ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) has collaborated with major OTT platform Netflix to produce a series of short films on inspirational stories of individuals and the freedom struggle under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a commemoration and celebration of 75 years of independence of India.
On Tuesday, Anurag Thakur, I&B minister, launched a set of three short films featuring women achievers--Basanti Devi (environmentalist), Harshini Kanhekar (first woman firefighter in India) and Anshu Jamsenpa, the first woman in the world to scale the summit of Mount Everest twice in a season.
Within two months, the ministry will release more short films on changemakers -- Poonam Nautiyal, (healthcare worker who walked miles across Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand to vaccinate everyone), Dr Tessy Thomas, (first woman scientist to head a missile project in India), Tanvi Jagadish, (India’s first competitive woman stand-up paddleboarder) and Aarohi Pandit, (world’s youngest and first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean solo in a light-sport aircraft).
These videos named ‘Azadi Ki Amrit Kahaniyan’ will be telecast on all the channels of Doordarshan and will also be available on various social media platforms of the ministry and Netflix simultaneously. Soon, these films will be translated into other languages such as Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, English and Malayalam to ensure that the stories are seen across the states.
Apurva Chandra, secretary of the ministry, said that a deeper collaboration featuring a long running series on our freedom struggle and the stories that need to be told to the world is in the pipeline.
Present on the occasion were minister of state for I&B L Murugan and Bela Bajaria, head of Global TV, Netflix, including Devi, Jamsenpa and Kanhekar.
Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said that this (association with Netflix) was a long term partnership where different themes and diverse stories will be highlighted.
“This initiative aims to bring out inspiring stories of Indians and these stories shall motivate and empower more people to achieve their goals. Netflix will be producing 25 videos on themes including women empowerment, environment and sustainable development and other days of significance,” said Thakur.
As per the present arrangement, Netflix will produce 25 movies under the series. However, Thakur urged Bajaria to increase the number to 75 as the country is celebrating 75th anniversary of independence.
Speaking about their association with the OTT platform, the minister said that Netflix and the ministry would continue to organise training workshops and master classes to encourage filmmakers in India to create inspiring content on various topics under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
“Netflix and the ministry will partner to develop a creative ecosystem by organizing training programs for post-production, VFX, animation, music production among others. It will be organized on the ground and virtually,” Thakur said.