YRF, Netflix set multi-year creative partnership starting with ‘The Railway Men’
Streaming platform Netflix and Indian studio Yash Raj Films (YRF) have entered into a multi-year creative partnership.
The partnership will kick off with four-part thriller series ‘The Railway Men’, a previously-announced tribute to the unsung heroes of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, reports Variety.
They will “collaborate to create films and series to bring defining stories to audiences in India and across the world,” they said in a statement.
A cloud of toxic gas escaped from an American pesticide plant, in 1984, in the central Indian city of Bhopal. It killed and injured thousands of people. The protagonists of ‘The Railway Men’ are workers at the Bhopal railway station who saved thousands of lives.
The cast is led by R. Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Divyenndu Sharma and Babil Khan.
The series marks the directorial debut of Shiv Rawail, who has had previous stints as assistant director on Yash Raj Films productions ‘Dhoom 3’ and ‘Fan’.
Shiv was first AD on ‘Befikre’, starring Ranveer Singh, which was directed by Yash Raj Films’ chair and MD Aditya Chopra.
As per Variety, it is the first production from YRF Entertainment, the studio’s streaming production arm.
The second project under the partnership is also a period piece inspired by true events.
Set in the 1800s, the film ‘Maharaj’ is a David vs Goliath story about how a regular man, journalist by profession, takes on a powerful role-model of society, hailed by many as a messiah for the masses. The fearless reporter uncovers a series of incidents that shake the very foundation of society.
The film marks the debut of actor Junaid Khan, the son of Aamir Khan, and also stars Jaideep Ahlawat, Sharvari and Shalini Pandey. The film is directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra, whose last film ‘Hichki’ was a hit.
YRF is on a roll in 2023. The studio’s ‘Pathaan’ starring Shah Rukh Khan, released in January and is the biggest Indian box office hit of the year.
The Netflix series ‘The Romantics’ about YRF founder Yash Chopra, was also a hit.