Bengali storytelling is about to find a far bigger stage as Netflix and Hoichoi have struck a two-year partnership that will carry every series the Bengali streamer launches to Hindi, Tamil and Telugu audiences.
The two companies unveiled the deal in Mumbai on Thursday, according to Variety.
The dubbed versions will stream exclusively on Netflix, arriving in all three languages on the same day as each Bengali debut on Hoichoi, the digital news platform said.
The first out of the gate is “The Cursed Temple of Kauriburi”, a horror series steeped in folklore that premieres on Nov 6, with Jeetu Kamal, Solanki Roy and Paoli Dam in the leads.
More releases will follow over the coming months.
Netflix will also carry 14 existing Hoichoi series: "Madam Inspector", "Sampurna", "Lajja", "Eken Sirji", "Anjaan Saaye", "The Curse of Parnashavari", "Bloodlines", "The Adventures of Daadi & Jagga", "Raat Abhi Baaki Hain", "Achinta: Trial By Law", "Shaadi Ka Siyappa", "Queens", "Parineeta: A Love Story" and "Mahanagar".
The slate ranges from crime thrillers and detective mysteries to folklore horror, social and courtroom drama, and romance.
The partners will also create new shows together.
Netflix and Hoichoi will develop original series that reimagine selected Hoichoi stories, with Hoichoi Studios producing.
The companies said each adaptation would bring in fresh creative voices. Further details have yet to be revealed.
The news has already stirred excitement in Bangladesh. “Bohemian Ghora” director Amitabh Reza Chowdhury marked the moment in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“‘Bohemian Ghora’ is not just the story of a truck driver’s eight wives. It is a story of Bangladesh’s soil, its people, its folk culture, the tangles of relationships and life’s many odd shades of humour,” he wrote.
“There is laughter, love and deceit, and there are the strange tricks people use to survive.
“This story, scattered along the roads of Bangladesh, is now reaching an international audience.
“From Hoichoi to Netflix — Bohemian Ghora continues its journey beyond borders!
“Bangladesh’s stories, Bangladesh’s people, Bangladesh’s own sense of humour, now before the world.”
For Netflix, the pact is part of a wider drive to bolster its originals with more licensed programming from outside producers.
The streamer said its global audience, which it puts at close to a billion people, gives studios, networks and creators a compelling reason to work with it, the digital news platform reports.
The Hoichoi deal follows two other high-profile licensing moves. In France, Netflix now carries the full programming lineup of broadcaster TF1.
In Brazil, it struck a deal earlier this month with broadcaster Globo, which had long held out from licensing to the streamer in its home market even as its content appeared on Netflix elsewhere in Latin America and around the world.
Hoichoi launched in 2017 as the first venture from SVF’s new media arm and is run by co-founder Vishnu Mohta, also SVF’s executive director.
The platform hosts more than 2,000 hours of programming, among them over 100 original series, films, shorts and docuseries, and says it reaches more than 250 million Bengalis around the world.
It moved into theatrical production in 2023, setting up Hoichoi Studios as its film production arm.