Every series Bengali streamer Hoichoi launches over the next two years will get Hindi, Tamil and Telugu-language versions streaming exclusively on Netflix, under a partnership the two companies unveiled in Mumbai on Thursday.
New titles will arrive on Netflix in the three languages at the same time as their Bengali debut on Hoichoi. The first is “The Cursed Temple of Kauriburi,” a horror series rooted in folklore that bows 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. The lineup comprises “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.” Genres run from crime thrillers and detective mysteries to folklore horror, social and courtroom drama, and romance.
The two companies will also make new shows together. Netflix and Hoichoi will work on original series that rework selected Hoichoi stories, with Hoichoi Studios producing. The companies said each adaptation would bring in new creative voices. Further details have yet to be revealed.
For Netflix, the pact is part of a wider effort to supplement 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 strong reason to work with it.
The Hoichoi pact follows two other high-profile licensing moves. In France, Netflix now carries the full programming lineup of broadcaster TF1. In Brazil, Netflix 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.