New Delhi: Netflix is looking to build a franchise around its latest hit series Operation Safed Sagar with special military operations serving as the central idea for future stories, says Tanya Bami, Series Head at Netflix India.
The six-episode military drama, which tells the story of the Indian Air Force’s role in the 1999 Kargil War, has emerged as a global success for the streamer.
Since its debut on the OTT platform August 7, the show has remained on Netflix’s Global Top 10 Non-English TV List for two consecutive weeks, ranking No 2 this week, while making it to the Top 10 in 40 countries and reaching No 1 in 10 countries.
Bami said the streamer is already deep into writing the next project with the team behind “Operation Safed Sagar” and its collaborators working on more stories.
“Our outlook for ‘Operation Safed Sagar’ was to create a franchise where operations is the franchise thought. So, we’re deep into development on a couple of things. But each one, the next operation has to go higher than this one. So, that’s a tall task,” Bami told PTI.
“We’re deep in the writing of something. And we have Kushal, Abhijeet, Matchbox, the Air Force, all these deep collaborators who are bringing us more stories. So, lots of more historicals,” she said.
Kushal Srivastava and Abhijeet Singh Parmar were the creative forces behind “Operation Safed Sagar”, which was directed by Oni Sen and produced by Matchbox Shots and Feel Good Films.
Bami said the focus for the franchise would not simply be on repeating the formula of the first series but on finding compelling stories and taking the scale and storytelling forward.
“I think at the heart of it is what is the core of the story and how are we able to take what we’ve done higher, bring something new and fresh to keep the audiences engaged and to have such amazing creative voices as Kushal, Abhijeet and Oni really bring forward the story and bring it to life in a way that hasn’t been seen before,” she said.
Operation Safed Sagar follows Indian Air Force’s Golden Arrows Squadron and their high-altitude air campaign during Kargil, including the extraordinary challenge of conducting air operations at mountainous elevations while being prohibited from crossing the Line of Control.
The story focuses on a group of seasoned and young fighter pilots who undertake high-risk combat missions while navigating the emotional and personal costs of war.
It features an ensemble cast of Jimmy Shergill, Siddharth, Abhay Verma, Adil Hussain, Mihir Ahuja, Taaruk Raina, Arnav Bhasin, Amrita Bagchi, Manu Rishi Chadha, Dia Mirza and Prajakta Koli.
The series has received a strong response from both critics and audiences, with praise for its gripping storytelling, realistic portrayal of the Indian Air Force, performances and immersive aerial action.
According to Bami, the universal appeal of Operation Safed Sagar lies in its themes of national pride, sacrifice and the desire to protect one’s country.
“The universality of this story and in the times that we are living is actually a very deep connection. And I think given that universality and that feeling of the need to protect your country, it’s a feeling that everybody connects with regardless of where you’re from,” she said.
“And then there is really the magnanimity of what has been achieved through this mission with the kind of respect, restraint, yet the determination to actually win and a whole, like all three forces coming together to score this big win is again something that I think anybody anywhere in the world who is even mildly sort of patriotic or connects with their country would connect with a story like this,” Bami added.
The response from the armed forces, she added, had been particularly meaningful for the team.
“And it is humbling to see the armed forces actually connect with the story, to feel seen, depicted, honoured and displayed with such pride across Netflix all over the world and how they’ve been really celebrating the story,” Bami said.
She also recalled the unusual timing of the series’ production, which coincided with Operation Sindoor last year.
“It felt amazing for the Air Force to be celebrated as we were actually preparing to celebrate the Air Force because it was a big win for the Air Force with Operation Sindoor and we were filming this story,” she said.
“So we knew that there’s something, a story that we hope that makes the Air Force proud was being filmed as the operation was playing out. So it was a strange irony, but one that had the common goal of celebrating the Air Force,” Bami added.
Operation Sindoor was launched May 7 last year in response to the deadly April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were killed, with Indian armed forces conducting precision strikes on multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Pakistan later also launched offensives against India, and all subsequent counter-offensives by India were also carried out under Operation Sindoor.
The military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, lasting nearly 88 hours, halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.
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