Chakda Express – Picture: netflix
Netflix and Indian production house Clean Slate Filmz have terminated their content partnership. According to a report at PeepingMoon, the two companies brought their four-year agreement to an early end due to “creative disagreement” and “budgetary issues.”
Production house Clean Slate Filmz was founded in 2013 by actress Anushka Sharma and her brother, Karnesh Ssharma. They signed their agreement with Netflix in January 2022, having already won praise for the production house’s gorgeous 2020 Netflix Original horror movie Bulbbul. However, Anushka left Clean Slate Filmz just two months after finalizing the agreement in order to focus on her family and her acting career.
What projects did Clean Slate Filmz complete for Netflix?
Following Bulbbul, the first project under the new partnership was the Original crime series Mai: A Mother’s Rage, which released in April 2022. Later that year, the lush period musical drama Qala marked the film debut of late actor Irrfan Khan’s son Babil, who starred opposite Bulbbul‘s Triptii Dimri.
The crime thriller series Kohrra was released in the summer of 2023. Series star Suvinder Vicky won multiple awards for his role as a rural police officer investigating a groom’s murder two days before his wedding.
What is the fate of Clean Slate Filmz projects for Netflix?
We reported on the status of all of the upcoming projects from Clean Slate Filmz in our huge 2024 Netflix Indian Originals preview.
Though Mai and Kohrra haven’t been officially canceled, they were never officially renewed by Netflix either, so second seasons are likely no longer in the cards. Shortly after Mai‘s release, series director Anshai Lal told India Today that he was working on a second season. Likewise, the creators of Kohrra were looking forward to another season.
Concern about the state of the partnership between the companies surfaced last month when two of Clean Slate’s previously announced Original movies — Chakda ‘Xpress and Afghaani Snow — were missing from Netflix India’s “Next on Netflix 2024 Preview” presentation. Afghaani Snow was announced in early 2023 and has already completed filming, under the direction of Mai‘s Anshai Lal.
What’s on Netflix did reach out to Netflix recently about Chakda ‘Xpress but received no official response.
Sports biopic Chakda ‘Xpress was one of Netflix’s highest-profile Indian Originals in the works. Anuskha Sharma was set to return for her first starring role since 2018’s Zero, playing women’s cricket legend Jhulan Goswami. Netflix India announced on X that filming wrapped in late 2022, but there have been few updates on the status of the film since then.
According to PeepingMoon, Clean Slate Filmz “will now reportedly repurchase the films from Netflix to release them on another platform.”
Which of these movies and series from Clean Slate Filmz have you watched on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!