Netflix Is Diving Into Original Content In India With Vikram Chandra's 'Sacred Games'

Netflix Inc. on Monday said it's planning to produce its first original series geared toward Indian audiences. Netflix is teaming with one of India's leading production studios, Phantom Films, to adapt Indian author Vikram Chandra's national best-selling novel "Sacred Games." "Sacred Games" delves into the organized crime, corruption, politics and espionage under India's economic renaissance, according to a news release. The show, set in Mumbai, will be shot on location in India and be available globally in Hindi and English. "Over the last few years, I've watched with great excitement and pleasure as Netflix has transformed narrative television with its ground-breaking, genre-bending shows," Chandra said in a statement. "I'm confident that all the color and vitality and music of the fictional world I've lived with for so long will come fully alive on the large-scale canvas provided by Netflix." No details on when the show would begin production or who will be involved were available. Netflix has made strides in producing original content that plays regionally and around the globe with shows like "Marseille," and critically-acclaimed "Narcos" -- Netflix recently inked a deal to have the first season of "Narcos" air on Univision. Netflix shares have dropped nearly 13% in the year to date, underperforming the S&P 500 Index, which is up nearly 3%.