Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Indian filmmaker Abhay Kumar’s documentary Placebo, which explores the fiercely competitive environment of an Indian medical school.
Under a deal struck by San Francisco and Mumbai-based aggregator Film Karavan, the film is already on the Netflix platform in 20 countries and will eventually be made available worldwide.
One of only a few Indian docs picked up by Netflix, the film won the Special Jury award at the EBS International Documentary Festival in Seoul and was also selected for festivals including IDFA and HotDocs.
Produced by Archana Phadke through Storyteller Ink, Placebo is one of India’s first hybrid docs, blending reality and fiction, and follows students at a top medical school as they struggle with academic pressure and isolation.
Film Karavan head of original production and partnerships, Apoorva Bakshi, said: “Placebo is a story that had to be told and it deserves a home that justifies its message and brings it to the largest possible audience and Netflix is the perfect platform for it.”