Coming Up Short

There are many Netflix anthology films to choose from, but only a few one can get behind

- Aditya Mani Jha

At the beginning of Karthick Naren’s Project Agni, the third episode of the new Netflix Tamil-language anthology Navarasa (created and co-produced by Mani Ratnam and Jayendra Panchapakesan), a scientist named Vishnu (Arvind Swami) says: “An obsession to see something beyond our intelligence is never a good idea. It will kill you, one way or another.” Ironically, Project Agni (representing the rasa adbhutha or wonder) fails to take its own advice. The story is convoluted and frequently juggles far more themes than it can handle within the 30-minute runtime: aliens, simulation theory, the Frankenstein complex, Hindu apocalyptic fables. The inspirations are painfully obvious; Christopher Nolan is name-checked at one point while the Matrix films are alluded to.

Ultimately, Project Agni’s problem is what ails Navarasa as well as Netflix India’s anthology projects on the whole: an abundance of style but not nearly enough substance or narrative cohesion. Since 2018 (when Netflix India released its first ‘original’), the anthology format has become something of a staple for Netflix’s Indian-language programming. But there is a worrying sameness to these projects—Lust Stories (2018), Ghost Stories (2020), Pitta Kathalu (2021), Ajeeb Dastaans (2021), Ray (2021) et al.

The first and the most important problem with these projects is their superficial, fetishistic understanding of socio-political issues. In the recent anthology