‘Kohrra’: Netflix Asian Chart Topper Indian Noir Series Unpacked

Indian police procedural noir “Kohrra” (“Fog”) is the latest hit for streaming service Netflix.

The six-episode Punjabi- and Hindi-language drama bowed July 15 atop the Netflix India chart, where it remains in pole position for a second week. It also placed highly in the streamer’s top 10 charts across much of South Asia and the Middle East.

In the show, when a bridegroom from the U.K. is found dead days before his wedding, two cops must unravel the troubling case as turbulence unfolds in their own lives. The cast is led by Suvinder Vicky, known for Cannes title “The Fourth Direction” and Venice festival title “Milestone,” and Barun Sobti (London festival title “You Are My Sunday,” JioCinema chart topper “Asur”).

The series is created by Gunjit Chopra and Sudip Sharma, who previously teamed on hit Prime Video police procedural series “Paatal Lok” (2020), and Diggi Sisodia, co-creator of Zee Studios’ Berlin Series Market Selects series “Brown.” It is directed by Randeep Jha, whose feature debut was Eros Now original film “Halahal” (2020), starring Sobti, and who subsequently directed episodes of hit Netflix drama “Trial by Fire” (2023).

The genesis of “Kohrra” came from Chopra, who previously helped Sharma with research on his seminal script for “Udta Punjab” (2016), which looked at drug addiction among youth in the northern Indian state of Punjab. The lead characters are partially based on real-life people, including cops, who Chopra had closely observed.

“I was trying to say something about Punjab actually, I had a lot to say. So, I thought maybe I can find these two characters to just say what I really want to say. And it wasn’t coming through for years,” Chopra told Variety. “The spiritual mother of this was ‘Memories of Murder’ [“Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho’s 2003 film]. Once I saw that film I said, ‘what if two cops come to a field and they find a body there, and then everything backtracks from there.’ I had the story in mind and the killer in mind. But then I didn’t have much, but I had a lot of experiences.”

Chopra had been engaged to write dialogue for “Brown” and that’s when he met Sisodia, to whom he narrated the concept of “Kohrra.” “At its core, when we were coming up with the story, was that the murder and the murder investigation was always going to be the peg on which we hang the larger tale, which was a tale of the lives of these characters. And you went into the dirt under the nails of these people’s lives and the complications of their family and all the screwed up stuff of their personal lives,” Sisodia told Variety.

Chopra and Sisodia pitched it to Sharma, who was initially reluctant to board the project because he was coming off a four-year journey on “Paatal Lok,” which is of a similar genre. But he was hooked when he read the initial treatment. “It wasn’t fully fleshed out, it wasn’t all there, but that was the exciting part of it – that I could make some contribution and help it realize its full potential, its intentions and abilities to talk about Punjab and these very endearing characters in a very authentic not seen before way,” Sharma told Variety.

Sharma had liked “Halahal” and sent the pilot and beat points of some of the episodes to Jha, who was shooting “Trial by Fire” at the time. “I read it and I felt it’s something different than all the other crime shows we see these days. Its approach is different, very nuanced, very detailed and very subtle,” Jha told Variety.

Since 2021, Indian streamers are required to adhere to a self-regulation code, guidelines of which are provided by the government. “Paatal Lok” engendered debate because parts of it looked at Indian politics, while another Prime Video show, political drama “Tandav,” ran into controversy.

“Telling socio-political stories or stories with any sort of critical social-political contexts. We saw a bit of it in ‘Paatal Lok,’ but ‘Tandav’ was when it really flared up and then it became this whole issue, but surprisingly, Netflix was very supportive and they came on board pretty early on,” Sharma said. “The other thing that we did, you could call it a bit of self-censorship, or just giving into the times, but we trained the lens inwards in this one.”

“Before this, my work has really tried to understand the macro of society and politics and the intersection of crime and the various institutions of society. But in this one, we really trained it inwards and we’re like, ‘we’re going to talk about politics in the family, about politics in interpersonal dynamics,’ and I think that helped us probably get away from some of these otherwise controversial elements. Left to me I would have gone far deeper, honestly,” Sharma added.

Sharma says that while it was possible to make a larger socio-political comment about Punjab, which has been ruled for two consecutive terms by opposition parties and not by the dispensation at the center, the team stayed away from it. “When you shine a light on it and say, ‘this is what we are talking about in the larger context,’ that freedom I think has gone away off late,” Sharma said. “You just talk about a particular phenomenon and a particular character, you can probably get away with it, but drawing larger inferences is problematic.”

The team loved the process of making “Kohrra” and would love to do a second season. “Audiences love a great crime drama, we have seen that with the massive success of titles such as ‘Khakee:The Bihar Chapter,’ ‘Delhi Crime’ and ‘Rana Naidu.’ ‘Kohrra’ masterfully explores the dynamics of family and relationships against the backdrop of crime and societal intricacies,” said Tanya Bami, director of series at Netflix India. “The deeply layered and delicate storytelling of Sudip Sharma complemented by the rich performances from one of the strongest ensemble casts have moved audiences and critics alike. The response to ‘Kohrra’ has been very heartening and inspires us to continue telling such deeply rich stories.”

Meanwhile, Chopra and Sisodia are completing the bible for another crime series. Jha is pitching a comedy film script and developing a Shakespearean drama series on the lines of “Succession.” Sharma has completed shooting Season 2 of “Paatal Lok,” which is in post ahead of a mid-2024 bow.

Sharma, Chopra, Sisodia and Jha are represented by Tulsea.