More dhan-tan-nan, than Tudum!

The Archies Team perform at Netflix Tudum 2023

The song ‘This is my story, suno' - primarily in English, made in Mumbai, from Zoya Akhtar's forthcoming release, The Archies, which is peak American pop-culture - rent the air, at a massive park packed with wildly screeching fans in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This is how Bollywood's homegrown next-gen made their onstage debut, shaking a leg for their film - namely, among others, Agastya Nanda (Amitabh Bachchan's grandson), Khushi Kapoor (Sridevi's daughter), Suhana Khan (Shah Rukh Khan's daughter)!

To sense the importance Netflix itself has accorded The Archies, it was the only piece of content showcased from Asia on the global stage. Also, the only performance in what was a night of sneak peeks, and conversations with the stars, at Tudum, the OTT platform's first ever, live, global fan-event.

The Galia Womance

If there is another example of how the globe seemed one, consider Gal Gadot, who spoke to mid-day at the red carpet, and she couldn't stop glowing about her co-star, Alia Bhatt: "I was a big fan of Alia from before. I'd seen RRR, and we were looking for someone fresh, with the ability to portray layered characters, and who could look beautiful as well. Alia was the perfect choice."

All those adjectives, of course, apply to Gadot herself, who, with actor Jamie Dornan and Bhatt, in a shimmering green cocktail dress, presented the trailer of their film, Heart of Stone. What's Bhatt's expectations, in terms of response - surely there will be the usual, from desi fans, about the length of her footage in the picture's promo!

"Haan, woh toh hoga hi [that'll happen, for sure]. But I'm not worried about that. Having seen the film, what I'm interested in is how people respond to the story," Bhatt told mid-day, letting us in on how she'd travelled to Sao Paulo by herself, for barely two days (and back to Mumbai), while that's how long the return-trip itself takes, travelling to the Americas' most populous city.

It was indeed a big, international moment for Bhatt, who plays a character, (with the most ‘Bollywood' name ever), Kiara Dhawan, in the film. She walked the red carpet among the foreign press - the iconic Entertainment Tonight crew from Hollywood to our left; Korean, Mexican, Australian press, to our right - seemingly looking at ease. Casually revelling in the expected attention; hanging equally with TikTok/Instagram influencers, also, in the press pit.

Gal Gadot, Alia Bhatt and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Bhatt forays into a massive production after Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi, with a Tom Harper directorial. How different from each other could that be? "Filmmaking on every set, all over the world, is the same - the same chaos, and working towards a common vision," she said.

Thor's Indian affair

Going reverse, action star Chris Hemsworth spoke to mid-day about how he loved shooting in India for the first Extraction film (the sequel has just dropped online): "It was one of the best experiences in my career. And it had to do with the people.

"It's never happened before that we'd shoot with 2,000-3,000 people lining up the street, watching. And as soon as they'd hear, action, they'd go quiet. The immediate reaction to the shots, after, was so gratifying. We make films for fans!"

What surprised us about the Sao Paulo crowd was actually the loud, public fandom for the show, Never Have I Ever (locally titled Eu Nunca), with Brazilian young adults screaming together, "Devi, Devi, Devi…"

Which is the character of Tamilian descent in the US that Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays in the rom-com that one would've largely believed to be a desi diaspora series. Ramakrishnan, despite a sore throat, was also the main emcee at the Tudum event.

What about a series so culturally specific could resonate so deeply worldwide, we asked Ramakrishnan, at the red-carpet. She said, "Number one, our show is kinda funny - who doesn't love that - and that we touch on human issues and emotions that are universal.

‘Born in wrong country'

"Especially, for South Asians and people of colour - we get to see someone that looks like us, and we get to see them in every scene. Not as best-friend, or characters that come in for a bit and go.

"I've been getting Brazilian fans telling me they're gonna make me Brazilian now, and that I was born in the wrong country. I was born in Canada, and I don't think it works that way, you know!" Never Have I Ever has now wrapped with the final, fourth season. It was an emotional farewell for the lead cast (Ramakrishnan, Jaren Lewison, Darren Barnet) on the Tudum stage.

Evidently, desi people were being seen, but that's probably because that's where our eyes were. The event was as multi-ethnic as it could get. Brazilians are primarily Portuguese speaking people. The electronic board on the gigantic screen displayed translations for all that was being spoken in English at the concert venue, with all spectators on their feet.

Comic-con vibes

Their unmitigated, mass-love for global content across genres - animation (Avatar: The Last Airbender), martial-arts (Cobra Kai), action-adventure (Outer Banks), comedy (Heartstopper), besides the well-known, huge Squid Game, or Bridgerton, and Queen Charlotte - might shame most cultures, often more obsessed with familiarly local fare.

You could sense the same mania, with enthusiasts lining up to experience physical pavilions of shows at the ‘spoiler night' - Netflix's own ‘comic-con' in Sao Paulo. Given the trailers that premièred at Tudum, on our wait-list has got to be the WWII series, All the Light We Cannot See, starring Mark Ruffalo, and 3 Body Problem, sci-fi, based on the Chinese novel of the same name by Liu Cixin. For the fandom we noticed, on our watch-list is certainly the Brazilian series, Sintonia.

Schwarzenegger swag

Barring Henry Cavill (representing the series, The Witcher), the loudest cheers to the stage, naturally, remained reserved for Arnold Schwarzenegger, 75. He's returned to the screen with the show, Fubar, being renewed now for a second season.

Schwarzenegger has taken on a playful, professional role of ‘chief action officer' for Netflix. By virtue of which, after playing bloopers from Fubar, he announced actor Linda Hamilton as joining the cast of Stranger Things S05.

As for the Indian Archies gang, which entered the red-carpet with director Akhtar doing press interviews on their behalf - their dance performance, while fun and frolicky, seemed rather short, at 40 seconds. Something the young cast had told mid-day about, before the event.

Which is just as well, given how much content got previewed/packed into Tudum. If the two-hour, Super Bowl style, high-energy show in the Southern Hemisphere's windy, wintry park, had gone on any louder/longer - we could have lost our ears, or legs.