Netflix's new Diwali film 'Dilwali Diwali' runs just 61 minutes
Netflix India's Dilwali Diwali is a 61-minute family drama about a son who buys his parents a swanky flat, only to find that a house isn't the same as a home.
Got an hour to spare and a soft spot for family drama? Netflix India has a Diwali film for you. Dilwali Diwali runs just 61 minutes and is streaming globally now.
What happened? 🪔
Netflix India has released Dilwali Diwali (roughly, "A Heartfelt Diwali"), a Hindi family film. It stars Mihir Ahuja as Ansh Sikka, a man who spent years working abroad and has bought his middle-class Punjabi parents a swanky new high-rise apartment.
But when Ansh comes home for Diwali, he finds that a new address doesn't mean a fresh start. As Netflix puts it, giving your parents a house upgrade is one thing. Getting them to upgrade their idea of home is quite another.
Manoj Pahwa plays Ansh's father, in his sixth Netflix Original appearance. Aurra Bhatnagar Badoni plays Ansh's younger sister. The film is directed by Ritesh Menon and written by Ritu Mago, and produced by Terribly Tiny Tales, the company behind the Netflix romance series Musafir Cafe.
Why is it a big deal?
The length is the point. Last Diwali, Netflix India tried a "featurette" format with Greater Kalesh, a 52-minute family film about an adult child coming home for the festival. It landed on the Global Top-10 Non-English Movies list in its first week.
That early success led Netflix to commission original films of 60 to 85 minutes. Dilwali Diwali is the first of them. The idea is a complete movie you can fit into a small gap in your evening, without committing two and a half hours. It also gives younger creators room to try stories that might not work as a conventional long film.
The cast sounds like it knows what the film is about. Ahuja says Ansh's journey comes from love: "We all want to do the best for our families, but sometimes, in trying to give them more, we forget to understand what truly makes them happy." Pahwa adds that for a parent, home is never just about the walls, the furniture or the address.
How can you watch it?
Dilwali Diwali is on Netflix worldwide. It has English, Hindi and Hindi CC subtitles. Dubbing is available in English, Tamil and Telugu, plus Hindi audio description. In the US it carries a TV-PG rating for language.
If it does as well as Greater Kalesh, expect more films of this size from Netflix India.
Story timeline
Netflix India short-format featurette films · 3 updates
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