Doorway to another world

Nonika Singh

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Entertainment knows no border, no language and some non-English shows are proving it all over again. These shows have stormed the world of entertainment, and are conquering the audience the world over at a staggering speed, leaving both trade pundits and makers stunned. Coming from different parts of the world, such as Israel, South Korea, Spain and Germany, these shows have no common denominator.

Crime thriller Money Heist, whose Spanish title La Casa de Papel means ‘the paper house’, maintains a rock solid stronghold on viewership ratings. Netflix’s biggest global hit, it is the most sought-after show and is expected to go from being Netflix’s most popular non-English show to simply the most popular. Such is its popularity that newborns are being named after its characters. Its humungous fan following includes the likes of Stephen King. Closer home, Ayushmann Khurrana is eager to slip into the shoes of the professor, whose fool-proof heist tactics have over 65 million households hooked.

Ninety per cent of the audience of German sci-fi series Dark, a rather complex theme of time travel, is outside Germany. At one point, it was one of the top-ten trending in India — probably because the series centres around the inevitable hand of fate as well as how yesterday, today and tomorrow are inextricably linked. Emotions are universal and always touch a chord. What also works for these hugely successful series is cultural specificity. South Korean drama Kingdom, for instance, is a heady cocktail of history, horror and zombie fare. The screenwriter, Kim Eun Hee, on whose web-comic Kingdom of the Gods it is based, admits to having made it strictly with Korean sensibilities.

Israeli show Fauda, the story of an undercover wing of Israeli Defence Forces on the trail of terror operatives, is quintessentially about the Israel-Palestine conflict. No one expected it to appeal to viewers across continents. Not only does it take its name from Arabic — fauda means chaos in Arabic — much of the series is in Arabic and Hebrew. Often pointed at as being pro-Israel and anti-Palestine, the language explains its huge reach in the Arab world. Fourth most popular show on Netflix in India, an adaptation focussing on India-Pakistan tension with Kashmir as the backdrop is in the making. The series is a portrayal of people caught in conflict zones. It humanises antagonists and depicts heroes with warts and all. Besides, the fact that Lior Raz, the protagonist, has served in the elite undercover counter-terrorism unit and has a personal tragic backstory adds to the realism.

However, if this one is strikingly close to reality, Money Heist is on another tangent. Who could ever imagine the tale of robbers taking hostages and minting currency right within the mint of Spain to strike such a chord with the audience? Even though its subsequent seasons are caught in a loop, it still works, with one critic even dubbing it as the visual equivalent of a page turner. Time travel never had so many dimensions, so many realities, worlds, timelines and so many twists. Dark expects you to keep solving the puzzle, who is who in which time zone, you dare not blink for a second!

Korean drama Kingdom could well be called the Korean equivalent of Game of Thrones. High on production values, along with Oscar-winner Parasite, it has taken Korean content to newer heights. Netflix attributes Kingdom’s immense popularity to technological innovations and the OTT’s ability to both dub and add subtitles. The series has been dubbed in 12 languages, including Chinese, German, French and English. Indeed, except Fauda whose makers wanted to keep it as authentic as possible and did not opt for dubbed versions, most of these series are available in English. The language here is not a handicap or moderator, only a doorway to another world, another vision which viewers are only too happy to embrace.