Netflix's anthem for Season 5 of Money Heist makes a case for Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubs

Spanish crime thriller series ‘La Casa de Papel’, aka ‘Money Heist’, enjoys a different level of popularity amongst Indian audiences. Streaming on Netflix for four seasons now, the show is set to wrap up its last heist in the upcoming Season 5 finale.

The show revolves around a mastermind, who calls himself The Professor, and a group of thieves, who join hands for a couple of heists. The initial heist, spread across the first and second seasons, took place in the Royal Mint of Spain. The second heist, which will reach its culmination in Season 5, takes place in the Bank of Spain.

To create excitement amongst fans, Netflix has released ‘The Money Heist Fan Anthem’ ahead of the show’s release. The music video ‘Jaldi Aao’ is a recreation of the show’s iconic title track ‘Bella Ciao’, and is a celebration of everything ‘Money Heist’. The anthem is composed by EDM artiste Nucleya and conceptualised by Creativeland Asia.

The video features celebrities like Anil Kapoor, Rana Daggubati, Vikrant Massey, Radhika Apte, Shruti Haasan and Hardik Pandya. They are seen enacting popular ‘Money Heist’ characters. Haasan, for instance, is Nairobi, with a flower in her mouth, as seen after the character’s death in Season 4. Kapoor is seen dancing on the money bed as Denver.

The film also includes shots of common people discussing fan theories on a similar white board that was used by The Professor to create his master plan. Fans can also be seen celebrating ‘Dahi Handi’ in the signature red jumpsuits and Dali masks. They pay tribute to Nairobi, Berlin, Moscow and Oslo, reminding us of all the dead characters of the show. The highlight of the promo is when Apte speaks to the heart of every fan by saying she wishes to see Arturo dead in the final season.

It must be noted that this fan anthem is a move to promote the dubbed versions of the show, and tell the audiences that they can watch it in their preferred Indian language. Other than English and Spanish, the season’s finale will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. It will be released in two volumes, on September 3 and December 3.

Shagun Seda, director, marketing, film & series at Netflix, shared her experience of creating the film on LinkedIn.

Commenting on the film, Uday Sodhi, senior partner, Kurate Digital Consulting (former business head, SonyLIV), points out that global shows like ‘Money Heist’ are extremely popular in India. The appeal of such shows extends across consumer segments.

Sodhi explains that the use of big stars in the fan anthem will add to the buzz and impact that the show will create. “Indian consumers are now mature enough to lap up good content. They are not deterred because of language, context and stars. Good content will be consumed, and that is a great sign for the industry.”

Manav Sethi, chief marketing officer, Octro Inc. (former CMO at Eros International PLC and ALTBalaji), believes that there is no such thing as a Spanish show, as everything now depends on powerful storytelling.

“Good stories have the potential to be loved across borders, and be there for posterity. That’s how enduring IPs are created. I would presume that Netflix has collected a lot of meaningful data on the show’s viewership in India and, hence, it is investing in creating this local communication strategy.”

Sethi reveals that ‘Bella Ciao’, the title track of ‘Money Heist’, has garnered five crore-plus views on Netflix India’s YouTube channel.

“… India is not a singular 1.3 billion cohort. We are 130 diverse cohorts of 10 million each, and much more. From a storytelling point of view, we have seen something similar in India for movies like ‘Baahubali’ and for Marvel or DC franchises. Good stories have the potential to justify dubbed version, while accumulating viewership and enduring love.”

Vishnu Sharma, founder and CEO, Efficacy Worldwide (former head of agency at Arena - Havas Media), says that the OTT space is divided into two monetisation routes, i.e, SVoD and AVoD. Players like Hotstar and ZEE5 are trying to take both the routes, while Amazon Prime and Netflix have stuck to the SVoD route.

Speaking about Netflix India’s move to make a global show available to regional audiences, Sharma adds, “While the SVoD investment phase is longer, it is the globally adopted successful model. Indians have a great appetite for dubbed content and the audiences like to explore different content. Netflix’s move to widen its reach by bringing in globally successful shows in vernacular languages will help garner far higher acceptability and revenues.”

Nikhil Sharda, EVP - creative & digital communication, Scroll Mantra, remarks, “We live in a land of ‘inspired’ living. Movies are, more often than not, remade, repackaged, whether from Hollywood or down south. And, old ‘original’ songs are packaged with a new ‘cover’.”

Sharda states that in the interconnected digital world, with more access to free flow of stories across state lines, borders and oceans, creative studios have a lot to gain by developing a ‘glocal’ content strategy.

“Stories are universal. If told in the language one thinks in, and with faces one has grown up with, it’s a no-brainer that it will reach the hearts of millions of Indians,” he signs off.