Netflix India’s director of international originals and acquisitions Swati Shetty has stepped down from her position at the company. Shetty joined the streaming service in 2016 soon after it launched in India and was based in L.A. with frequent trips to Mumbai.
During her tenure, she expanded the service’s India content offerings via film acquisitions that included such titles as Love Per Square Foot, Lust Stories and Rajma Chawal, among others.
Last year, Netflix opened its Mumbai office, which has seen the company expanding its staff across various positions. While Netflix did not give reasons for her departure, a spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that “Shetty has decided to leave the company.”
With Netflix expanding its India office, Shetty’s position needed to be filled out of Mumbai but, according to a source, she wished to remain in L.A. A replacement has not yet been announced.
Shetty formerly worked at Walt Disney India, Fox’s Star India network and Bollywood banner Balaji Telefilms Ltd.
At the company’s first-ever Asian content showcase event held in Singapore last month, Netflix unveiled a slate of eight upcoming films, including the Dev Patel starrer Hotel Mumbai. Also announced was supernatural series Typewriter, which expands the India series slate to 11 originals. In July, Netflix bowed its first Indian original Sacred Games, which was followed by the horror series Ghoul; upcoming shows include cricket drama Selection Day and Baahubali: Before the Beginning, based on the hugely successful Baahubali film franchise.
Netflix has aggressively targeted India for growth as it battles rivals Amazon, Star India’s Hotstar, Viacom India’s Voot, Sony Television’s SonyLIV and a host of other OTT players.
