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EXCLUSIVE: Shabana Azmi and Shalini Pandey to headline Netflix India’s Dabba Cartel
Excel Entertainment’s Dabba Cartel is back on track, and is now happening with Shabana Azmi and Shalini Pandey playing the lead roles. The show goes on floors in October 2023.
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Excel Entertainment's Dabba Cartel is finally happening after two years of its announcement
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Shabana Azmi and Shalini Pandey to play housewives who run a high-stakes secret cartel
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Shonali Bose, who was earlier supposed to direct it, is no longer a part of this show
In September 2021, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment announced a multi-year series partnership deal with Netflix India to create a variety of extraordinary stories together. As the beginning of their relationship, the production banner also announced two web shows: Dabba Cartel and Queen of the Hill. While there hasn’t been any development on the latter, Dabba Cartel has been in pre-production for a while now. The show was initially supposed to start filming in April 2023, with Jyotika, Shabana Azmi, and Gajraj Rao playing the leads and Shonali Bose directing it; however, it didn’t materialize for reasons unknown. Months later, the project seems to be back on track with a revised cast and crew.
Pinkvilla has exclusively learnt that Shabana Azmi, who was recently seen in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani, will continue to headline Netflix India’s Dabba Cartel. Shabana will be at the forefront of the show along with Arjun Reddy actress Shalini Pandey, who made her Bollywood debut with Ranveer Singh’s Jayeshbhai Jordaar. Both Shabana and Shalini will play two of the five housewives who run a high-stakes secret cartel in this thrilling women-led crime drama. The show features three more heroines, but they are yet to be confirmed. Speaking of the director, Shonali Bose is no longer a part of it, and they have roped in a new filmmaker whose identity has not been revealed so far.
Dabba Cartel is currently in pre-production and is expected to start filming around October this year. The show marks Excel Entertainment’s second association with Netflix after their 2022 rom-com series, Eternally Confused And Eager For Love. As for Shalini Pandey, it’s her second OTT project after her upcoming Amazon Prime series, called Junta Band. The Ankur Tewari and Akshat Varma-directed comedy series has finished shooting and is scheduled to premiere early next year. Shalini has also wrapped up her second Hindi film, Maharaj, opposite Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan. The historical thriller drama, also starring Sharvari Wagh and Jaideep Ahlawat and directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra, is set to release later this year.
Meanwhile, Excel Entertainment is gearing up for the premiere of Bambai Meri Jaan, a period crime drama series starring Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary, Aditya Rawal, and Kritika Kamra. The series premieres in September on Amazon Prime Video. Additionally, the production banner has the highly anticipated third season of Mirzapur, scheduled for release sometime next year. They also have as many as eight films in various stages of production, starring actors such as Ranveer Singh, Emraan Hashmi, Pratik Gandhi, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Pandey, and Pankaj Tripathi, among others.
We reached out to the representatives of Excel Entertainment and Netflix for confirmation. However, we are yet to hear back from them.
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