Here's why Ted Sarandos wants to make YRF series The Romantics 'mandatory viewing' for all Netflix employees

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, who recently visited India, revealed how the docu-series, The Romantics, on the history of Yash Raj Films, gave him extra insight into the culture and history of the country and Indian cinema.

Netflix co-chief executive officer Ted Sarandos revealed that he wanted all Netflix employees to watch The Romantics to learn about Indian cinema and culture. The top executive was recently in India to launch the first look of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's series Heeramandi. Ted was part of a business summit where he spoke about the Yash Raj Films docu-series and how much he understood about the country from it. Director Smriti Mundhra shared Ted's comments about the show and how happy she was with the impact it was having on movie fans around the world.

The co-chief executive officer of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, during a recent trip to India. (Photo by SUJIT JAISWAL / AFP)(AFP)

Taking to Twitter, Smriti wrote, "I’ve been watching this on repeat for days. So incredibly proud of my entire team on #TheRomantics and a little giddy about the impact the show is having on cinemaniacs worldwide, including Ted Sarandos (smiling face with hearts emoji)." The filmmaker interviewed the top stars of the Hindi film industry including Shah Rukh, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Kajol, Rani Mukherji, Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh and many others to speak about their association with the production house YRF. The series also looks at the life and career of director Yash Chopra and has an exclusive interview with the reclusive head of the studio, Aditya Chopra.

Speaking at a panel at the Global Business Summit last week, Ted had said, "I want to make [The Romantics] mandatory viewing in the company where I want every one of our employees, all 10,000 people to watch all episodes of this documentary to learn about this incredible, rich history of cinema in India. The storytelling is great. It tells you so much about the culture here and the business culture and the storytelling culture. I learned more in that four hours than I have learned in the last 20 years, trying to figure out India for movies and television shows. And I'm super proud of the fact that we're in the discussion."

While he was in India, Ted also spoke about the streaming platform's future plans in the country. He shared that viewer engagement in the country grew by 30% and their revenue also went up by 25%. The Netflix executive also revealed that Netflix wants to increase its investment in the country. He also felt they had an added advantage since Netflix had two offices in Mumbai and Delhi to create local content.