Netflix to premiere Arati Kadav’s Cargo on 9 September

Arati Kadav’s Cargo (2020), starring Vikrant Massey and Shweta Tripathi Sharma, will make its digital premiere on Netflix on 9 September. 

The online streamer announced the film’s premiere in a clever meme, referencing their rival Amazon Prime’s Mirzapur, which stars both Massey and Tripathi. 

The sci-fi film, which had its world premiere at the 21st MAMI Mumbai Film Festival last year, was also screened virtually at the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival and Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival, where it won the Best Sci-Fi Feature and the Audience Choice awards respectively, in March and April.

Earlier this year, Kadav told Cinestaan.com about her plans for an online release. “Now, producers are willing to experiment or try it because OTTs are absorbing the box office ups and downs. We have that option now,” the filmmaker had said. 

In the film, which is set in the distant future, Massey plays a rakshasa (demon) Prahastha, who is stationed in space. He receives cargo of dead humans and helps them transition to their afterlife. After many years of working alone, he eventually gets an assistant Yuviksha (Tripathi) and he finds out why.