Netflix on Friday dropped the trailer of its fictional dystopian series called Leila, directed by Deepa Mehta. Starring Huma Qureshi, Tamil actor Siddharth, Rahul Khanna, Seema Biswas, Akash Khurana, Sanjay Suri and Arif Zakaria, the trailer details a chilling narrative of a world where totalitarianism and notions of racial purity reign supreme.

Set in an imaginary world of Aryavarta, it begins in a digitally advanced world where a leader (Arif Zakaria) of a community is in the process of identifying and recording the ’pure’ from the ’impure’. Into this world, comes a woman, played by Huma Qureshi, who is accused of marrying outside her community. Several shots show her happy world — her boyfriend and later, husband and their little girl. Minutes later, her world is shattered. Goons land at the swimming pool where she is with her family. She is kidnapped and her husband is, perhaps, is attacked. Separated from her family, she is now in an ashram, run by the leader, and is being forced to undergo what looks like a purification ceremony. It is made to look like a penance.

Leila shows a digitally advanced dystopia where the ‘pure’ are separated from the ‘impure’.

Soon, we see her in a vehicle (she has possibly escaped) and is looking for her daughter. For the purpose, she solicits the help of anyone she can manage — even a street urchin. Helping her in the process is Siddharth. As they search, mobs rule the streets. IN one instance, a police van with Huma, Siddharth and others is attacked by masked men. Later, we see a baby, possibly in a hospital, with a voice-over asking: ‘Do they take mixed-blood children away somewhere?’ Next, as police tries to control rioters, Huma steps out of a police van, frantically looking for her daughter. Huma and the rest can be seen running helter-skelter can police runs riots through slums. Seconds later, a voice over informs that children born out of mixed parentage are taken by the government even as Huma pours over clues. Later, we see that Huma’s character has been re-captured; she is drugged as she is presented to the leader again. He repeats: “I told you, you will never get your daughter.”

Rahul Khanna and Huma Qureshi in a still from Leila.

Leila is based on author Prayaag Akbar’s award-winning book of the same name. It is set to release on Netflix worldwide across 190 countries on June 14, 2019.

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First Published: May 17, 2019 10:45 IST