Reeling under a water crisis, the country has organized itself into a militarized Hindu state called Aryavarta, a term for the Indian subcontinent straight out of Sanskrit theological texts. Leila begins in 2047, a hundred years after India's independence. Oscar-nominated director Deepa Mehta lends her considerable skills to this uneven Hindi-language drama adapted by Urmi Juvekar from journalist Prayaag Akbar's critically acclaimed novel of the same name. It's a haunting image in Netflix's six-episode dystopian series Leila, the streaming service's latest attempt to ensnare Indian audiences. They watch in stunned silence as a controlled demolition of the Taj Mahal takes place on screen (or, more accurately, one of those hologram projections ubiquitous in visual representations of the future) while cheers erupt in the background. A family is huddled around the television.
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