SonyLIV's 'Real Kashmir Football Club' Is Deadline's Global Breakout

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s strand in which, each fortnight, we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track… So, we’re going to do the hard work for you.

This week we head to India, where streamer SonyLIV‘s focus on resonant modern history-themed drama series has led to . The show follows the unlikely story of how two men fought to build a professional team from nothing, with critical acclaim and social media buzz creating what the streamer calls “a special mark.”

Name: Real Kashmir Football Club

Country: India

Producer: Jaya Entertainment and Oshun Entertainment

Streamer: SonyLIV (multiple territories)

For fans of: Ted Lasso, Welcome to Wrexham, Rocket Boys

For those who track Indian streaming, SonyLIV has carved out its niche by vouching for original series that tell stories of events that shaped modern India. The likes of Rocket Boys, Scam and Freedom at Midnight have all cut through with subscribers thanks to their familiar themes and it’s no different for Real Kashmir Football Club, a scripted series from Jaya Entertainment and Oshun Entertainment.

“Real Kashmir Football Club is a fitting addition to that slate,” says a SonyLIV rep in a statement. The series stars Manav Kaul and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as the men who aspired, and succeeded in, founding Kashmir’s first professional soccer team.

Inspired by true events, the series dropped on SonyLIV, which operates in India and numerous other territories around the world, in December 2025. In reality, Real Kashmir FC was born out of the devastating Kashmir floods of 2014, which killed around 550 people in India and Pakistan. Newspaper editor Shamim Meraj and local businessman Sandeep Chattoo teamed to create a soccer club for local players as a community outreach program. Before long, the club was officially formalized as a professional entity – the first ever from the Jammu and Kashmir region to compete in a national-level competition. A Wrexham AFC-like rise through the leagues followed (more on that below).

Kilian Kerwin, President of Jaya Entertainment, had the concept in development for almost a decade, and when he and his team first took it to buyers, an independent financing route had already been decided on. The networks told producers to return when it had been made, in part due to the economic climate discouraging buying.

Even at that point, however, it was obvious SonyLIV was the most interested buyer, with Head of Content Saugata Mukherjee being the pivot that connected Jaya with director Mahesh Mathai. Well over a year later, the episodes had been produced and edited, and a deal came together. SonyLIV’s outgoing chief Danish Khan “bought it in the room, as they say,” Kerwin recalls. Such was the fit that “other platforms knew it was going to SonyLIV,” adds the American producer.

Mathai recalls being immediately taken by the chance to tell a new story about Kashmir, a Muslim-majority India state that is often only seen as what he says has been “a troubled spot for many years, for many reasons.”

“All the images coming out of Kashmir were either not true to the place, or focused on terrorism and divisive politics,” he adds. “There was nothing coming out that was real. Added to that, it’s an underdog sporting story. It was irresistible, going against the grain, and I wouldn’t let it go.”

Kerwin adds: “I can’t tell you the number of Kashmiri stories that cross your desk that are the same, jingoistic and militaristic. Stories about spies and military do need to be told, but they’re very one-sided. Here was a story about two guys from different sides of the track: One happens to be Hindu and one Muslim in a region supposedly divided by religion.”

‘Welcome to Wrexham’ comparisons

Any soccer story about a club rising from the doldrums will inevitably compared to that of Welsh team Wrexham, which has gone from England’s lowly National League to the Championship, one below the Premier League, in just six years after Hollywood pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (aka Rob Mac) acquired the club. That journey has been mapped in Disney+/Hulu series Welcome to Wrexham.

Both Kerwin and Mathai say the key similarities between the programs are in the details, but not the narrative of a relentless charge up the soccer pyramid. “We completely depart from most of the rise,” says Kerwin. “What we were really interested in was the people. Even in Welcome to Wrexham, which is a docu-series, the story is in the bar tenders, the locals, coaches and players. That’s the lifeblood of any series.”

Mathai notes that Indian soccer is struggling financially – perhaps not surprising in a country obsessed by another sport, cricket – but that Real Kashmir FC’s ongoing could unlock new growth in the market. The team came close to promotion to India’s top league, the Indian Super League, from the I-League, placing third in the table in the 2024-25 season. “If someone comes in and lifts the whole thing up then each of the clubs can become financial opportunities, and that could soon happen with Real Kashmir,” says Mathai.

As such, he believes the TV story is “far from being told yet” – and the real question is what the narrative holds. “Wrexham is purely the story of a team going up the ladder, and this is an origin story. Climbing the way up the ladder would not be enough.”

Like virtually all streamers, SonyLIV doesn’t release viewing figures, but a rep tells us “the general buzz and the stellar reviews speak for themselves,” adding: “It clearly has made a special mark.” The producers have mapped out the narrative path, but it’s unclear if Season 2 will be ordered, with recent managerial changes at SonyLIV among several hurdles that would need to be jumped.

The SonyLIV rep tells us: “Real Kashmir Football Club was conceived as a complete, self-contained story. Some narratives are most impactful when told in a single season, and this show delivers a full emotional arc without needing extension. At Sony LIV, we believe in letting the story dictate its journey — and in this case, its wholeness is its strength.”

The series, which was announced last year before its December 9 launch, has been a boon for the producers, who say they are “extremely fortunate to have been able to make this show,” given a general lack of commissions and filmmaking in India right now. “Being busy with work is great because there isn’t that much around,” adds Kerwin.

However, former SK Global exec Kerwin, who is based in L.A. and counts Crazy Rich Asians among his credits, says that “pound for pound” Indian technicians, DoPs and actors are matching counterparts anywhere in the world. Scripting has also benefitted from a change in attitude to development, which Mathai and Kerwin say came after the global pandemic. “Development has become valued in a way it wasn’t five or six years ago outside the English-language content,” adds Kerwin.”

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