Meet the filmmaker behind Netflix's recently premiered web series, 'Dabba Cartel', who is Shabana Azmi's daughter-in-law and has worked previously as an American television host.
Dabba Cartel premiered on Netflix on February 28, 2025, and the first reviews of this twisted and trippy crime drama are encouraging. The seven-episode series has a stellar star cast featuring so many renowned actors. Some of the recognised actors in lead roles in the web series include Shabana Azmi, Jyothika, Shalini Pandey, Anjali Anand, Nimisha Sajayan, Gajraj Rao, Sai Tamhankar, Jisshu Sengupta, and many more. Hitesh Bhatia directed the web series, and Bhavna Kher and Vishnu Menon wrote the story.
Talking about the plot of Dabba Cartel is a story about five women who come together to run a drug cartel in Mumbai. Soon after its premiere on Netflix, many people found some similarities between Dabba Cartel and movies and web shows like Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo, and Breaking Bad. The show has started making noise on different social media platforms, courtesy of the show's stellar star cast.
Shabana Azmi played the role of a retired criminal, 'Sheila', in the web series, Dabba Cartel. However, what's interesting is that Shabana's daughter-in-law is the one, who has co-created the web series. Yes! You read it right. It is the bahu of Javed Akhtar's family, who has co-created this Netflix web show with Gaurav Kapur, Akanksha Seda, and Vishnu Menon.
Yes! You guessed it right. We are talking about Farhan Akhtar's second wife, Shibani Dandekar, who took her husband's surname 'Akhtar' after their marriage on February 19, 2022. Before tying the knot with Shibani, Farhan was married to Adhuna Bhabani, but they parted ways in 2017. Returning to Dabba Cartel's co-creator and producer, Shibani Akhtar has also worked as a singer, host, and professional model in the entertainment industry.
In a conversation with India Today Digital, Shabana Azmi talked about the Netflix web series, Daaba Cartel. She responded to people claiming that the show's plot is way too similar to Dimple Kapadia's web show, Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo. The veteran actress admitted that she was concerned about the comparison, but she believed in her daughter-in-law, Shibani's vision, and it paid off. Shabana added that after watching Dabba Cartel, she was convinced there were no similarities between the two. She even labelled Dabba Cartel more of a 'realistic' than Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo. She said:
"Prior to watching the show, I was concerned that we would be directly compared to the show. However, Shibani (Shibani Akhtar, creator of Dabba Cartel) was confident and assured me that it wouldn't happen. Seeing her belief, I was also relieved. And when I watched the show, it was really a well-made show, but it is quite different from ours."
Shibani Akhtar is a first-time producer, who recently opened up about her experience of co-creating the Netflix show, Dabba Cartel. Talking about about the same, Shibani shared that she didn’t take any help from her husband, Farhan Akhtar, and approached Excel Entertainment secretly. She further added that Excel liked her idea so much and told her that they were interested in producing the show. She said:
"I had kind of created it without Farhan and Excel [Entertainment] knowing. But I did approach Excel, not Farhan. I approached Excel to kind of get the idea registered to see where it could kind of go."
Talking about Farhan Akhtar's wife, Shibani Akhtar, she has previously worked as a host for a series of foreign shows like Namaste America, V Desi, Asian Variety Show, After Hours, Let's Design, AXN's Men 2.0, and many more. Not only this, she also hosted a series of mega sporting events and even worked in a few movies. Just like her husband, Farhan Akhtar, Shibani is equally multi-talented as she has also appeared in some films as an actress. Now, co-creating Dabba Cartel for Netflix, she has added another feather to her hat.
What are your thoughts on Dabba Cartel? Have you seen Shibani Dandekar's show? Let us know.
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