Amazon's Prime Video launched a movie rental service in India this week. At a Mumbai-based marquee event, the streamer also confirmed plans to double its investment in Prime Video India over the next five years."We are super excited about the launch," Gaurav Gandhi, head of Amazon Prime Video India said.
The company unveiled plans for 41 original series in three Indian languages, some to be produced by top Bollywood directors such as Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar. The move comes five years after the U.S. tech giant launched its streaming service in India, and the company said it planned to more than double its investment in Prime Video over the next five years, but did not give figures. It enables them to pay per movie, instead of a flat monthly fee. In addition, the streamer has set licensing deals with leading Indian production houses Ajay Devgn FFilms, Dharma Productions, Excel Entertainment and Yash Raj Films. It is also expected to take on heavyweights such as India's Reliance Industries, Sony Group Corp and Disney in the battle for exclusive digital broadcast rights to the hugely popular Indian Premier League (IPL).
The world’s second-most populous nation with a population of nearly 1.4 billion, India is a valuable market for Amazon and its rivals Netflix and Walt Disney Co’s Disney+ Hotstar. Amazon has invested heavily in acquiring and producing local content in India, where, founder Jeff Bezos said in 2020, Prime Video was doing better than anywhere else in the world. The titles are in the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages, across new and returning scripted and unscripted original series and co-productions, streaming over the next 24 months. The service has also revealed a foray into original films. Some 70% of the upcoming titles will feature new talent, both in front of and behind the camera.
The titles expected to be included in the streamer's slate includes "Adhura," (Hindi) "Call Me Bae," (Hindi), "Crash Course," (Hindi), "Dahaad," (Hindi), "Dhootha," (Telugu), "Farzi," (Hindi), "Gulkanda Tales," (Hindi), "Happy Family Conditions Apply," (Hindi), "Hush Hush," (Hindi), "Indian Police Force," (Hindi), "Jee Karda," (Hindi), "Jubilee," (Hindi), "Modern Love Chennai." (Tamil),
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