Amazon Prime Video announces new slate for India

The list features 40 original series and movies, and 29 films that will stream on the platform post-theatrical release, all across Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages.

Its original series includes Excel Entertainment’s Andhera, Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu-starrer Citadel: Honey Bunny, the Indian adaptation of the American espionage thriller, Karan Johar-backed Daring Partners, Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Matka King starring Vijay Varma, and The Revolutionaries, an adaptation of the book by the same name.

New seasons of older franchises such as Mirzapur, Paatal Lok, Panchayat and Suzhal- The Vortex will be the other attractions. 

Premiere original movies that will be released on the platform are Be Happy starring Abhishek Bachchan, Subedaar featuring Anil Kapoor and Chhorii 2, a sequel to the horror thriller that had also premiered on the service. 

Theatrical movies such as Shahid Kapoor’s Ashwatthama- The Saga Continues starring, Tiger Shroff’s Baaghi 4, Kartik Aaryan’s Chandu Champion, Ranveer Singh’s Don 3 among others will be released on Prime Video.

The platform’s content reached over 210 countries and territories in any given week in 2023, Aparna Purohit, head of originals, India and Southeast Asia, said in a statement.

Besides Prime Video, Amazon also operates a free video entertainment service, miniTV in India. Besides, it hosts Prime Video Store, a transaction-video-on-demand (TVoD) offering that allows Prime subscribers as well as non-subscribers to access movies on rent as well as content aggregation vertical Prime Video Channels that make other subscription-driven video-on-demand platforms available on its app and website.

To be sure, India’s over-the-top video streaming platforms, which began scaling back investments in 2022 following rising global pressure on their parent companies, and sluggish subscriber growth, remained cautious in 2023. 

The commissioning of original content has slowed in India, with the Zee-Sony merger being called off this January and uncertainties surrounding the sale of Disney’s India assets that eventually went through last month. 

Many platforms are playing it safe by securing star-studded films to ensure returns, and experimenting with shows that release episodes regularly, similar to traditional television, to keep audiences engaged for longer durations while cutting costs due to subscription and advertising pressures.

Services are also diversifying offerings with free content, and recognizing that relying solely on subscription may not be sufficient. In response to rising content creation costs and increased competition, Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar are taking steps to curb password sharing while others such as Prime Video have raised fees to boost monetization.

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Published: 19 Mar 2024, 06:31 PM IST