Streaming service Prime Video is doubling down on its India strategy by announcing plans to premiere Indian films in theatres every year. The move comes on the back of a strong 2024, where Indian content on the platform trended in the global top 10 every single week.
Starting 2026, the platform will premiere three to four local Indian films from Amazon MGM Studios in theatres every year.
“While our core business is streaming, we really believe in the theatrical window and the magic of theatres. And depending on the kind of movie that we are producing, we take a joint call with our creators in terms of which movie can go to theatres first,” said Nikhil Madhok, director & head of Originals, Prime Video, India at FICCI Frames.
From local to global
He added that Indian content was trending in top 10 on the service worldwide every single week in 2024.
Nearly 25 percent of the viewership for Indian content on Prime Video comes from outside India, he said.
“What we have learnt is that imitation will not take you far; what travels well is originality and authenticity. We encourage creators to write for local audiences first. Our shows and movies compete with the finest content internationally, and the way we differentiate our content is by being original and authentic," Madhok said.
While India has strong story-telling, there is still work to be done in presenting its content more effectively to international audiences, noted Shilangi Mukherji, director & head of SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand) business, Prime Video, India.
One of the key factors for driving global success, she explained, is intentional localization by investing in adapting content for different regions from the very beginning rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Content localisation
She also pointed out that localisation attempts have also helped make Indian content truly pan-Indian as almost 60 percent of the customers on Prime Video India stream content in four or more Indian languages.
The platform also kept its focus on building original content for the Indian market.
"The Indian slate is pretty much the biggest slate outside of the US. It’s massive, and it’s across languages," Mukherji said.
Prime Video’s original content portfolio boasts of 100 series and movies which are in various stages of production, development and negotiation.
“We had to build this initiative from the ground up -identifying creators and writers and training them to develop long-form original series. Our journey began with seasoned filmmakers who were taking their first steps into streaming," Madhok said.
Its originals like The Family Man, Mirzapur, Made in Heaven, Panchayat, Call Me Bae, or Paatal Lok, have emerged as popular franchises. Over time, these franchises, among others, have become quite successful. More than 60 percent of our fiction shows have gone into multiple seasons or their new seasons are under development—a very healthy success rate,” he added.
Along with working with experienced filmmakers, Madhok said that the platform is also working with fresh voices, new talent, both in-front and behind the scenes. “We are now witnessing a fresh wave of new voices and emerging talent joining us on this journey. Take Dupahiya, for example, which premiered earlier this year. Created by first-time creators and writers and featuring an ensemble cast, the show was so successful that we announced a second season within a few weeks of its launch.”
New partners, users
On Prime Video's partnership with over 25 Indian and international add-on subscription partners offering more than 75,000 hours of additional content selection, over 8500 titles available through its Movie Rentals, Mukherji said they are seeing 60 percent of their movie rental catalogue being rented every month. "We receive rental transactions from customers from 95 percent of pin codes in India.”
The platform is seeing strong adoption in India. "In the last twelve months, nearly 25 percent of our streamers have been completely new to the service,” Mukherji said.
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