Amazon's video streaming service Prime Video said on March 19 that it will release an original series about the engineers and the company that sparked India's IT boom, as part of the company's efforts to attract consumers with local stories.
Called The Great Indian Code, the Hindi-language show is produced by The Viral Fever, the digital entertainment firm that has previously created shows such as the entrepreneurial web series Pitchers and Kota Factory, that focuses on the IIT coaching culture.
Prime Video said the story is set against the backdrop of 1970s-90s and will follow a "bunch of humble and visionary middle-class engineers led by a meek looking gentleman in the eighties to create a company that led the biggest wealth generating industry India had ever seen: the IT industry". However, the company has not disclosed any further details on the show that is set for a release sometime over the next two years.
Dharmatic Entertainment, the streaming-focused content studio of Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, is also releasing a fictional show on two women embarking on a journey as founders of an alcohol startup that will see them ‘craft’ their destiny within a male- dominated industry. The Hindi-language show called Daring Partners will star film actors Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty.
Read: Amazon Prime unveils reality show for Indian startups competing to raise unicorn funding
In addition, the studio is releasing a show called The Tribe that will feature a group of Indian influencers who have been set up to crack global fame in Los Angeles. The Hindi-language show stars Internet personalities such as Alanna Panday, Alaviaa Jaaferi, Srushti Porey, Alfia Jafry, Aryaana Gandhi, and Hardik Zaveri.
Prime Video's biggest India slate yet
These shows are part of Prime Video's new content slate for the India market, that comprises about 69 new and returning original series, original and licensed films, most of which will launch over the next two years.
This is the Amazon-owned streaming platform's biggest slate in India to date, which comes amid rising competition in the country's video streaming market. Amazon Prime Video had previously announced a slate of 41 original series and movies in 2022.
The service's new slate includes 27 original series, 5 returning series, 8 original movies and 29 licensed films across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada languages. This announcement comes on heels of rival Netflix announcing a India slate of 8 shows and 14 films last month.
Mike Hopkins - Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said that India had the highest percentage of Prime Members streaming Prime Video than any country in the world and more people sign up for Prime Video than any other benefit offered in the Prime subscription in India.
The country has also driven more subscribers to the Prime subscription service than any other country in recent years, outside the United States, he said.
Read: Prime Video head says India a key market to acquire 250 million subscribers coming from outside US
Hopkins also said that Indian content was watched in over 210 countries and territories and programming from the country trended in the Top 10 list on Prime Video worldwide for 43 of the last 52 weeks.
Among other original series that are part of the lineup include Roy Kapur Films' gambling-oriented series Matka King, Excel Entertainment's urban horror series Andhera, Tiger Baby's documentary series In Transit, OML Entertainment's musical Bandwaale, Bhumi Pednekar-starrer thriller Daldal, Uorfi Javed-starrer unscripted show Follow Karlo Yaar and Pritish Nandy Communications' Gen Z drama series Ziddi Girls.
The India installment of the Russo Brothers' spy thriller Citadel called Citadel: Honey Bunny is also part of the lineup. The Hindi-language series is directed by the hit making duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, more popularly known as Raj & DK and stars Varun Dhawan, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Raj & DK is also releasing a Hindi satire drama Gulkanda Tales on the platform, starring Pankaj Tripathi, Kunal Kemmu, and Patralekhaa.
Ma Kasum, a story that depicts a math genius' ultimate quest to create an algorithm to find the ‘perfect match’ for his single mother is also part of the lineup along with The Revolutionaries, a show that follows young Indian freedom fighters.
The Tamil language shows include a fictional period action drama Gangs Kuruthi Punal and supernatural horror series Inspector Rishi while Telugu shows include actor Rana Daggubati's chat show The Rana Connection and a fictional suspense drama Arabia Kadali.
Among the returning series include new seasons of Bandish Bandits, Mirzapur, Paatal Lok, Panchayat and the Tamil show Suzhal: The Vortex.
Hindi-language films Anil Kapoor-starrer Subedaar; Abhishek Bachchan and Nora Fatehi-starrer Be Happy and the previously announced Sara Ali Khan-starrer Ae Watan Mere Watan along with Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby's Supermen of Malegaon are part of the lineup of Amazon original films along with Telugu films Cheekati Lo (crime thriller) and Uppu Kappu Rambu (satirical comedy).
Licensing deals
Besides this, Prime Video also announced new licensing film deals with several companies to stream films after their theatrical run. This includes Excel Entertainment (five upcoming films including Don 4, Agni, Ground Zero); Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment (four movies including Baaghi 4 and Housefull 5); Maddock films (three films including Stree 2, Ikkis, and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya)
Dharma Productions (two movies including Badnewz and Yodha); Rohit Shetty's Singham Again, Pooja Entertainment's Ashwatthama - The Saga Continues and Hombale Films' Kantara prequel film Kantara - A Legend Chapter 1 are among other licensed films that will stream on Amazon Prime Video.
“At Prime Video, it has been our ongoing mission to be a global showcase for diverse, authentic and rooted Indian stories, that can transcend linguistic and geographical borders,” said Aparna Purohit, head of Originals, India and Southeast Asia, Prime Video.
"We are confident that our upcoming slate of series and movies will pave the way for even more compelling narratives from India to emerge" she said.
These announcements however come as Prime Video is set to face stiff competition in the country, following Reliance Industries’ joint venture with Disney, which combines the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India. The deal includes JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, two of India's top streaming services.
Disney+ Hotstar is currently the market leader in India's subscription-based video streaming market with 38.3 million subscribers. Other players in the space include Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5 and Sony LIV.
Revenue from video subscriptions is expected to reach an estimated Rs 9,120 crore by 2025, as the paid subscriber base grows to an estimated 114 million subscriptions from 52 million households, according to a recent FICCI-EY report.
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