Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has revealed that their OTT platform Prime Video is doing better in India than anywhere else in the world. Furthermore, Amazon plans to double their investment in original Indian content this year.
Bezos made these comments during a conversation with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and director Zoya Akhtar in Mumbai.
The service is working great in India. In the last two years, our watch hours have grown six times. We want to be known as the most talent-friendly studio in the world because it is talent that makes stories.
During the event, Bezos also unveiled 7 new originals for Prime Video India adding to the 15 already available titles.
Bezos also claimed that the platform’s unique business model, which clubs its video streaming platform with its e-commerce perks membership, has worked tremendously well for the firm.
Khan and Akhtar have worked with Netflix too and have existing deals with the streaming giant. Bezos is keen on achieving similar deals with the Hindi film industry. There are also the rapidly growing local players like The Viral Fever, ALTBalaji and Zee5 which are major competition.
However, Amazon has the advantage of providing extra benefits to its subscribers in terms of free shipping for shopped items and Amazon music along with original shows and films. Also, it has invested big money to make huge films like War, Gully Boy and Padmaavat available for exclusive streaming.
Director Kabir Khan’s The Forgotten Army is the latest original series set to premiere on Prime Video India on 24 January 2020. It stars Sunny Kaushal and Sharvari in lead roles.
Full interview:
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