Amazon has been gearing up to launch its Prime Video service in India since quite some time. Several reports claiming that the eCommerce giant will be launching the service during the Diwali season — i.e. around 30th of October — are already doing the rounds. However, as per the latest reports the service is actually going to launch on the 9th of November.
As per the report, Amazon will launch the service on 9th November and the company has also planned a launch ceremony at a luxurious hotel in Mumbai. The report further stated that the company has already roped in Karan Johar in preparation for the event.
A person aware of the matter said,
The Diwali launch has been pushed due to logistical reason. Also, Karan’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil releases on that weekend so it wouldn’t have made enough noise. November 9 is what they’ve finalised now. The bosses are very clear — they want to arrive with a big bang announcing a crazy slate of titles.
Karan Johar’s involvement in the event isn’t too surprising, considering that the company has already announced a long-term agreement with Dharma Productions. As a part of the agreement, the titles from the production house, including its upcoming Bollywood movies, will be available on Prime Video in India.
Several major announcements related to the Prime Video are expected to take place during the launch event. The event will provide more details about Bahubali: The Lost Legends, which is Amazon’s first original animated series, specifically targeted at the Indian market.
Amazon has already launched its Amazon Prime membership in more than 100 Indian cities. While the company has already begun delivering upon its promise of one-day and two-day deliveries, it is currently working to build up and augment a roster of video content.
The company has already roped in several big names from Bollywood such as Vishal Bhardwaj and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The company is also said to be in talks with BCCI for the digital broadcast rights of the upcoming season of IPL.
Earlier, Amazon had ramped up its executive bench by hiring Nitesh Kripalani, a former Executive VP of Multi Screen Media (MSM), to head its Prime services in India. It has also hired former Cinestaan executive Aparna Purohit as head for creative development.
For this Prime Video service, the biggest rival will be Netflix, which launched its services in India a few months ago. Recently, Netflix also announced its first Indian original series – Sacred Games, based on Vikram Chandra’s critically acclaimed best-selling novel that goes under the same name.
Apart from Netflix, the service will also be competing against the likes of Star India’s video streaming platform HotStar, Eros Now, Viacom’s Voot, among others.
