Amazon gears up for Prime Video launch in India

In preparation of the launch of Prime Video in India, Amazon is actively partnering with big Indian movie studios for local content.

The company announced today that it has partnered with Dharma Productions, one of India’s largest movie studios. As part of the licensing deal, Dharma Productions will provide Amazon with select blockbuster titles including ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ which will hit cinemas next month.

Amazon is also bagging exclusive online rights to offer other upcoming movies from the production house such as ‘Ok Jaanu,’ which stars Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, and ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania,’ featuring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt.

The announcement comes days after Amazon partnered with Vishesh Films, another major Bollywood studio in India. With Vishesh Films, the company has an agreement to offer its entire catalog of movies, which consists nearly 50 titles.

“We are excited to have Dharma Productions’ library and future slate of titles for the upcoming launch of Prime Video. We know our Prime members are going to love the broad selection of films and stories – everything from soulful romance to heartfelt and funny family stories – that Dharma does so well,” said Nitesh Kripalani, Director and Country Head, Amazon Video India.

Amazon launched its Prime service in India earlier this year. The company, however, is yet to bring Prime content services — Amazon Music and Amazon Video — to the country. But it seems the launch is near. It has been building a war chest of content to fight with local streaming services as well as Netflix, which entered India earlier this year.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently announced that his company will be investing an additional $3 billion in India, taking the company's total investment in the country to more than $5 billion. It is reportedly planning to invest as much as $300 million in producing original content for India.

Netflix too is particularly interested in India. The company snapped the rights for Quashik Mukherjee’s nerd comedy Brahman Naman at Sundance, and released it globally in July. Earlier this month, it signed Indian comedian Vir Das for an 'Original' series.