Amazon Prime Video India to scale up theatrical first releases of original films

Earlier this year, Amazon Prime Video India released two of its ‘original’ films – Superboys of Malegaon and Nishaanchi – first in theatres and then on its streaming platform. Superboys of Malegaon also made it to several global film festivals such as Toronto and London.

Indian originals across platforms, be it shows such as Heeramandi on Netflix or Dupahiya and Mirzapur on Amazon Prime Video, have been resonating with global audiences beyond the diaspora.

Amazon Prime Video India plans theatrical-first releases of at least 3-4 of its original films if not more in the coming year. The most sought-after release would be its highly acclaimed series, Mirzapur, which would be released as a film.

Nikhil Madhok, Head of Original Content India, Amazon Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, says that though their core business is streaming, theatrical first releases significantly help a film reach more consumers. Prime Video ever since its acquisition of MGM Studios has embarked aggressively on the theatre-cum-streaming platform release of its films and it looks to scale it up in India too. Madhok says that the content that would have a theatre-first release strategy would be evaluated from the scripting stage.

“It is a nuanced decision. There are certain scripts which are community viewing experiences and best enjoyed sitting in a hall. Comedy, for instance, is a great genre for community viewing. You tend to find a particular scene even funnier when you find people watching and laughing alongside. On the other hand, are certain scripts which lean better towards streaming, and we take those calls fairly early, in the writing process, production process,” he explains.

“Depending on the kind of movie we are producing, we take a joint call with our creators. In fact, there are filmmakers who don’t want to take the stress of box office performance, they feel they are better off releasing it only on streaming. We honour their views too,” he further adds.

In an earlier interview with Fortune India, Gaurav Gandhi, vice-president, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Amazon Prime Video, had said they are playing a different game compared to other platforms. “We are building an entertainment hub; we are all about giving customers content of their choice. We can create them through our SVOD service as well as partner with other platforms.”

Gandhi had talked about Prime Video’s partnership with Apple TV. “You can watch a great show of Apple TV on Prime Video as an add-on service. We are also building a category of movie rental which doesn’t exist, we are partnering with global studios. Some of these movies are not on Prime, they are on our rental service. Many of them are on Prime, but they come to our rental service first and then go to Prime,” he explained.

Shilangi Mukherji, director & head, SVOD Business (India), Amazon Prime Video, claims that the penetration of their rental video service is as high as 95%. “Over 60% of rental catalogue is rented every month,” she says.