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Tag: Amazon Prime Video

  • Amazon Prime Video to stream Afsos from 17 Jan

    Amazon Prime Video to stream Afsos from 17 Jan

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video has announced the trailer of much-awaited series Afsos. Produced by Only Much Louder (OML), the suspense thriller is a dark comedy about a suicidal man, a maverick monk and a deadly assassin amidst the realm of immortality. The eight-episode series is co-created by Dibya Chatterjee and renowned comedian Anirban Dasgupta and will be available for the members across 200 countries and territories as a binge starting 17 January 2020.

    Anirban Dasgupta, who marks his debut as a show creator, said, “Afsos is my second collaboration with Amazon Prime Video after my special ‘Take It Easy’. Both these experiences have been memorable and I am happy that this unique series has found its home on the service. Creating this show with Dibya Chatterjee and OML was enjoyable and I am grateful to everyone who has come together to bring this wild story to life.”

    Nakul’s only goal in life is to seek some sort of closure. After several failed suicide attempts, he pays for his own death. Upadhyay, a deadly women assassin is assigned to get the job done, but Nakul has a change of heart. He chooses to live, however Upadhyay never leaves a job undone. A riveting cat and mouse chase ensues while a divine intervention flips everything upside down in this black comedy thriller. Produced by OML and created by Anirban Das Gupta and Dibya Chatterjee, directed by Anubhuti Kashyap, the series available on Amazon Prime Video stars Gulshan Devaiah, Anjali Patil – winner of the National Film Award – special mention and state Nandi Award f­or Best Actress, Heeba Shah, Danish Sait, Dhruv Sehgal, among others.

    Amazon Prime Video has the largest selection of latest & exclusive movies, TV shows, award winning Amazon Originals such as The Family Man, Made in Heaven, Four More Shots Please!, Mirzapur, Inside Edge, Comicstaan among others, Stand-Up Comedy, biggest Indian and Hollywood films, US TV series, most popular Indian & international kids’ shows all available, ad-free, with a world class customer experience. The service includes titles available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi and Bengali.

    Sign-up for Rs. 999 annually or Rs. 129 monthly and watch the upcoming Amazon exclusive series Afsos, newest releases in Hollywood & Bollywood, the latest US TV shows, kids’ favorite toons and Amazon Originals.

  • Higher investment in content & tech, innovative marketing strategy led OTT industry in 2019

    Higher investment in content & tech, innovative marketing strategy led OTT industry in 2019

    MUMBAI: The over-the-top (OTT) market in India turned more saturated in 2019. To make a dent in the cluttered space, the contenders have significantly upped their game with a greater amount of high-quality original content, incorporating new technologies and increasing marketing spend.

    As per EY and FIICI 2019 report – ‘A Billion Screens of Opportunity,’ the OTT sector in India grew by a whopping 59 per cent in FY2019, growing from Rs 13.5 billion in 2018 to Rs 17 billion in 2019. The sector is estimated to reach Rs 24 billion by 2021.

    How OTT platforms significantly upped investment in content and technology

    While ZEE5 has been bullish on producing original content since the beginning among the domestic OTT platforms, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) CEO Punit Goenka said that the financial year FY 2019-20 will be the year of peak investment for its video on demand (VoD) platform. Throughout the year, ZEE5 launched over 80 originals across languages in the calendar year 2019. In this over-competitive market, ZEE5 stands ahead of SonyLIV by 1.7x, approximately 5-6 times ahead of each the platforms – MX Player, Amazon Prime Video, VOOT and 14x of Hotstar.

    Along with launching a number of Bollywood-starring web-series, bringing back popular franchises in Hindi, the platform had at least one original web series come out in six different languages each month on an average in regional languages including Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. As Indian audiences have always been an avid follower of movies, the platform strengthened the movie library as well. While the platform already boasts of over 20 original direct to digital films, it also made Bollywood hits like URI: The Surgical Strike, Dream Girl, Simmba, Sonchiriya, Kedarnath, PADMAN, Veere Di Wedding, Mulk, Parmanu, The Tashkent Files, The Accidental Prime Minister, Judgemental Hai Kya available for its users.

    After banking on catch-up and sports content for a long time, the leader in the Indian OTT pack, Star India’s Hotstar also decided to invest in premium original content. Reportedly, Hotstar jumped onto the bandwagon with a Rs 120 crore investment plan. The primary reason to launch originals is to convert users into paid subscribers in the face of increasing competition. Hitherto, adapting successful foreign shows by infusing local flavours had been an important aspect of Hotstar’s strategy but it is certain that the platform is not going to limit itself to adaptations.

    The traditional player Shemaroo also entered the OTT market in 2019 with its new platform ShemarooMe. The platform launched a host of new and exciting properties to keep the audiences entertained throughout the year including Shemaroo Bollywood Premiere, Shemaroo Comedy Studio, Shemaroo Bhakti Studio, Komal Nahta…aur ek Kahani, Mantlya Manat, etc.

    Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd COO Kranti Gada said that ShemarooMe’s Bollywood Premiere, the offering that showcases World Digital Premiere of critically acclaimed movies every Friday, was launched in September 2019 and has received positive response from not only the audiences but also the actors and the teams involved in the making of the films.

    “Shemaroo has seen a loyal base of audience as well as manifold growth with the increase of more varied content. Content is the only factor that lures viewers to any OTT platform or deters them,” Gada added.

    Times Internet’s MX Player, which entered the market in February 2019 after re-invention, also created a buzz with originals like Hello Mini, Immature, CheeseCake, Thinkistaa and Queen. International streaming giants are also looking at rich local content library to make their games stronger in India. Reportedly, Amazon Prime Video is looking to double its original content offering for India.

    At the same time, Netflix chairman and CEO Reed Hastings recently said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that the company is looking to invest Rs 3,000 crore for original content in India this year and the next. He also added the top-performing Netflix shows from India include Sacred Games, Little Things, and Delhi Crime. He highlighted Mighty Little Bheem, since its release in 2019, has been watched by 27 million households around the world, including in Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Since launching here four years ago, Netflix has licensed hundreds of Indian films and shows, and invested in over 40 originals.

    According to a MediaPartnersAsia report in July 2019, ZEE5 holds 44 per cent, Amazon Prime Video holds 17 per cent, Netflix holds 11 per cent, SonyLIV holds 10 per cent, VOOT and Hotstar hold 9 per cent each of the cumulative original content hours for OTT in India.

    To retain users and advertisers on the platforms, all the major platforms highly emphasised on better user experience. The way ZEE5 made its content strategy stronger, it made significant investment in technology too. The platform launched a one-of-its-kind industry-defining ad-suite, the ad:tech solutions for advertisers. The offering hosts tools likeAmpli5, Ad-vault, Infonomix, PLAY5, Wishbox.

    ShemarooMe entered into an in-app travel partnership with ixigo, app in app partnership with Dainik Bhaskar, and made the platform available on Roku. According to Gada, the availability of the channel on Roku devices further strengthened ShemarooMe’s presence in the US market by offering its vast library of Bollywood and regional language content to the Indian diaspora residing in the US while it did a global launch after seven months of its domestic launch.

    “2019 for the digital streaming industry was a revolution with multiple shows being launched, and many platforms experimenting with new technologies and new business models. 2019 also saw the rise of gamification for the non – fiction shows that were tried as a successful experiment with at least two other platforms. However, they have been for network-related apps with shows being broadcast simultaneously on television. The crux lies in independent apps adopting this to engage audiences with their Original content as a scalable model. It also saw the OTT platforms experimenting with influencer marketing, AI and VR filters, microbloggers, VR innovations, extensive usage of UGC apps etc,”  ALTBalaji senior VP and head marketing  Divya Dixit said.

    In a recent interview withIndiantelevision.com, MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said that the platform has invested a lot of money on video compression which means that the amount of video the platform can deliver in 1GB data is much more than others. Bedi added that buffering or latency is much lower on the platform which translates into lower cost for the user and the platform. He also added that the platform has also been investing a lot in recommendation systems.

    PwC, in its 2019 annual report – ‘Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019-2023,’ estimated that the Indian OTT market will grow to Rs 11,976 crore by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 21.8 per cent. During that period, India is also slated to be the eight biggest OTT market overtaking South Korea.

    How streamers innovated the marketing strategy

    “All the OTTs in India are suffering from a similar issue which is to get the audience to pay wholeheartedly for content. On top of that, very few OTTs have been able to create attractive content. People have also followed the GEC mantra in OTT advertising. Basically, you know like take a show and cluster it across. The most remarkable thing is the absence of remarkability,” McCann Worldgroup vice chairman and managing director Partha Sinha said.

    ZEE5 India SVOD marketing head Reilly Rebello said OTT platforms made communication a lot more contextual while talking about marketing trends in 2019. He added that even radio and outdoor were very contextual to location and geography this year. Moreover, OTT platforms are going on new social media platforms like TikTok, ShareChat, Helo.

    “The third one was that we saw a lot of OTT players going in the outdoor space. We did a lot of outdoor advertising in the first half of the year and it became noticeably larger in the second half of the year. We saw a lot of video advertising happening which was quite a move away from static poster-driven advertising. We emphasised on video and it was not only TV but also social media, YouTube and other OTT platforms,” Rebello added.

    “With each show the challenge is to break the mould and do something new appealing to the audience, Maybe that’s why the skyline of cities is dominated by OTT platforms. Billboards are prima facie an ‘announcement medium’ providing prominence across prime locations in target markets. It helps the vast audience pool notice and register a particular campaign, thereby increasing recall. However, from a show perspective, there are always several factors involved, largely the celeb value, the genre of the show etc. Marketing the show has science in its core element, in a never-seen-before manner. It lies perfectly in sync with adopting new-age technology that appeals to our target audience. If it’s an innovation hoarding, then it doesn’t just grab eyeballs, but registers in the minds of the audience owing to its novel concept,” ALTBalaji’s Dixit added.

    Shemaroo’s Gada commented that with bite-sized video content and emergence of regional social media apps gaining popularity, the industry eventually saw influencers and celebrities joining the bandwagon thereby driving adverting dollars to these new-age platforms.

    Rebello noted that ZEE5 changed the whole advertising game to be more video-focused as people are watching a lot more video. He also added that the measure has given a huge upside in terms of subscription and brand association.

    “We tried making things a lot more contextual. For example in our outdoor hoardings for Rangbaaz every line which has been there was made contextual to the location of the city. We got a lot of good feedback taking this approach. The dialogues are getting more popular. We also started our TikTok presence,” he added on ZEE5’s marketing initiatives.

    Talking about marketing mix, Rebello said that TV and digital hold equal importance as TV still gives most reach. Followed by TV and digital, outdoor and radio gets importance as those two mediums help in branding. He also emphasised on the importance of social media for the overall marketing strategy.

    “We saw many interesting campaigns by McDonalds and Burger King taking on each other through advertisements. Interestingly,  we also saw another form of this back home in India  when Shemaroo seized the opportunity of an ongoing “Masala Nahi Toh Mazaa Nahi’ campaign of Society Tea and placed their OOH hoarding right below the Society Tea hoarding with a continued conversation to say, ‘Toh Masala Chai ke Saath Ek Masala Movie ho Jaye? A unique way to complement each brand’s strength to woo audiences and strike a relevant connection seems natural and organic,” Gada added.

  • Amazon Prime Video’s India original ‘The Forgotten Army S1’ to premiere on 24 Jan

    Amazon Prime Video’s India original ‘The Forgotten Army S1’ to premiere on 24 Jan

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video is geared up to add new OTT originals, TV shows and movies to its list in January 2020. The company has announced the content line-up for January 2020 which includes originals, TV shows and movies for Indian, American, Mexican, German and Japanese viewers. 

    The Indian OTT originals include The Forgotten Army S1 in Hindi and will be available for customers to view on Amazon Prime Video from 24 January. The platform will also ENPT in Tamil on 03 January, Katha Sangama in Kannada on 06 January, Girls (Marathi PSVOD) and Vicky Vellingkar (Marathi PSVOD), both in Marathi will be added on 1 January and 5 January, respectively, Wake n Bake (Stand Up Special By Rohan Joshi) in Hindi which will be added on 10 January and Afsos in Hindi which will be available from 17 January.

    American, Mexican, German and Japanese OTT originals, shows and movies include Bosch S5 which will be added on 1 January, James May: Our Man In Japan S1, Jayde Adams: Serious Black Jumper S1, Illana Glazer: The Planet is Burning S1 and Big Diaries S1B (Kids) which will be added to the list on 3 January, Tread stone S1 which will be added on 10 January, Russell Peters: Deported S1, Rob Delaney: Jackie S1, Just Add Magic: Mystery City S1 (Kids) and Troop Zero (Movie) which will be added on 17 January, Star Trek: Picard S1 and All Or Nothing S5 which will be added on 24 January and  All Or Nothing: CBF S1 and Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer S1 which will be added on 31 January.

    English movies list include The Angry Birds Movie 2, Wonder Park and Overcomer will start stream on  14 January, 17 January and 23 January respectively.

  • Indian animation 2019 – the year of highs

    Indian animation 2019 – the year of highs

    2019 was a great year for the Indian animation industry. What a wonderful culmination of a decade which saw the complete transformation of the industry. Today we are at the cusp of a creative revolution. There has been a proliferation of media platforms and content consumers are spoilt for choice. The resulting increase in supply has peculiarly resulted in increased demand and consumption, thereby giving rise to more such platforms and more opportunities all round. A recent report by KPMG pegs that the Indian animation and VFX industry, which now stands at $1.23 billion, will more than double in size to $2.6 billion in the next 5 years.

    2019 was a year of highs for the industry. After being declared the most popular Indian television show in the world by Google, Motu Patlu, Cosmos-Maya’s flagship IP, was immortalized in wax at the Madame Tussauds museum. The year also saw the launch of Cosmos-Maya’s Bapu, the first-ever IP in this space based on Mahatma Gandhi, commemorating his 150th birth anniversary. Green Gold Animation’s Mighty Little Bheem became the second most-watched original series globally on Netflix in the Kids’ category. When a homegrown franchise which is with a pay-TV broadcaster like Turner takes the original route with Netflix, you know that winds of change are blowing.

    In addition to the above, there were giant leaps in terms of the evolution of storytelling, where major franchises are being planned. Cosmos-Maya’s Motu Patlu spinoffs, Inspector Chingum and Guddu were launched on Disney and Amazon Prime Video respectively. Both these IPs followed a ‘Digital First’ approach where it was envisaged that these first air on a major OTT to propagate the IP, and then on Pay TV to increase eyeballs manifold. Also, in the normal run of things, where OTTs spend big to get original and exclusive content on board, they are now preferring to air content which is already running on a different platform, thereby leveraging the placement of an IP.

    The current digital scenario is very promising. WowKidz, Cosmos-Maya’s YouTube network, has been a big benefactor of this digital growth. WowKidz today has more than 35 million subscribers and 16 billion views. An average of 75,000 new subscribers are added daily to the mix. The reason is simple. Close to 650 million Indians have access to internet services today. Smartphone penetration has reached the 500 million mark. When we look at the breakup of India’s animation production pie, 53.5 per cent is digital’s share. This is driven by content viewing on mobile phones in a country which has mostly single TV households. TV has 30 per cent share in India’s animation production pie but still has the maximum reach.

    For content creators like Cosmos-Maya, both platforms are equally lucrative. If the brand is big, Digital and Pay TV can end up being similar partners. A situation very unique to India, today TV and OTT are both growing in the country and there is a beautiful co-existence of both. Animation is transcending boundaries in this regard.

    Speaking of transcending boundaries, 2019 also heralded a new trend. Cosmos-Maya’s ‘Selfie With Bajrangi’, one of the highest-rated and most popular shows has made its way into a general entertainment channel through Star Plus, which from an industry perspective is a welcome change because animation has always been an under-indexed category with low ad rates, in spite of its GRP contribution being in line with some of the most popular categories. The year also marked the ‘Bring in Bollywood!’ era. IP’s like Golmaal Jr with Nickelodeon Sonic, Fukrey Boyzzz with Discovery Kids capitalized on the popularity of the Golmaal and Fukrey franchises.

    Another important trend which Sony Yay! started off is the airing of their content in 7 regional languages. Speaking here from a more holistic perspective, though OTT players like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hotstar, Zee5, Alt Balaji among others, are producing more and more regional content to tap on as many users as possible in the country, TV still dominates here. To add more perspective, OTT is yet to penetrate rural India, which has always been a big traditional media market. TV is a god-sent for rural folk who make up around 70 per cent of Indian population.
    On the global front, Indian animation content reached almost all corners of the world. To quote an example, our non-dialogue show Eena Meena Deeka is aired in more than 50 countries today.

    International co-productions are becoming big and we have captured newer frontiers in this regard as an industry. There were times when only a bunch of people who would attend international markets from India to discuss co-production possibilities. Today, dedicated Indian delegations attend these markets. Hence, the scope has increased exponentially. 4 of Cosmos-Maya’s co-produced international IPs have been ‘glocalised’ and will air in Hindi on a major broadcaster. To quote an example, Berry Bees, one of our biggest co-productions, an all-girl IP, with Atlantyca, SRL and Telegael will air as The Dabangg Girls in India, thereby giving it an Indian soul and yet retaining its original charm.

    2019 also saw the $ 2 billion giant in the form of the Indian ed-tech industry being given a push by animation. A major need gap exists between the education and entertainment industries and we identified it. Cosmos-Maya has the animation mandate of the ed-tech unicorn BYJU’s, which has also tied up with Disney. Entertainment to empowerment, through the power of education, is a mass phenomenon.

    While this decade for Indian animation belonged to Entertainment, the next ten years will belong to education.

    (The author is CEO, Cosmos Maya. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • Amazon Prime Video to premiere exciting titles as year-end festive treat

    Amazon Prime Video to premiere exciting titles as year-end festive treat

    MUMBAI: With the Christmas and New Year festivities are round the corner, Amazon Prime Video has come up with the treat of exciting titles and all-time favourite international classics.

    Prime members can stream a selection of recently released Indian films, including Telugu biopic George Reddy on 25 December, Malayalam cop-chase Jack and Daniel on 24 December and a Malayalam title Sullu on 27 December shortly after their theatrical release.”

    Amazon Prime Video to have a digital premiere of Ujda Chaman, exclusively, on the platform within weeks after its release, the statement added.

    Ujda Chaman is the story of 30-year-old Chaman Kohli, who suffers from a lack of self-confidence due to premature balding. The film touches upon a social topic of an ordinary bald man.

    Ahead of Xmas celebrations, the platform is about to release, some of the popular international titles including New Year’s Eve, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Polar Express and many more.

  • Amazon Prime Video in 2019: ‘The Family Man’ most watched; ‘Jack Ryan’ most loved

    Amazon Prime Video in 2019: ‘The Family Man’ most watched; ‘Jack Ryan’ most loved

    MUMBAI: As 2019 comes to an end, Amazon Prime Video releases its yearly report card on the most loved and binged shows on its platform.  The OTT platform, this year launched multiple Amazon Original series like Made in Heaven, Four More Shots Please, One Mic Stand and The Family Man.

    With Manoj Bajpai’s digital debut on OTT platform, The Family Man became the most-watched Amazon Original in India to date, a press statement said. Similarly, other Indian Originals – Four More Shots Please!, Made In Heaven were among the most-watched shows in India in 2019.

    In the international category, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan returned to Prime Video for its second season was most loved one by the members and had the biggest global premiere of any original.

    In its year-ender press statement, the digital platform said, “Prime Video India is now watched across the length and breadth of the country in more than 4,000 towns and cities of India.”

    Meanwhile, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel became the most awarded Amazon Original series ever with a total of 16 Emmys, 3 Golden Globes, 5 Critics Choice and 3 SAG Awards in 2019.

    ‘The Report’ had the biggest global premiere of any Amazon Original movie this year, the statement mentioned.

    Besides English, Prime Video is now available in 9 Indian languages Indian languages viz. Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi and Bengali.

    Similarly, the platform mentions that significant selection of Prime Video content now features show descriptions and subtitles in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. 

  • Netflix Originals most in-demand among OTTs: Report

    Netflix Originals most in-demand among OTTs: Report

    MUMBAI: At the moment, the future of streaming services' uncrowned king Netflix has been over-discussed due to the entry of deep-pocket competitors. But till the third quarter of 2019 (July-September), Netflix has been able to retain its leadership position. A report from Parrot Analytics says that Netflix digital originals has the highest share of demand for digital original series around the world.

    According to the report, 61.3 per cent of the global demand for all digital originals is expressed for Netflix originals. However, despite the dominance of Stranger Things this quarter, the 61.3 per cent figure for 2019 Q3 is 1.3 per cent lower than the 62.6 per cent Netflix share in 2019 Q2. On the other hand, Amazon Prime Video has the largest demand gain in this period as its share grew 1.6 per cent from the previous quarter’s (2019 Q2) 10.8 per cent demand share. Across all other platforms the demand share has been relatively stable across quarters.

    The report also provided an insight into how the genres and subgenres of digital originals performed in the quarter. In all the markets, undoubtedly drama was the highest in-demand genre. While US has the highest digital original drama demand share at 66.9 per cent, with 63.8 per cent of demand, Columbia acquires the second position. Peru is one of the three most drama dominated markets in the report where drama captures a robust 62.3 per cent of demand share. In all the ten markets- United States, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Vietnam, Malaysia, The Philippines- Stranger Things was highest in-demand digital original in the quarter.

    Among the sub-genres, sci-fi genre dominated the top position in almost all the markets. In Malaysia and the Philippines superhero series just edged out sci-fi drama for the top spot in the most in-demand subgenre ranking. On the other hand, fantasy drama acquired the top spot in Vietnam. In Greece, Argentina and Peru crime drama peaked as the second most in-demand subgenre.

    In the US market, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu are neck and neck to be the platform with the second highest share of demand for digital original drama series. Prime Video surged in the final month of the quarter to overtake Hulu. Other than in the US, Prime video witnessed good growth in the UK, Greece, Vietnam. 

  • Amazon Prime Video to launch Amazon Original Series ‘Hostel Daze’ on 13 Dec

    Amazon Prime Video to launch Amazon Original Series ‘Hostel Daze’ on 13 Dec

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video has announced the launch of its latest Amazon Original Series Hostel Daze, created by The Viral Fever (TVF). Marking the first association with Indian youth's much loved content provider, TVF, the five-part comedy-drama brings to life the adventures of four hostel wing-mates, Ankit, Chirag, Jaat and Jhaatu as they embark on an adventurous journey full of challenges, adventures and friendships they will forever cherish. Starring budding talent, Nikhil Vijay, Luv, Shubham Gaur and Adarsh Gaurav, the series launches on 13th December, 2019 across 200 countries and territories on Prime Video.

    Amazon Prime Video India  director and head content Vijay Subramaniam said, “Amazon Prime Video continues to reiterate its promise of creating entertaining content for customers across all ages and genres of entertainment. The Viral Fever is known for their engaging content especially in the young adult space and Hostel Daze is a perfect example of that. It’s a highly entertaining series, and we are confident that it will resonate really well with today’s youth. Mark your calendars, for a fun, breezy and entertaining binge-watch, starting 13th December, 2019.”

    TVF Originals chief content officer and head Sameer Saxena said, "This is an exciting time for Indian content players, as the entertainment industry is witnessing a seismic change with the ever-growing demand for homegrown content. Amazon Prime Video has set its mark as a diversified content provider across the world and we are excited about collaborating with them. Hostel Daze is a light-hearted series underlined with emotions that brings to fore the journey of Indian students, as they learn to survive & thrive the ‘hostel life’. We’re optimistic that the show will bring back memories for the ones who’ve lived in hostels, relate to the ones who currently are and set expectations for the ones who’re preparing to start their hostel life.”

    Hostel Daze depicts the life of students living or we should say surviving in a Hostel through the adventures of four wing-mates -Ankit, Chirag, Jaat and Jhaatu. As they embark on this journey, facing a variety of challenges and overcoming most of them through new learnings; they develop strong bonds that they shall cherish forever. While navigating through this new phase in life and feelings of vulnerability and nervous excitement that surround the four boys, they find their true identities. In the process, they create a home away from their homes with their own set of random rules. They argue, jostle, hustle but sometimes unite to survive the first semester.

    Hostel Daze is poised to strike the right chord with the booming young adult audience. Catering to the needs of this segment, Amazon has made its Prime membership even more affordable with a “youth offer” of 50% cashback on its Annual Prime membership of INR 999. Customers in the age bracket of 18-24 years can avail this exciting offer by signing up for Prime and verifying their age on the Amazon app.

  • Amazon Prime Video starts festive month with popular titles

    Amazon Prime Video starts festive month with popular titles

    MUMBAI : Amazon Prime Video has started the festive month with an exciting selection of popular titles across Indian and International entertainment, including the returning seasons of two popular Amazon Original Series. Riding high on the phenomenal success of Season 1 and a momentous International Emmy nomination, the second season of Amazon Original Series Inside Edge is all set to launch across 200 countries and territories on 6 December.

    Inside Edge is the first-ever Indian Amazon Original Series bowled over viewers’ hearts with a striking story of the Mumbai Mavericks, a T20 cricket franchise playing in the PowerPlay League. Created by Karan Anshuman, the new season follows the aftermath of what was seen at the Season 1 finale. Set six months after the last season of the PowerPlay League, with a central focus on the fearsome yet formidable character of Bhaisaab, played by character actor Aamir Bashir.  Inside Edge Season 2 returns with its much loved original cast of Richa Chadda, Angad Bedi, Vivek Oberoi, Tanuj Virwani, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Amit Sial, and Sayani Gupta. Sapna Pabbi and Makrand Deshpande join Aamir Bashir as new cast entrants for Season 2.

    Our favourite funny housewife is back and this time she’s touring the world! The Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award Winning series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, returns for its third season with  Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel, Tony Shalhoub as Midge’s father, Abe Weissman, Alex Borstein as Susie Myerson, Michael Zegen as Midge’s husband Joel Maisel, Marin Hinkle as Midge’s mother Rose Weissman, Jane Lynch as Sophie Lennon and Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce among other stellar cast of the show.

    Prime members can now stream a bouquet of recently released Indian films such as Kannada romantic drama Bharaate and Punjabi blockbuster Ardab Mutiyaran shortly after their theatrical release. Additionally, customers can stream some of the popular international titles, including superhero fantasy/sci-fi title Shazam, The Lego Movie 2, and Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law starrer mystery action film Sherlock Holmes.

    HIGHLIGHTS

    Inside Edge S2 – 6 Dec

    In the next edition of the PPL, a volatile Vayu Raghavan leads the Mumbai Mavericks to face their biggest adversary yet, the Haryana Hurricanes, who are led by a reinvented Arvind Vashisht. But the teams must also counter colossal scandals that’ll rock the world of cricket. In the sport’s upper echelons, Zarina Malik allies with Bhaisaab, but those in the shadows threaten to destroy the very game they seek to control.

    Building on the success of its International Emmy nomination last year, Inside Edge is the story of the Mumbai Mavericks, a T20 cricket franchise playing in the PowerPlay League. Set in a landscape of sports, secrets, and scandals where selfishness is a virtue and sex, money, and power are mere means to an end, Inside Edge is a story that pulls no punches, minces no words, and takes no prisoners. Above all, Inside Edge Season 2 is a story of passion, courage, and love. Come witness the game beyond the game.

    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel S3 – 6 Dec

    Midge and Susie discover that life on tour with Shy is glamorous but humbling, and they learn a lesson about show business they’ll never forget. Joel struggles to support Midge while pursuing his own dreams. Abe embraces a new mission and Rose learns she has talents of her own.

    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the winner of sixteen Emmy Awards including Outstanding Comedy series, three Golden Globes including Best TV Series—Comedy, five Critics’ Choice Awards including Best Comedy Series, two PGA Awards, a WGA Award, and a Peabody Award.

    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from renowned creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and Executive Producer Daniel Palladino, written and directed by Sherman-Palladino and Palladino, stars Emmy and Golden Globe winner Rachel Brosnahan, Golden Globe winner and three-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub, Emmy winner Alex Borstein, Emmy nominee Marin Hinkle, Michael Zegen, Kevin Pollak, Caroline Aaron, and Emmy winner Jane Lynch.

    Jessie (Telugu) – 5 Dec

    Set in an abandoned house, the film follows a team of professional ghost hunters trying to conduct a paranormal investigation to unveil the mystery of two sisters, Jessie and Amy, where Amy shows unusual mental and physical behaviour.

    Gurkha (Tamil) – 5 Dec

    The security guard of a mall, who belongs to the Gurkha community, becomes the saviour of several people who have been kept under siege by some terrorists.

    Bharaate (Kannada) – 6 Dec

    When Jagan meets Radha, it is love at first sight for him. But finding his happily-ever-after is harder than it seems. Directed by Chathan Kumar, Bharatee stars Sreeleela, Sri Murali,      Rachita Ram and Ayyappa P. Sharma in the lead.

    Ek Nirnay..Swatahacha Swatasathi (Marathi) – 1st Dec

    Every person has to take 'one decision', which would help the person give his life a direction in a way and manner he wishes. This story is about three people, who too had to take one such decision in their respective lives. What follows next is how their lives change after that one decision.

    Ardab Mutiyaran (Punjabi, first on Prime Video after theatrical release)) – 5 Dec

    Babbu Bains, a finance recovery agent, doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do. She is independent and knows how to get things done her way, but then she gets married. Part of a new family now, can Babbu take a stand for herself?

    Shazam – 3 Dec

    We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s case, by shouting out one word – SHAZAM – this streetwise fourteen-year-old foster kid can turn into the grown-up superhero Shazam.

    The Lego Movie Part 2 – 1 Dec

    It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.

    Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase – 1 Dec

    A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve a mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community.

    Sherlock Holmes – 1 Dec

    After finally catching serial killer and occult "sorcerer" Lord Blackwood, legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson can close yet another successful case. But when Blackwood mysteriously returns from the grave and resumes his killing spree, Holmes must take up the hunt once again. Contending with his partner's new fiancée and the dim-witted head of Scotland Yard, the dauntless detective must unravel the clues that will lead him into a twisted web of murder, deceit, and black magic – and the deadly embrace of temptress Irene Adler.

  • Vivo collaborates with Amazon Original Series Inside Edge Season 2 for V17 smartphone launch

    Vivo collaborates with Amazon Original Series Inside Edge Season 2 for V17 smartphone launch

    MUMBAI: Vivo, the global innovative smartphone brand, today announced its collaboration with the upcoming season of the 2018 International Emmy nominated Amazon Original Series Inside Edge, for its soon-to-be-launched smartphone in the V series segment – the all new V17. As part of the association, the cast of the highly anticipated Inside Edge Season 2 will be seen in an unboxing video like no other, presenting a new avatar of arch-rivals – Mumbai Mavericks and Haryana Hurricanes. Viewers can also expect a fun video featuring the cast of Inside Edge Season 2 where the underlying themes and rivalries showcased in Inside Edge Season 2 get revealed.

    Vivo India brand strategy director Nipun Marya said, “We are excited about our association with Amazon Prime Video for the 2nd season of the Amazon Original Series Inside Edge. Season 1 of the show received great reviews from critics and audiences around the country. The concept of show is very exciting and brings high quality, engaging drama with the backdrop of the sport India loves – Cricket. We, at vivo, are constantly looking for innovative ways to connect with our consumers and creating new and effective marketing platforms that will engage our audiences across the country. Our association with the Amazon Original Series Inside Edge for the launch of the all new V17 is a perfect example of this.”

    Amazon Prime Video India director and Country GM Gaurav Gandhi  said, “India is a mobile first country and large number of our customers enjoy consuming entertainment on Amazon Prime Video on their smartphones. As we raise the bar in the entertainment space by creating world-class original shows like Inside Edge, we also continuously look at innovative and engaging ways to market this content to our customers – and our association with vivo, one of India’s most trusted mobile phone brands, for the latest season of our International Emmy nominated Amazon Original Series Inside Edge, is a great example of that. ”

    vivo has carved a niche for itself with path-breaking innovation and product enhancements in the Indian smartphone market. Its V- series is widely known for its camera upgrades which offered customers the ultimate photography experience. The upcoming V17 will also be equipped with iView display and Super Night camera. Buoyed with its success in the smartphone market in India, vivo will end the year 2019 with another innovative offering in the V-series segment– V17. The smartphone is scheduled to be launched in December.