Amazon Prime Video today announced the digital premiere of the latest comedy blockbuster Humble Politician Nograj. The popular Kannada title, will be available for Prime members to stream, starting February 9, 2018, soon after its theatrical release.
Actress and comedian Sumukhi Suresh of Pushpavalli fame, features in the blockbuster film which is directed by Saad Khan. A socio-political set up, the story of Humble Politician Nograj revolves around greed and power, and the struggle faced by a politician who exploits the city’s resources for personal gain. The movie stars popular radio jockey and stand-up comedian Danish Sait as the lead.
Amazon Prime Video has the largest selection of latest and exclusive movies and TV shows, stand-up comedy, ad-free across Indian and Hollywood movies, US TV shows, top/popular Indian and international kids’ shows, award winning Amazon Original shows along with content from top Bollywood, regional, Indian and international studios – all available in one location/service.
To watch these and other new release Hollywood and Bollywood movies, US TV shows, kids’ programming and Amazon Originals, please visit www.PrimeVideo.com or download the Amazon Prime Video app today and sign-up for a Prime membership.
Amazon Prime Video announces an all-new unscripted Amazon Prime Original series, Skulls and Roses, in collaboration with Monozygotic. Skulls and Roses, in a unique first-of-its-kind reality show format, combines 2 key youth hot-buttons: Romance & Adventure. The show blurs the lines between romance and adventure reality shows to take contestants through a truly audacious and daring journey.
Participants are invited to form couples and bonds of love on ‘Rose Island’, which are then tested for their authenticity and fortitude on ‘Skull Island’. The test is to find out which is stronger – the instinct to love or the instinct for self-preservation. The show is an ultimate test of choice – between love, trust, survival and betrayal and it forces participants choose between ‘WE’, and ‘ME’. Skulls and Roses will be hosted by television’s dynamic duo Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman, the faces behind several renowned reality shows. Entries to participate in the exciting reality series are now open. Those interested in the bonds of romance and the thrill of adventure are invited to apply on https://www.facebook.com/skullsandrosescasting.
“After announcing our foray into reality shows with comedy and music, we’ve seen great enthusiasm from Prime members,” Amazon Prime Video India, Director, Content, Vijay Subramaniam said, “We’re excited to add even more variety to our offering and in collaboration with Monozygotic, bring a new bold concept to the unscripted content space that will continue to reinvent the way customers consume content in India.”
Speaking about the show, Monozygotic, Raghu Ram said, “In today’s age of dating apps, young couples are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the problems of a committed relationship. Consequently, more & more youngsters are making ‘stress-free’ life-choices of self-love & self-growth. This generation is increasingly facing a dilemma of ‘we vs me’. Skulls and Roses magnifies both aspects of this dilemma as well as the consequences of their choices. What will you choose if ‘Love’ is the best chance to stay in paradise, but ’Survival’ can only happen alone? I think that is an intriguing concept for us to delve into.”
Speaking about the collaboration, Monozygotic, Rajiv Lakshman said, “It’s a first-of-its-kind format where the best of two opposite worlds come together on a reality show. With this venture we bring the excitement of reality shows, on-demand, to a personal screen at your home, college or commute. The concept is very intriguing and bold and we are thrilled to be able to breathe life into this project in collaboration with Amazon Prime Video.”
Anyone above the age of 18 can apply for this show. All you need to be is tough, adventurous, with the gumption to survive on this show.
Amazon Prime Video has the largest selection of latest and exclusive movies and TV shows, stand-up comedy, ad-free across Indian and Hollywood movies, US TV shows, top/popular Indian and international kids’ shows, award winning Amazon Original shows along with content from top Bollywood, regional, Indian and international studios – all available in one location/service.
To watch these and other new release Hollywood and Bollywood movies, US TV shows, kids’ programming and Amazon Originals, please visit www.PrimeVideo.com or download the Amazon Prime Video app today and sign-up for a Prime membership.
MUMBAI: With the advent of digital and data cost coming down, there is a cut-throat competition among digital players to grab as many eyeballs as they can. Amazon Prime Video is set to launch 10 original shows in 2018 for India.
These include unscripted shows like Remix which is nearing its release, Comicstan which will be a hunt for the next stand-up comic and two more shows where the titles are in the final stages. This will later be followed by director Zoya Akhtar’s premier striped fiction – Made in Heaven along with Mirzapur and 4 More Shots. While calling the shows a pure labour of love, Amazon Prime Video India director content Vijay Subramaniam says, “We are very clear that we want to give our customers high quality and the process of setting that up takes a really long time. For every story we create, we make sure it gets the amount go time it deserves to be put together.”
E-commerce website amazon.in helps prime video in a great deal to penetrate into smaller markets as people already have a relationship with the brand. Subramaniam is of the opinion that young consumers in India like unscripted content and Amazon Prime Video and although the platform is only a year old, they want to get to a place where they will know what the right mix between scripted and unscripted is.
With a solid set of content on its platform and an equally aggressive attitude like Netflix and Hotstar, the platform banks on creative content marketing for the promotions of its shows. Amazon chose a funny path to promote American comedy web series The Tick with Indian comedian Jose Covaco who created hilarious videos about what the audience can expect from the show.
With digital changing the way brands communicate with audience, Amazon Video uses social media in a large way to connect with the consumer and as a marketing tool but also leverages out of home (OOH) in a big way to promote the shows and the platform itself. But it wants to restrict its OOH only to metro cities as that is where the majority of viewership comes from.
Amazon Video was launched in 2006 but came to India only in December 2016. Launched with an initial offer price of Rs 499 for free and faster delivery of goods bought on Amazon, free content viewing, and free music streaming, the subscription cost is expected to go up to Rs 999 this year. The move might come as a bad news for several subscribers as they might not be willing to pay the extra buck resulting in a drop of subscribers.
Although the platform had a lukewarm beginning when it began operations in India, its original show – Inside Edge became a game changer for the player as the show went out to become one of the most successful property for the platform. The OTT player marked the new year by announcing its new scripted thriller show, Breathe which has the quality of cinematic television. With the availability in over 200 countries, the show will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
In order to expand its reach, Amazon Video recently tied up with Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel to offer one year of free subscription. Amazon Prime India director and head Akshay Sahi opines that the move enables seamless access to Amazon Prime for Airtel postpaid customers, providing a world of new video streaming content and more.
But the player faces stiff competition from global giant Netflix that also entered the Indian market in January 2016. Netflix in India comes with three different subscription plans – basic, standard and premium where the basic subscription plan starts as low as Rs 500. With data becoming cheap and smartphones become more accessible to a large part of Indians, it will be interesting to see how the digital and OTT space shapes up and how players create content for consumers.
MUMBAI: Amazon is making full use of people’s busy lives by demonstrating how its Prime Video fits in perfectly with their need for convenience.
To highlight how Amazon Prime Video can be everyone’s travel companion, Leo Burnett India came up with a way of communicating the message at the best location possible – the airport. Utilising the boring wait time that passengers have to suffer before their luggage arrives, Amazon Prime Video showcased its wide range of movies and TV shows on the conveyor belt. The activity was carried out at the Bengaluru airport for 10 days. The brand has also planned to amplify the activity by carrying it out at other airports across India.
The video seamlessly captures people’s need for entertainment on-the-go and how Amazon Prime Video can be their new travel accessory. It also captures some really candid moments of travellers’ surprised, shocked and happy reactions that made the activity a huge success. In ten hours, the conveyor belt saw close to 30,000 travellers interacting with the boxes.
Mumbai: Amazon announced an output agreement with AMC Studios through which Amazon Prime Video will have first window rights to select new AMC series in 28 territories including India,Australia, Germany, Italy, and Japan as well as second run rights in many other countries.
Prime Video members will be able to stream via the Amazon Prime Video app for TVs, connected devices, including Fire TV, and mobile devices. They can also download it to mobile devices for offline viewing at no additional cost.
Amazon Prime Video VP worldwide television acquisition Brad Beale commented, “This is another step in our efforts to extend the selection of premium TV shows available to Prime Video members worldwide.”
AMC Studios president of business operations Rick Olshansky said, “AMC Studios and Amazon already enjoy a successful programming partnership. This agreement underscores the high global demand for AMC’s must-have content and franchises and enables us to bring our popular shows to a wide global audience.”
The first new AMC show coming to Amazon Prime Video worldwide in 2018 will be the anthology series The Terror, executive produced by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner 2049), David W Zucker (The Man in the High Castle), and Guymon Cassady (Game of Thrones) and based on the true story of the Arctic expedition of Captain John Franklin that inspired the novel by acclaimed sci-fi author Dan Simmons. Set in 1847, it follows a Royal Navy expedition crew on a search for the Northwest Passage. The ship is attacked by a mysterious, stalking predator and the crew plunges into a suspenseful and desperate game of survival.
MUMBAI: The advertising sector has undergone an evolution over the years. The storytelling has matured, creatives have changed, and brands are experimenting with fresher and innovative ways to connect with their audience — on television, social media and digital.
A recent phenomenon is the ability of ads to get a product to sell while conveying bold, social messages. Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad, Google’s reunion or the recent Vicks transgender ad spearheaded the trend and managed to not only create an instant connect with the audience but also delivered powerful social messages as they created brand awareness subtly.
While Indians all over the world celebrated Diwali last week with much fanfare and glee, the creative minds at agencies had a hard task ahead of the celebration to create Diwali-targetted campaigns for their clients that are ‘out-of-the-box’ yet resonate with the brand’s identity.
This year, too, saw some striking ads. Some brands urged audiences to spend quality time with their family and loved ones while some stuck to social messages. Even though cynics cast aside these efforts terming them as duplicitous sales techniques, brands need praise for the human touch.
We have listed some of the best Diwali advertisements this year that went beyond the cliched lights, fireworks and sweets.
Lenovo: #GiftThemAFuture this Diwali
In a heartwarming campaign created by Lenovo India, ‘Gift them a future’ is a story about a retired banker who is struggling to keep himself busy by going to his office every day after retirement. His son, who is back home for Diwali gifts him a Lenovo notebook to start his entrepreneurial venture.
Nokia: #UniteForLove
Nokia mobile rolled out its first big cross-platform campaign ahead of the festive season. It stays true to its global brand philosophy of #UniteFor, and rises to the occasion, telling a very touching story. To everyone consumed by technology, it puts human relationships above everything else on occasions when it matters. The campaign created by Dentsu One India proposed that for a day, people spend quality time with their loved ones uninterrupted by phones. Put your phone in a gift box and give it to someone or just keep it aside as a gesture of committing your time—and you—to someone else, stressing on the philosophy of #UniteForLove
Ghadi Detergent: Is Diwali #SaareMaelDhoDaalo
Humans tend to fit strangers into stereotypical boxes that exist in our minds. Continuing with its “saare mael dho daalo” (let’s get rid of the dirty things) proposition, Ghadi detergent’s Diwali campaign urges us to look at everyone afresh without resorting to our biases. The film highlights how the appearance of a policeman in our homes brings doubts of many kinds. It makes us uncomfortable and we tend to get nervous and unsettled. Created by advertising agency ADK Fortune, the TVC shows a policeman visiting a family who are selling their electronic goods online and his interest in buying them.
Amazon prime video: Kahaaniyon wali Diwali
This ad asks the audiences to soak in the joy of storytelling with their loved ones. Storytelling is as old as civilisation. Some stories entertain while others stir up something inside you. This one is a sort of retelling of a conventional happy story — keeping the sweetness and warmth of a father and son’s relationship intact. It not only celebrates the art of weaving a tale, it also turns a simple exchange between a father and a son into a larger than life, wholesome experience; and brings it alive in a magical way.
Dainik Bhaskar: Sarthak Diwali
In its latest campaign for Diwali, Dainik Bhaskar urges people to give respect along with goods to those less privileged and our house help. The TVC shows a house maker handing out diyas, clothes, sweets and firecrackers to her house help on the day of Diwali. Later in the night, she visits her house help’s home to wish her a happy Diwali and hug her. The ad emphasises on a very important point that just giving gifts and sweets to them is not enough and we must also give them equal and enough love and respect.
MUMBAI: Turner India and Amazon Prime Video have announced a strategic tie-up that will see Cartoon Network’s popular kids shows play on Amazon Prime Video.
This content licensing deal will see Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 (Classic), Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Ben 10 Omniverse, Grim Adventures of Billy Mandy, Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls (Classic), Kumbh Karan, Roll No. 21 and Dexter’s Laboratory and many more shows that will play on Amazon Prime Video under the Kids & Family TV section.
Kids today are consuming and engaging with their favourite content across diverse screens such as computers and mobile screens. This is increasing with the emergence of new OTT platforms and the rise in use of apps for games as an entertainment and learning activity.
Turner, a pioneer in the kids’ entertainment space in India, has been at the forefront of providing engaging experiences to kids both on TV and beyond and the collaboration with Amazon Prime Video reaffirms Turner’s commitment to engage with its fans anytime, anywhere.
MUMBAI: Middle East (West Asia) & North Africa OTT TV episodes and movies will generate revenues of US$1.75 billion by 2022; more than quadruple the US$428 million recorded in 2016.
According to the Middle East and North Africa OTT TV & Video Forecasts report, SVoD’s dominance of the sector will grow. SVoD revenues will reach $1.23 billion by 2022 (or 70% of the OTT total); nearly $1 billion more than the 2016 total (56% of OTT revenues).
Digital TV Research forecasts 17.27 million SVoD homes by 2022, up from 3.74 million recorded by end-2016. Turkey will remain the leader by some distance, having established a major local player as far back as 2011.
The top six regional platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Icflix, Starz Play, Iflix and Shahid Plus) will account for 39% of the region’s SVoD subscribers by end-2022, up from 34% in 2016. Extracting Israel and Turkey, these six platforms will account for 78% of SVoD subscribers by 2022 – down from 88% in 2016.
Netflix will be the largest pan-regional SVoD platform by 2022, with an expected 3.26 million paying subscribers. This is more than quintuple the 2016 total. Longer-established Icflix will cross 2 million subscribers by 2022 – quadruple its 2016 total. Starz Play will add a further 1.60 million. Our forecasts of 695,000 subs for Iflix by 2022 only cover six of its eight current countries in the region.
Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said: “A handful of mobile operators such as Orange, Zain, Ooredoo, Etisalat and Vodafone have assets across several countries. SVOD platforms can gain considerable economies of scale by signing distribution deals with mobile operators. Deals between mobile operators and SVoD platforms are already prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa – offering an example for the rest of the world to follow.”
MUMBAI: A summer blockbuster line up of four brand new shows and seasons named named ‘Atchoo’, ‘ Munki and Trunk’ and ‘Zak Storm’, in addition to ‘Astro Forice’ which has megastar Amitabh Bachchan in an animated superhero avatar are to commence on Amazon Prime Video this summer.
Kids can also watch a brand new series of Baahubali: The Lost Legends every week. This commenced on 19 May. In addition to these new shows, kids can also indulge in brand new seasons of their favourite shows like Shin Chan, Ninja Hattori, Doraemon, andOggy & the Cockroaches along with Amazon Original shows like Just Add Magic, Tumble Leaf and many others.
Family time gets even more exciting with family movies like The LEGO Movie, X-Men, The Avengers, and The Adventures of Tintin and many others.
Amazon Video India director and country head Nitesh Kripalani said, “Amazon Prime Video in India is the home of the best of kids’ entertainment content from India and the rest of the world; the preferred entertainment choice for kids and their families in India. Our summer blockbuster lineup is geared to entertain kids this summer with characters they love and can watch anywhere, anytime in a safe and ad-free environment.”
New shows on Prime Video
Baahubali: The Lost Legends
Two young brothers competed for the throne before the war with the Kalakeya, before Katappa killed Baahubali and before the death of Sivagami. One would go on to become king, and the other would go on to become a legend. Experience the secret stories from the world of Baahubali in this all new animated series – kids can watch new episodes every week starting 19 May, available in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Atchoo (Season 1)
The story of Teo, a 9 year old boy with a strange way of expressing his emotions: he turns into an animal every time he sneezes. How his transformation essentially creates troubles in his life is essentially the crux of the plot of the show, which is available in English and Hindi.
Astra Force
The first animated show featuring Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role as an animated mythical hero, Astra the Immortal. When two 8-year old twins accidentally awaken an ancient super-warrior from the past, they must join him in saving the world from a new wave of giant monsters and super villains determined to rule the universe. This funny, fast-paced, action-adventure, superhero series is available in English and Hindi.
Munki and Trunk (Season 1)
One is Crafty, the other is caring. But they are the best of friends – no matter if they are facing rolling boulders, bouncing mushrooms or grumpy hedgehogs. Munki & Trunk in English and Hindi starts from 1 June.
Zak Storm
From the makers of Ben 10, Big Hero 6, Zak Storm is the new leading action franchise, set in the Bermuda Triangle with Pirates, Aliens, great adventures and comedy. Zak Storm in English and Hindi commences from 1 June.
MUMBAI: The Amazon Original series American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories on 7 April.
The series tells the story of Playboy magazine’s charismatic founder, Hugh Hefner, who set out to disrupt the status quo and created one of the most recognizable brands in history. The docuseries combines archival footage, pulling from thousands of hours from Hefner’s personal archives; interviews with notable figures including Jesse Jackson, Gene Simmons and Bill Maher; and cinematic reenactments.
Amazon Prime Video members will be able to stream all 10 episodes of the docuseries and can also download the series to mobile devices for offline viewing.
“At a time when civil rights are more in the news than ever, Prime members will be delighted to learn more about the Playboy brand and its contributions in that area,” said Amazon Originals head of unscripted Conrad Riggs. “This series will offer the unprecedented, behind-the-scenes story of Hefner’s life and his fight to protect and advance essential American rights, including free speech.”
American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story is produced by the Emmy award-winning Stephen David Entertainment, a Banijay Group company, and Playboy Enterprises’ production company Alta Loma Entertainment, and executive produced by Stephen David, Peter Jaysen and longtime Playboy executive Dick Rosenzweig with co-executive producers Shirley Escott and Tim Kelly.
It begins in post-war America and takes us through the launch of Playboy magazine in 1953 and the next six decades of Hefner’s life and career. As he built his empire, Hefner became both a social justice advocate and a target of the conservative movement while becoming an outspoken defender of civil rights, freedom of speech, gay rights and, of course, sexual freedom.
The series is the result of unprecedented access to thousands of hours of never-before-seen footage from both Hefner’s and the Playboy archives and Hefner’s personal scrapbooks, which number more than 2,900 and constitute a Guinness World Record. The 90-year-old Hefner has been deeply involved in the development and production of American Playboy, imbuing the series with rich first-person accounts and never-before-told stories.
