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Tag: Vijay Subramanian

  • Amazon Prime Video unveils trailer of comedy talent hunt ‘Comicstaan’

    Amazon Prime Video unveils trailer of comedy talent hunt ‘Comicstaan’

    MUMBAI: International tech giant Amazon’s video streaming platform is putting a great deal of effort to gain a foothold in the Indian market. Since its launch, the company has focused on ramping up its original content, with comedy forming a key component of its growth strategy. With the trailer launch of Comicstaan, Amazon Prime Video has made another addition to the list.

    The talent hunt series has been produced by Only Much Louder (OML) that has put out shows such as On Air with AIB and Comedy Hunt. To mentor as well as judge competitors, Tanmay Bhat, Kenny Sebastian, Sapan Verma, Naveen Richard, Kaneez Surkha, Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath have been signed up by the platform.

    The new Prime original series consisting of nine episodes will be available to members from July. The first four episodes will be released on the launch day, with others following suit on a weekly basis.  

    Hailing comedy as an equally attractive category like cricket and Bollywood Amazon Prime Video India content head and director Vijay Subramanian said, “When we asked our customers what are things they would love to watch comedy was right up there. So, there were two things we could do. One, acquiring some of the best comedy movies in Hindi and other regional languages. Same time, we can actually create a new space with stand-up comedians.”

    Amazon’s competitors Netflix and Hotstar are also trying to tap into the comedy scene. ALTBalaji even launched stand-up comedy videos in regional languages.

    “We will continue to acquire the best movies across various languages. We are going to ramp up on our Indian originals. In second half of this year we are going to launch three more. Next year we hope to have 10 originals. And you will continue to see some other biggest blockbuster films on our service.” Subramanian commented on Amazon Prime Video India’s plans for next year while speaking to Indiantelevision.com.

    While there were speculations in the media that Amazon Prime Video was contemplating kick-starting its own production house, the spokesperson of the company did not offer any clarification. However, he said the company is right now focused on just getting good content by betting big on originals. The equation with partners like OML, Excel Entertainment, the production houses with which Amazon Prime Video partnered for Indian originals, are very good right now.

    “Comicstaan is the exciting next step in our long and fruitful relationship with Amazon. It ties all the best parts of Indian stand-up together into something fresh. Getting the country’s top comedians to nurture and mentor new talent is an idea that excited us, and it’s been extremely rewarding to see it all come together,” OML COO Ajay Nair said.

    Recently Amazon has added a new prime subscription plan at RS 129 per month for Indian consumers. When Subramanian was asked about that, he emphasized on the flexible options for customers to choose the plan.

    The company realises that being locally relevant is very important to survive in Indian market. Hence, their investments for regional expansion plans will continue. However, when it comes to Indian original shows the company will prioritize its Hindi library for now.

    Also Read :

    Amazon India’s new monthly subscription plan

    India fastest-growing market in first year for Amazon: Jeff Bezos

  • Disney looks to exploit ‘Arjun’ across platforms; launches merchandise, mobile game

    Disney looks to exploit ‘Arjun’ across platforms; launches merchandise, mobile game

    MUMBAI: Eyeing a bigger share of the merchandising and gaming pie, Disney India has now expanded its product offering by launching a mobile game and merchandise for its television series Arjun: Prince of Bali.

    Launched about three weeks back, Disney’s first local animation property Arjun: The Prince of Bali, developed in association with Green Gold Animation has tasted success in its first series and is back again to engage kids through a new range of merchandise and a game inspired by the show.

    While in the first season of the show, one episode a week was aired, the second season will have two new episodes, which will air every Thursday and Friday at 3 pm.

    Speaking about the same, Disney India VP and head content and communication media networks Vijay Subramaniam said, “Disney Channel in India tells uniquely tailored stories through great characters. The first season of Arjun gained immense popularity amongst our young viewers and we saw the potential to give them more opportunities to enjoy the story while continuing to entertain with the second season on the channel. Arjun inspired merchandise and a game will provide kids with a stronger and deeper engagement with their favourite local stories.”

    Green Gold Animation founder and managing director Rajiv Chilaka added, “The audience has always got to see the princess in all Disney movies and series and probably for the first time the Indian audience will witness the Prince of Disney. It is a flamboyant character and we intend to showcase a lot of comedy, action and adventure with this show.”

    The show’s second series continues to narrate the story of Prince Arjun of Bali and will focus on his coming of age journey as he now matures into a valiant prince while continuing to master newer techniques and strategies of warfare. The new series also explores the relationships with his friends and family and brings to light the jovial and lively side to the warrior prince.

    The runner game around the show is set in the kingdom of Bali and is developed by Disney India’s Interactive division, Indiagames. The mobile game has features like weapon upgrades to make characters stronger as the levels progress.

    “With an interesting storyline, beautiful landscapes and popular local characters, the Arjun series makes for an interesting game play. By integrating elements from the show and building on the character traits in the game, we were looking at giving fans an opportunity to interact with Arjun and his friends beyond the show and create an all immersive gaming experience for them,” said Disney India VP and head interactive Sameer Ganapathy.

    The consumer products around the show will be extended across a range of products from toys, back to school merchandise, apparel to stationery. Toys also include figurines, bow and arrow set and more. In addition to this, plans are also afoot to develop school supplies such as school bags, lunch boxes, water bottles, note-books and home decor with bed sheet sets, cushions and mugs.

    With 26 episodes of 22 minutes each, the series will go on for 13 weeks. Post that, Disney Channel will either add more episodes or bring in the show’s next season.

    Speaking about the launch of merchandise, Disney India VP and head consumer products Abhishek Maheshwari said, “Kids today adore local animation and want to own a piece of their favourite character on their everyday products. The popularity of the Arjun series and the appeal of its characters amongst kids have inspired an entire range of interesting consumer products. Each character possesses a unique characteristic which can be leveraged very well across categories.”

    When queried about launching the merchandising at this stage of the local animation series, Ganapathy said, “The success of the first series made us come up with merchandising and a mobile app. Another reason is that we wanted to engage kids in as many ways as possible, so after the show they can get along with the game and engage with us.”

    “The IP holds a lot of potential and that is the reason why we got into merchandising and a mobile game at this stage of our local animation. Disney’s strategy has always been to cater to multiple platforms and that’s what we want to do with Arjun as well,” Maheshwari added.

    Currently, the app has a sizable number of downloads on the Google Play Store. The app will also be made available on the Windows and iOS platform soon.