Amazon Prime confirms 70 Indian originals in development as viewers break language barrier

Online streaming giant Amazon Prime Video has a total of 70 originals in development in India, across various languages, confirmed country head Gaurav Gandhi on Tuesday. While speaking at the APOS India media conference, Gandhi revealed that the OTT platform's Indian content is not only viewed in India but other countries too. He said that 'one in five customers' for an Indian original series comes from outside the country. 

Amazon Prime head talks about producing original content

According to Variety, while speaking to the media, Gaurav Gandhi said that in the past, the OTT platform has done many works in Hindi, and now, is 'expanding Tamil and Telugu originals.' The original content on the digital space has brought the streamer 'lots of success.' He shared that over 70 projects are in development across various languages. He added that there is opportunity in the country. 

Gandhi continued that it is fascinating that the appeal of the Indian original series is not only just in India but also in other countries. He said one in five customers for such originals come from outside the country. The Amazon Prime Video's country head for India said that the firm feels encouraged by such responses and that it will 'double down on investments'.

The executive stated the 50 and more films that the streamer has released over the last year and a half have found an audience who are far beyond the language they are made in. He said that it was interesting for them to see the language barrier completely broken. 

He said that 50% of viewership for their language content - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and others come from outside the home states. Gandhi added the fact that such films would not have been watched by the rest of India due to unavailability. Thus, Amazon is expanding selection so dramatically and high-quality content is coming from everywhere. He cited an example of Malayalam cinema going mainstream across the country. 

Gandhi also addressed that the digital platform is witnessing a growth surge in India due to various reasons like availability of internet at affordable rates and young audience with mobile phones.

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