Amazon Prime Video today announced a brand-new slate of nine highly anticipated movies that will premiere directly on the streaming service. Spanning five Indian languages, the diverse line-up features titles such as Coolie No. 1 starring Varun Dhawan (Judwaa 2, Street Dancer 3D) and Sara Ali Khan (Simmba), Chhalaang starring Rajkummar Rao (Trapped, Stree) and Nushrat Bharucha (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety), Durgavati starring Bhumi Pednekar (Shubh Mangal Savdhaan, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha), Bheema Sena Nala Maharaja (in Kannada) starring Aravinnd Iyer, Middle Class Melodies (in Telugu) starring Anand Devarakonda, Maara (in Tamil) starring R Madhavan, and Manne Number 13 (in Kannada) starring Varsha Bollamma (Bigil), Chetan Gandharva (Melody) along with previously announced Zakariya Mohammed’s Halal Love Story (in Malayalam) and Suriya starrer Soorarai Pottru (in Tamil). The movies will premiere exclusively on Prime Video within 2020 and will be available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
The new slate follows the successful launch of the first wave of direct-to-service premieres of ten films across five languages, which led to Amazon Prime Video expanding its footprint in India with viewership for these movies coming from over 4000 cities and towns, across the country. Viewership titles in languages such Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam received more than 50 percent viewership from customers outside the home states, with customers from Lucknow, Kolkata, Pune and beyond streaming Penguin, Ponmagal Vandhal, Law, French Biriyani, Sufiyum Sujatayum, CU Soon V and Nishabdham. The movies were also streamed and enjoyed by TV audiences in 180 countries and territories, allowing Indian filmmakers to reach a wider audience through Prime Video’s global presence. Hindi titles Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi emerged as the two most watched movies since the launch of Prime Video in India. Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi were also the most watched Hindi movies on Prime Video globally.
“Gripping content transcends geographical boundaries. The audience is always on the look-out for great entertainment, and good content will always find an audience. The resounding success of our first wave of direct-to-service movie premieres is a testament to that. This further reinforces our commitment to offering our customers a selection of riveting movies, cinematically produced, across a wide range of genres and languages,” Vijay Subramaniam, Director and Head, Content, Amazon Prime Video, India, said. Adding further, “Our previous direct-to-service launches were watched in over 180 countries. We are buoyed by the tremendous response we received and are excited to up the ante with another 9 eagerly-awaited direct-to-service premieres, spanning 5 languages, to entertain our customers through this festive season.”
“The disruptive, pioneering format of Direct to Digital movie premieres has, in many ways, been a game changer in the way films are watched in India. Amazon Prime Video is playing a key role of not only expanding the reach & viewership of these films across the country, but also providing global customers across 200+ countries and territories access to world-class films originating from India”, said Gaurav Gandhi, Director and Country General Manager, Amazon Prime Video India.
“The fact that more than 50 percent of viewership of our Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam Direct to Digital titles came from outside of the respective home states is representative of how digital distribution can expand the audience for great content. We are super excited to present our new slate and are confident that it will delight our customers in India and around the world”
Amazon Prime Video’s direct-to-service slate:
1. Halal Love Story (Malayalam) is scheduled to premiere on 15th October on Amazon Prime Video. Halal Love Story is an upcoming Malayalam comedy film directed by Zakariya Mohammed and stars Indrajith Sukumaran, Joju George, Sharaf U Dheen, Grace Antony and Soubin Shahir in lead roles along with Parvathy Thiruvothu.
2. Bheema Sena Nalamaharaja (Kannada) is scheduled to premiere on 29th of October on Amazon Prime Video. Bheema is an upcoming Kannada family entertainer directed by Karthik Saragur. The movie stars Aravinnd Iyer, Aarohi Narayan, Priyanka Thimmesh, Achyuth Kumar and Aadya in leading roles
3. Soorarai Pottru (Tamil) is scheduled to premiere on 30th of October on Amazon Prime Video. Soorarai Pottru is an upcoming Tamil language Action/Drama film directed by Sudha Kongara, Starring Suriya in the lead with Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal and Mohan Babu in pivotal roles. The film is produced by Suriya’s 2D Entertainment and co-produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. This film is a fictionalised version of the book “Simply Fly” written on the life of Air Deccan founder Capt. G. R. Gopinath.
4. Chhalaang (Hindi) is scheduled to premiere on 13th of November on Amazon Prime Video. Chhalaang is an inspirational social comedy starring Rajkummar Rao, Nushratt Baruchaa and directed by Hansal Mehta. It is presented by Bhushan Kumar and produced by Ajay Devgn, Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg.
5. Manne Number 13 (Kannada) is scheduled to premiere on 19th of November on Amazon Prime Video. Maane Number 13 is an upcoming horror thriller directed by Vivy Kathiresan. Produced by Krishna Chaitanya’s Sri Swarnalatha Productions, the film stars Varsha Bollamma, Aiswarya Gowda, Praveen Prem, Chetan Gandharva, Ramana and Sanjeiv.
6. Middle Class Melodies (Telugu) is scheduled to premiere on 20th of November on Amazon Prime Video. Starring Anand Deverakonda and Varsha Bollamma, Middle Class Melodies is a humour packed whimsical tale depicting the congenial lives of the middle class in the village where a young man dreams of owning a hotel in a town. The film is directed by Vinod Anantoju.
7. Durgavati (Hindi) is scheduled to premiere on 11th of December on Amazon Prime Video. Directed by Ashok and starring Bhumi Pednekar, Durgavati is a thrilling, scary ride that tells the story of an innocent Government officer who is made the victim of a major conspiracy involving powerful forces. The film is presented by T-Series and Cape of Good Films and is an Abundantia Entertainment production.
8. Maara (Tamil) is scheduled to premiere on 17th of December on Amazon Prime Video. Maara is an upcoming Tamil language romantic drama film directed by Dhilip Kumar. Produced by Prateek Chakravorty and Shruti Nallappa of Pramod Films. The film stars Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath in lead roles.
9. Coolie No. 1 (Hindi), scheduled to premiere on 25th of December on Amazon Prime Video. Coolie No. 1 is a family comedy based on the popular franchise from Pooja Entertainment and is directed by the king of comedy David Dhawan. The film stars Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal, Javed Jaffrey, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav amongst others and is produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani and Deepshikha Deshmukh.
The new releases will join the thousands of TV shows and movies from Hollywood and Bollywood in the Prime Video catalog. These include Indian films Gulabo Sitabo, Shakuntala Devi, Ponmagal Vandhal, LAW, French Biriyani, Sufiyum Sujatayum, C U Soon, V, and Penguin along with Indian-produced Amazon Original series like Bandish Bandits, Breathe: Into The Shadows, Paatal Lok, The Forgotten Army – Azaadi Ke Liye, Four More Shots Please S1 and 2, The Family Man, Mirzapur, Inside Edge S1, and S2, and Made In Heaven and the award-winning and critically acclaimed global Amazon Original series like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Boys, Hunters, Fleabag, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The service includes titles in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Bengali.
