|
India has been under a strict
lockdown since March 25 to battle the virus,
leaving about 9,500 theatres shut and depriving
Bollywood of box-office revenue.
So producers of seven films, including two
Bollywood movies starring A-listers, such as
Amitabh Bachchan and Vidya Balan, will stream
the movies directly on Amazon Prime Video
following a deal, the company said in a
statement on Friday.
"Gulabo Sitabo", a family comedy with Bachchan
and Ayushmann Khurrana, which was set for
release in April, will now stream directly on
Amazon Prime Video in June, as will "Shakuntala
Devi", a biopic of the Indian mathematician of
the same name.
Two of India's biggest cinema chains, Inox and
PVR, who were meant to screen "Gulabo Sitabo",
bemoaned the decision.
"INOX will be constrained to examine its
options, and reserves all rights, including
taking retributive measures, in dealing with
such fair-weather friends," Inox said in a
statement.
The producers' guild said the comments from Inox
were "abrasive and unconstructive".
PVR chief executive Kamal Gianchandani told the
Indian Express on Thursday, after Amazon
announced it would stream "Gulabo Sitabo", that
he was disappointed by the news.
The other five films in the Amazon deal are
productions from the prolific, southern-language
film industry.
Streaming platforms like Amazon and Netflix have
in the past signed deals with Indian studios for
digital rights, but mainstream releases have
always prioritised theatrical revenues first.
In China, regulators aim to protect the industry
by enforcing rules to stop movies premiering
online, in particular by strictly managing
"theatrical window period" requirements, a
period for movies to be screened in cinemas
before they can be shown elsewhere.
[to top of second column]
|
But analysts say the Amazon
deal in India is likely the beginning of a
broader trend, as lingering fears of coronavirus
infection and lower discretionary spending keep
people away from multiplexes and single-screen
cinemas.
"There will be a reset in the way that producers
and studios think about their portfolios," Vijay
Subramaniam, director and head, Content, Amazon
Prime Video, India, told Reuters in an
interview.
Subramaniam said Amazon, which competes in India
with Netflix and Disney's Hotstar, did not see
acquisition costs going up for the streaming
platform.
Bollywood is a huge draw for India's burgeoning
online audiences, who - driven by cheap data and
smartphones - are spending more time watching
content online than ever before.
Media reported that more producers in Bollywood
and the southern-language industry were in talks
with streaming platforms for direct-to-digital
releases.
Last month, theatre owners in the southern state
of Tamil Nadu threatened to boycott well-known
actor Suriya over his decision to stream his
film on a digital platform.
That film, "Ponmagal Vandhal" is part of the
seven-film slate that Amazon announced on
Friday.
(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by
Alexandra Ulmer, Robert Birsel)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
