One of the key achievements of Prime Video in India last year has been augmenting original programming to include newer genres and formats. “We were able to create shows for young adults, explore genres like supernatural and horror and expand our catalogue to even include true crime and docuseries,” says Aparna Purohit. The OTT platform created three adaptations of international franchise Modern Love while three of its shows—Farzi, Jubilee and Dahaad—made it to IMDb’s list of most popular Indian web series for 2023.
Amazon Prime, which has over 18 million subscribers in India compared to Netflix’s eight million, as per Media Partners Asia, also forayed into original movie production in India in 2022, released its second original film Ammu (Telugu) and announced a third, Ae Watan Mere Watan, with Sara Ali Khan. The streaming service has “100 projects in various stages of development and production,” says Purohit. Mordor Intelligence estimates that Smart TV and OTT market will grow from $16 billion at present to $37 billion by 2028. This augurs well for Prime Video. — Arnika Thakur