Prime Video’s India Head Sushant Sreeram Unpacks Growth Strategy (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran A sex scene in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” featuring a line from Hindu holy scripture “Bhagavad Gita” has led to protests even as the film rakes it in at the box office. The film was passed with a U/A certificate by India’s Central Board of Film Certification. SPOILER ALERT: The sex scene features Cillian Murphy as Robert Oppenheimer and Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock. Pugh stops during intercourse, gets up and goes over to the bookshelf, picks out a copy of the “Bhagavad Gita” and asks Murphy to read from it. Murphy reads the line “I am become Death, destroyer of worlds,” the quote from the “Bhagavad Gita” that Oppenheimer famously thought of when the first nuclear bomb was detonated.

As the home of the Curry Mile, Manchester has long been known for its wide choice of Indian and South Asian restaurants. While the not-quite-a-mile strip of restaurants on Rusholme’s Wilmslow Road now tends towards more Middle Eastern cuisine, there are still plenty of gems to be found there like Mughli and Sanam - the oldest on the whole stretch.

Naman Ramachandran Indian actor Arshad Warsi stars in JioCinema series “Asur,” the second season of which is one of the most-watched Indian shows of the year. Set in the holy northern Indian city of Varanasi, the psychological thriller series with mythological elements stars Warsi and Barun Sobti as forensic expert investigators engaged in a cat-and-mouse-game with a serial killer. “Asur: Welcome to Your Dark Side” streamed on Voot in 2020. “Asur 2: The Rise of the Dark Side” moved over to sister streamer JioCinema and began streaming in June. Within three weeks of release, Season 2 amassed 30 million viewers and 3 billion minutes of watch time, per JioCinema data. The series also made it to IMDb’s top 50 shows worldwide.

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video and BBC Studios have launched BBC Player and BBC Kids on Prime Video Channels in India. The subscription-based service will provide Indian viewers a curated line-up of popular British content spanning dramas, comedy, documentaries, factual shows, entertainment, lifestyle programming and children’s shows. Prime members can purchase an annual add-on subscription to BBC Player for INR 599 ($7.30) that includes full access to BBC Kids. Alternatively, members can also subscribe to BBC Kids only for INR 199 ($2.42) annually. Title available at launch on BBC Player include “Six Four,” “The Diplomat,” “Chivalry,” “Citizen Khan,” “Sherlock,” “Unforgotten,” “Happy Valley,” “Top Gear,” “The Great British Bake Off,” “This is Going to Hurt,” “Small Axe” and “Strictly Come Dancing.” BBC Kids will feature “Hey Duggee,” “Go Jetters,” “JoJo & Gran Gran,” “Sarah & Duck” and “Junior Bake Off.”

Naman Ramachandran After the success of the Indian version of “The Night Manager,” The Ink Factory is planning further Indian adaptations of John le Carré novels. Produced by The Ink Factory and Banijay Asia, the Hindi-language series created and directed by Sandeep Modi and headlined by Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur, emerged as the most watched series ever across all Hotstar specials on Indian streamer Disney+ Hotstar. One of the most renowned writers in the espionage genre, le Carré, who died in 2020, left behind a legacy of 25 novels, managed by The Ink Factory. They have spawned numerous adaptations, including an English-language “The Night Manager” from BBC/AMC in 2016.

Naman Ramachandran India’s media and entertainment industry is expected to reach $73.6 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.48%, says consultancy firm PwC’s “Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2023-2027” report. In terms of growth percentage, streaming leads the way with revenue surging 25% in 2022 to reach $1.8 billion. The market will continue to grow at 14% CAGR to produce revenue of $3.5 billion in 2027. This will be driven by the competitive SVOD sector, which accounted for 78% of sector revenue in 2022, the report says, adding that while subscription service revenues will expand at 13% CAGR to reach $2.6 billion, ad-supported services (AVOD) will grow at a higher rate, albeit from a lower base.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios will produce adaptations of All3Media scripted dramas “Shameless” and “Strangers” for the Indian market. Comedy drama “Shameless,” created originally by Paul Abbot and Company Pictures for Channel 4, is set in a dilapidated housing estate and revolves around an unemployed and perpetually drunken father who is consistently expanding his lineage amidst the challenges of adolescence and the allure of first love. Two Brothers Pictures’ crime drama “Strangers” AKA “White Dragon,” originally created for ITV in the U.K. and written by Mark Denton, Jonny Stockwood, Marston Bloom and Harry & Jack Williams, follows professor Jonah Mulray, whose wife dies in a car accident in Hong Kong, where she frequently visited for work. He decides to visit the city, where he stumbles upon a startling revelation about his wife, plunging him into a labyrinth of conspiracy.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood A-lister Varun Dhawan’s next film is the keenly anticipated Prime Video film “Bawaal,” from Nitesh Tiwari, director of India’s all-time highest grosser “Dangal.” Dhawan plays a charming, vainglorious and image-conscious history teacher who gains redemption via profound realizations stemming from his study of WWII and from his new bride, portrayed by Janhvi Kapoor. The film shuttles between Lucknow in northern India and Western Europe. Dhawan and Kapoor read for their parts separately with Tiwari, deliberately. “It’s like yin and yang, we’re like two opposites that attract and form a team. But we really did go about this film as a team. There was a little method approach to it, like in the first half of the film, when my character is not very nice to hers. When we were shooting in Lucknow, I didn’t interact much with her, I was a little cold to her,” Dhawan told Variety. As the film progresses, their relationship thaws.

Naman Ramachandran Curator, programmer and producer Jitin Hingorani has joined India’s National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) in the newly created position of head of programming for Film Bazaar, South Asia’s largest content market. Hingorani reports into Prithul Kumar, joint secretary of films at India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Leena Khobragade, formerly Film Bazaar director, now serves as artistic director of the market. “All my life’s work as an Indian American serial entrepreneur over the past 25 years has been leading up to this monumental role,” Hingorani told Variety. “As a former entertainment reporter, movie publicist, and film festival curator and director in Texas and New York City, my PR/marketing, media relations, and programming skills will be cumulatively utilized as our team organizes the most relevant, comprehensive, and accessible co-production/distribution market and film bazaar in all of Asia. We are ramping up our efforts to invite the biggest and brightest film buyers, sellers, distributors and programmers from around the international film fraternity to Goa this November. The 17th edition of the NFDC Film Bazaar will be forward-thinking in its approach and trendsetting in its delivery, as we shine a global spotlight on the most promising independent cinema from all over incredible India.”

Banijay has taken full control of Endemol Shine India.

EXCLUSIVE: Lacking big South Indian releases on the scale of RRR and the K.G.F. franchise, India’s box office was down by 15% in the first half of 2023, compared to the same period last year, pulling in $592.68M (Rs48.68BN), according to figures from India’s Ormax Media.

Naman Ramachandran India is on track to be the international production hub for global reality formats “Survivor” and “Temptation Island,” Banijay Asia CEO Deepak Dhar has confirmed. Dhar had revealed nascent plans for this late last year to Variety and they are now well into fruition. “Survivor” has had more than 50 international versions and “Temptation Island” more than 20. “Significant progress has happened in the last six to seven months in setting up the runway to really pave a lot of productions to happen in India, both reality and scripted. Reality is something that we’ve been pushing, because of the might of our Banijay Group catalog formats – shows like ‘Survivor’ and ‘Temptation Island.’ We are on the verge of setting up a ‘Temptation Island’ hub and ‘Survivor’ hub and a whole lot of the Banijay Group companies would come film here,” Dhar told Variety.

Naman Ramachandran Kajol, one of India’s best-loved actors, stars in Disney+ Hotstar series “The Trial – Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha,” the Indian adaptation of CBS series “The Good Wife.” The courtroom drama sees Kajol star as Noyonika Sengupta, a housewife who is forced to return to work as a lawyer after her husband’s public scandal puts him behind bars. Produced by Banijay Asia and Ajay Devgn FFilms, “The Trial” is directed by Suparn S. Varma (“Rana Naidu”). Kajol is a huge fan of “The Good Wife.” “I loved the characters, I love the whole show, I binge watched it,” Kajol told Variety. Noyonika is the Alicia role that Julianna Margulies played in the original.

Lots of stars are stepping out for the latest day of Wimbledon!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Walt Disney Company is reviewing its strategic options in India, the world’s most populous nation and one of the entertainment industry’s most challenging developing markets. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the conglomerate has spoken with at least one bank to discuss options on how to make its India business grow, while also seeing the cost burden shared. These options could include a sale of the business or a joint venture, the paper says. Contacted by Variety, a Disney corporate spokesman in India declined comment. Disney has spent heavily to buy a sizable market position in India. In 2019, it paid $71 billion to buy 21st Century Fox, with Fox’s TV assets in Asia and the Star pay-TV business in India among the crown jewels of the acquisition.

Naman Ramachandran Jaadugar Films and Sameer Raj Sippy Productions have teamed to remake 1970s Hindi-language Indian classics “Mili,” “Koshish” and “Bawarchi” that were produced under N.C. Sippy’s banner. Directed by Gulzar, who would go on to win an Oscar for “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Koshish” (1972), an homage to 1961 Japanese film “Happiness of Us Alone,” starred Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan (nee Bhaduri). It followed a deaf-mute couple who fight against the odds to live a life of dignity. Kumar won best actor and Gulzar best screenplay at India’s National Film Awards. “Bawarchi” (1972), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, was a remake of Tapan Sinha’s 1966 Bengali-language film “Galpo Holeo Satti” and starred Rajesh Khanna and Jaya Bachchan. In the film, Khanna plays a talented domestic helper who transforms a dysfunctional middle-class family.

Refresh for latest…: Busy weekend at the international box office with a strong scary new entry, some unexpected spark in holds and a milestone for a long-running franchise.

Tom Cruise has no intention of slowing down.

Naman Ramachandran “Dangal” filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari’s “Bawaal,” starring Varun Dhawan (“Bhediya”) and Jahnvi Kapoor (“Mili”), has unveiled a teaser and confirmed its direct-to-digital global premiere date on Amazon’s Prime Video. Varun Dhawan plays Ajay Dixit, a school teacher in Lucknow, idolized by his students, and admired by everyone in town and Janhvi Kapoor as Nisha, a bright and beautiful girl, whose only hope is to find her one true love. But love is never easy and it has to passage through a war of its own. The film is shot in India and multiple international locations. The film is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala’s banner Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment in collaboration with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari’s Earthsky Pictures.

Naman Ramachandran Kajol and Kriti Sanon will lead the cast of Netflix India’s mystery thriller original film “Do Patti.” The film also marks the producing debuts of Sanon and writer Kanika Dhillon. Billed as a “thrilling suspense-filled ride,” the film is set in the hills of northern India. A director has not been revealed yet. Kajol, one of India’s best-loved actors, has credits that include romance “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” melodrama “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…,” romantic thriller “Fanaa” and drama “My Name Is Khan.” She made her streaming debut with Netflix film “Tribhanga,” which played from 2021, and stars in a segment of the streamer’s “Lust Stories 2,” which released June 29. She will next be seen in Disney+ Hotstar series “The Trial – Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha,” the Indian adaptation of CBS series “The Good Wife.”