The future is digital and the future of entertainment is video-on-demand. Salman Khan seems to have realised this quick enough and has signed a big deal with guys at Amazon Prime Video.
Highlights of the Amazon Prime Video - Salman Khan deal:
- The worldwide streaming rights of all Salman Khan films from Tubelight onwards and films produced by Salman Khan Ventures will lie with Amazon Prime Video.
- All future films will first premiere on Prime Video after hitting theatres BUT before 2 months of their TV and satellite broadcast.
- Existing Salman Khan blockbusters such as Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Kick will also be available on Prime Video.
A press note released by Amazon Prime Video has Salman Khan saying:
Amazon Prime Video reaches over 200 countries and territories and I am happy to collaborate with Amazon Prime Video and expand the reach of Indian cinema. Fans of Indian cinema will discover my movies on a new platform and the platform will also help new fans discover our cinema.Salman Khan
In December last year, Netflix had roped in Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment. The deal between them was termed by Netflix as "the beginning of a long-term relationship between both companies and the first of its kind with any Indian film production company". The Netflix - SRK deal covered titles including Dear Zindagi and the actor’s earlir films such as Happy New Year, Dilwale and Om Shanti Om.
Coming back to Prime Video’s deal with Salman, Amazon Video’s India head, Nitesh Kripalani calls it an “epic, ground-breaking deal” and “another big step to change the way how Indian customers consume entertainment with Salman’s movies coming first to Prime Video customers, before their television broadcast.”
James Farrel, the Asia Pacific Head of Content of Prime Video terms it as “one of the biggest star deals to have ever been done in the world” and he goes on say that, “India is a top priority market for Amazon and we believe that this love India has for films, the passion, the energy and the talent of India needs to be on a worldwide stage for global audiences to see”.
Both Amazon and Netflix look all set to aggressively compete for eye-balls with original Indian content. Prime Video had recently released their first original Indian content - Inside Edge, while Netflix is all set to bring Vikram Chandra’s book Sacred Games to life with Saif Ali Khan.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)