Amazon seals Rajini film deal; dares Netflix, hikes sellers' commissions

Amazon seals Rajini film deal; dares Netflix, hikes sellers' commissions

kabali

MUMBAI: Amazon India has signed a content agreement with the Tamil Nadu-based V Creations. The alliance has been negotiated at a time when Amazon is all set to launch Prime Video India, competing with Netflix streaming and Star India’s Hotstar.

Amazon is bringing the cheapest VOD subscription service in India with Amazon Prime, which comes with a complementary Amazon Prime Video subscription.

Amazon has been focusing on the two most popular categories in India, that is, sports and of course Bollywood, Mint reported. With this alliance, Prime would have exclusive subscription streaming rights for two of Tamil Nadu’s highest grossing films -- Rajnikanth's Kabali and Theri, a crime drama released earlier this year. Amazon India recently launched its global Prime membership programme, offering fastest product deliveries for an initial fixed price of Rs 499 a year.

The largest global online retailer Amazon has signed the long-term content partnership with the film production company V Creations when the former is gearing up for launching of its Prime online television service in India which is dubbed as a leading market for entertainment.

In the UK and the US, Amazon Prime Video is available for $8.99 a month. Now, it is bringing the same service in India for as low as $15 a year. This significantly dents Netflix India regardless of content availability since the subscription price difference is vast.

As part of its localization efforts, Amazon has been signing content rights in India. Recently, it teamed up with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions.

Amazon meanwhile has hiked the sellers' commission in categories such as electronics, while reducing it in others such as large appliances, after a festive season confrontation with its competitor Flipkart. Amazon at present has over 120,000 sellers on its platform in India.

Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart operate as marketplaces charging fees and other charges for connecting customers with third-party sellers.