Prime Video is taking its business to Bollywood thanks to a new worldwide-exclusive, multi-year collaboration with Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment (NGE). Under the deal, the streamer will be the exclusive streaming home for NGE’s upcoming slate of films, making them available to viewers both for rental through the “Early Access Rental” window, and streaming for Amazon Prime subscribers. The new deal includes six upcoming films from producer and director Sajid Nadiadwala‘s company which will be made available not long after they release theatrically.
Some of NGE’s biggest upcoming films will be making the jump through the deal, including Bawaal, Sanki, Baaghi 4, and a currently-untitled project from star Kartik Aaryan. The films also bring some of India’s brightest stars to an international audience, including Varun Dhawan, Tiger Shroff, and Ahan Shetty. Acclaimed directors Nitesh Tiwari (Chhichhore, Dangal), Ravi Udyawar (Mom), Sameer Vidwans (Anandi Gopal), Saket Chaudhry (Hindi Medium) are also featured in the Amazon-exclusive slate.
NGE is one of India’s blockbuster producers with a long history of creating films in the country. Most recently though, the company has been known for the Housefull and Baaghi franchises, both of which recently released sequels in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Among others, they also have the Kick and Heropanti franchises, the latter of which just released its sophomore outing earlier this year.
“We are excited to venture into this milestone collaboration with Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, that is known to create films that connect instantly with audiences,” Manish Menghani, the Director of Content Licensing at Prime Video India, said in a statement. “By inking this partnership, we will bring some of the most entertaining narratives and stories soon after their theatrical releases exclusively to our viewers’ screens worldwide. At Amazon, we start with the customer and work backwards and this collaboration is another step towards fulfilling that promise. Prime Video has played a key role in significantly enhancing the audience base for Indian films, across languages, both within the country and internationally. I am certain that this slate of much-anticipated movies will prove to be an absolute delight for our consumers “
Nadiadwala, the Managing Director of NGE, also released a statement celebrating the partnership and the milestone it represents for NGE:
We have been entertaining the audience for the last 70 years with our movies, contributing to the Indian culture and today it’s a new era in entertainment with OTT becoming such an integral part of our lives. Amazon Prime Video has been instrumental in breaking all barriers in entertainment – geographical, linguistic, or otherwise. In Prime Video, we believe we have found a partner that not only shares our vision of offering immersive cinematic experiences, but also provides global distribution to the best stories from the Indian entertainment ecosystem. This collaboration marks NGE’s first-ever, worldwide exclusive, multi-film, multi-year deal with Prime Video – we are confident that this partnership of inclusive cinema will enable our upcoming titles to travel beyond geographies and add further value to Prime Video’s stellar content selection. As the world of storytelling evolves across genres, I believe this association will pave the way for more collaborations between the two brands to follow.
This partnership is just the latest in a push for international content from Amazon and other platforms. Regarding Bollywood specifically, Amazon recently solidified its presence in India with a lineup of 40 originals and the ability to rent Indian and other international features through early access. Netflix is also getting in on the Indian market, developing an adaptation of The Archies featuring the children of Bollywood legends slated for 2023.
With the advent of Amazon’s new deal with NGE, it’s only becoming easier for viewers in the West and beyond to get into the underappreciated world of Bollywood.
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