Amazon and Netflix are teaming up with Clean Slate Filmz, a joint production house by Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma, in a deal worth around $4 billion ($54 million). This is the latest indicator that film houses in the world’s most prolific movie-making centre are recovering after being ravaged by the COVID-19 outbreak, which shut down cinemas and film shoots across the country and caused financial and logistical havoc.
In recent months, movement curbs have eased and movie theatres have reopened, boosting the chances of India’s studios even further.
The epidemic, which compelled individuals to consume more entertainment online, exposed India’s almost 1.4 billion people to a wide range of geographies and specialized genres on a never-before-seen scale. In one of the world’s major entertainment markets, the struggle for content is heating up.
It has sparked a competition among streaming behemoths to get content, helping smaller but edgier studios like Clean Slate Filmz, which will release eight films and web series on these over-the-top (OTT) streaming services in next 18 months.
Clean Slate Filmz and Netflix have announced three forthcoming projects. We requested a comment from Amazon, but the company did not respond immediately.
Know About Anushka’s Production Company
The company was founded in 2013 in the heart of Bollywood, Mumbai. In 2015, the production firm released its first film, NH10, starring Anushka Sharma and dealt with India’s honour killings. Phillauri and Pari, both starring Anushka, were released in theatres by the movie company. It also produced the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime series Paatal Lok and the Netflix film Bulbbul.
Anushka will star in ‘Chakda Xpress’, a biopic inspired by the life and times of former Indian captain and one of the world’s greatest bowlers Jhulan Goswami, which will make for a fascinating look into the world of women’s cricket. The film is all set to release on February 2, 2023. Qala, starring Tripti Dimri and Swastika Mukherjee, marks the acting debut of Irrfan Khan’s son Babil will also be released by this production company.
Mai is an upcoming Indian thriller, action drama web series on Netflix. The forthcoming series would star Wamiqa Gabbi, Sakshi Tanwar are the leading cast of the series
The Streaming Giants
Netflix recently lowered its subscription prices in India by up to 60% in an attempt to reclaim market share from Amazon and Walt Disney Co, which now dominate India’s entertainment platforms.
Last week, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings expressed his frustration with the company’s inability to please Indians, who are renowned for being price-conscious. Karnesh, the studio’s 37-year-old co-founder, claimed that as OTT companies compete, expenditures increase, as is the desire to innovate.
“We’re turning a flywheel in every other market that matters. India has not been as successful as every other market we’d like it to be at this point, but we’re taking initiatives,” he said. “What has happened over time is that ambition has increased within the studio structures,” he explained. “And for folks like us, that’s fantastic.”
