Three months after Netflix signed a deal with one of India's most popular film stars Shah Rukh Khan, the company is hard at work on bringing another Indian superstar onboard.
Netflix is in advance talks with Aamir Khan to bring the entire catalogue from Aamir Khan Productions to its on-demand video streaming service, said two people familiar with matter. When contacted, Netflix declined to comment on the matter.
The partnership, when finalized, will also include exclusive digital rights for Aamir Khan's upcoming movie "Thugs of Hindostan," said one source. The company wants to market "Thugs of Hindostan" as a Netflix original.
As part of the partnership, Netflix is also seeking "pre-television" rights (rights to stream the movie before it is premiered on cable TV) for the movies, said the other source. Aamir Khan Productions is resisting the idea of a "simultaneous worldwide availability" of its upcoming movies, however.
Launched in 1999, Aamir Khan Productions has some of the biggest blockbuster titles including Academy Award-nominated Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par, Dangal and Dhobi Ghat.
At his recent trip to India, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings met Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan and furthered discussions, said both the sources. "The meeting didn't close everything we wanted, but we're getting there," the sources added.
Tweet may have been deleted
Netflix is also bidding for the rights of Rajnikanth's upcoming 2.0 movie. Sequel to Tamil film Enthiran, the sci-fi movie is expected to release later this year.
One source said that India's entertainment conglomerate Zee has acquired TV rights for 2.0, however digital rights are still up for grabs. We've heard that the price for 2.0 is "ridiculously high", and Amazon is more likely to score it.
India is a big market for both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, especially since neither of the companies have been able to make a dent in China's market due to the country's tight regulatory regime.
So far, Netflix appears to be trailing behind its global rival Amazon Prime Video in India. Launched in the nation (and 241 other regions) in December, Amazon Prime Video offers a much wider catalog of local content. The entertainment arm of the ecommerce giant has struck deals with several major Indian movie studios and distributors to score major libraries, as opposed to Netflix's rather modest approach of picking a handful of titles.
On top of this, Amazon Prime Video is much more affordable in the country. Amazon Prime Video costs about the same for a yearly-subscription as Netflix charges for one month access.
But Netflix is making some moves. Last week Mashable exclusively reported about Netflix's plan to add Paytm as a payment option to Indian subscribers. The company is also exploring deals with local TV manufacturers to have Netflix app pre-installed on their smart TV lineups.
Topics Amazon Prime Video Netflix
