ErosNow, the streaming arm of Bollywood studio Eros International, has announced its upcoming movie line-up along with plans to enter the production of original TV shows.
The service, which has 19 million registered users, unveiled four in-house productions, describing them as “high-quality, cutting-edge shows with film-like production values targeted at young Indians, the largest demographic of the Indian population.”
The shows include:
*Khel – a dark drama featuring an insider’s perspective on the world of cricket and the Indian Premier League, directed by Karan Anshuman.
*The Client – an edgy action thriller starring Bipasha Basu as the main protagonist, due to be directed by Rohan Sippy.
*Ponniyin Selvan – an epic period drama based on the popular Tamil historical novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, which is an in-house production by Eros South.
*ErosNow will also co-produce an Indian adaptation of a popular international sitcom with Anil Kapoor Film Company (AKFC), which already produced the local version of hit US show 24.
“Like in Hollywood, full seasons of these shows and series will be available for binge-watching at a consumer’s fingertips, exclusively on ErosNow,” said Eros in a statement.
ErosNow also announced that recent hit Tanu Weds Manu Returns will stream on the platform on July 19, ahead of its television broadcast. Several other Eros titles, including Badlapur, NH10, Shamitabh and Happy Ending, will also stream on ErosNow prior to their broadcast on TV.
Eros International group CEO Jyoti Deshpande said: “We are poised to take advantage of the briskly growing broadband penetration and the imminent launch of 4G technology to reach out to the potential audience offered by close to a billion mobile connections. As consumption patterns change globally, Internet entertainment networks have begun to rapidly replace traditional, linear television. It’s our turn now.”
ErosNow is ramping up its marketing efforts following the entry of VOD service Hooq, jointly owned by Warner Bros, Sony and Singtel, into the Indian market last month and ahead of Netflix’s plans to launch in India next year. The service is also attempting to convert viewership of its newer film and TV titles from free to subscription models.