Straight to digital: Amazon Prime Video to globally premiere 7 anticipated Indian movies

Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, Shakuntala Devi featuring Vidya Balan as lead, R. Jyotika starrer Ponmagal Vandhal among others will premiere between May and August on Amazon Prime Video.

Following the news of Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo, Amazon Prime Video today announced an additional six highly-anticipated Indian films that are set to premiere directly on the streaming service. The Direct-to-Service line-up features further releases such as Anu Menon’s Shakuntala Devi with Vidya Balan in lead, legal drama Ponmagal Vandhal starring Jyotika in addition to Keerthy Suresh starrer Penguin (Tamil and Telugu), Sufiyum Sujatayum (Malayalam), Law (Kannada) and French Biryani (Kannada).

These movies will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video over the next three months and will be available in 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Amazon Prime Video’s direct-to-service slate:

Ponmagal Vandhal (Tamil), from 29th May on Amazon Prime Video

Starring Jyotika, Parthiban, Bhagyaraj, Prathap Pothen and Pandiarajan, Ponmagal Vandhal is a legal drama. The movie is written and directed by J.J. Fredrick and produced by Suriya and Rajsekar Karpoorasundarapandian.

Gulabo Sitabo (Hindi), from 12th June.

Starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, Gulabo Sitabo is a quirky family comedy depicting day to day struggles of the common man. The movie is written by Juhi Chaturvedi, directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar.

Penguin (Tamil and Telugu), from 19th June.

Starring Keerthy Suresh, Penguin is written and directed by Eshavar Karthic. The film is produced by Stone Bench Films and Karthik Subbaraj.

Law (Kannada), from 26th June.

Starring Ragini Chandran, Siri Prahlad, and veteran actor Mukhyamantri Chandru, Law is written and directed by Raghu Samarth and produced by Ashwini and Puneeth Rajkumar.

French Biryani (Kannada), from 24th July.

French Biryani features actors Danish Sait, Sal Yusuf, and Pitobash as leads. The movie is written by Avinash Balekkala, directed by Pannaga Bharana and produced by Ashwini and Puneeth Rajkumar and Gurudutt A Talwar.

Shakuntala Devi (Hindi), release date to be announced

Featuring Vidya Balan in the lead, Shakuntala Devi is a biographical drama on the extraordinary life of Shakuntala Devi, mathematics genius, writer, and astrologer who was popularly known as the human-computer. Also featuring Sanya Malhotra and Directed by Anu Menon, the film is produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions and Vikram Malhotra.

Sufiyum Sujatayum (Malayalam), release date to be announced

Starring Aditi Rao Hydari and Jayasuriya, Soofiyum Sujatayum is written and directed by Naranipuzha Shanavas and produced by Vijay Babu’s Friday Film House.

Director and Head, Content, Amazon Prime Video India, Vijay Subramaniam, said, “At Prime Video we believe in listening to what our consumers want and working backwards from there. This belief is the genesis of our latest offering, over the last 2 years, Prime Video has become the destination of choice for our customers to watch new releases, across the languages, within weeks of their theatrical release. Now we’re taking this one step further, with seven of India’s most-anticipated films premiering exclusively on Prime Video, bringing the cinematic experience to their doorstep.”

Gaurav Gandhi, Director and Country General Manager, Amazon Prime Video India also stated, “Indian audiences have been eagerly awaiting the release of these 7 highly anticipated films and we are delighted that Amazon Prime Video will now be premiering these movies for our customers – who can enjoy watching these from the safety & comfort of their homes and on a screen of their choice. Prime Video with its deep penetration in India, with viewership across over 4000 Towns and Cities, and its world-wide reach in more than 200 countries and territories, will give a large global release footprint to these films. We feel truly excited about this initiative and are confident of delighting our Prime Members with this offering.”

The new releases will join the thousands of TV shows and movies from Hollywood and Bollywood in the Prime Video catalog.