The first original series, ‘Backbenchers,’ directed by Farah Khan goes live later this month.
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra (L) and director/choreographer Farah Khan pose during the launch of Flipkart Video Originals, a nonfiction show under its original content called 'Backbenchers,' in Mumbai on October 15, 2019. (Photo by Sujit Jaiswal / AFP)
Walmart-owned e-commerce giant, Flipkart is foraying into original video content in India with the launch of ‘Flipkart Video Originals’.
Integrated within the e-commerce video platform, which was launched earlier in August this year, the content for Flipkart Video Originals will be produced by some well-known industry icons. The company made the announcement on Tuesday.
“All the main players are primarily anchored around fictional content,” said Prakash Sikaria, Vice President-Growth and Monetisation, Flipkart, as the over-the-top media services (OTT) war heats up in the country.
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He further added, “When we launched the video platform earlier this year, our agenda was clear and we were keen to play a role in on-boarding new customers who are not necessarily new to the internet but are new to e-commerce.”
The announcement will take the fight between Amazon and Flipkart from the e-commerce section to the video as well. Amazon had launched its video section in December 2016, and so far it has built a strong fan base with popular series like Mirzapur and The Family Man.
In the months to come, Flipkart will be working with Studio Next, Frames and Sikhya Productions to bring some of the extraordinary work across genres and languages.
The first creator to join Flipkart’s initiative is Oscar Award winner, Guneet Monga, who has come on board as the official creator and curator of short stories for Flipkart’s video platform.
Meanwhile, the first original series, ‘Backbenchers,’ directed by Farah Khan goes live later this month.
“Flipkart Video is offering a great platform for content creators to engage with a customer base of over 160 million people across India through a unique storytelling format,” said Monga.
(With input from agencies)
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