Amazon and Netflix slug it out for the Indian audience

Amazon and Netflix's tussle for Indian audiences is getting heated by the day with both going aggressively after original and local content.

Barely a week after announcing a partnership with Shah Rukh Khan’s banner Red Chillies Entertainment to bring a multilingual series based on the book Bard of Blood, Netflix has snapped up its first Indian original movie in Love Per Square Foot, from Ronnie Screwvala's independent production house RSVP.

Interestingly, this makes Love Per Square Foot the first mainstream Indian movie to directly premiere on Netflix, and will be available globally to over 100 million members in 190 countries.

Arch-rival, Amazon Prime Video is also leaving no stoned unturned to grow its business in the India’s growing online streaming market. While there have been unconfirmed reports about Amazon having won the streaming rights for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film Padmavati, as per the latest development, Rajinikanth's sci-fi thriller '2.0' will have its digital premiere on Amazon Prime Video. The movie, also starring Bollywood star Akshay Kumar in the role of the antagonist, is the sequel to the 2010 blockbuster Enthiran.

Though the Seattle-based e-commerce giant went local immediately following the introduction of Amazon Prime Video in India, announcing plans last December to produce over a dozen Indian original shows, Netflix is adopting a more gradual approach.

Amazon, recently hiked its annual Amazon Prime subscription fee from Rs 499 to Rs 999.