The Indian digital and streaming entertainment world has been agog with the news that Vijay Subramaniam, Director and Head of Content at Amazon Prime Video India, has quit from the company. The primary question on everyone’s mind is why would a man who nurtured the still-nascent Indian content division at Amazon Prime Video for four years and helped it mature and bloom into the thriving entity it is today, give it all up and walk away when his efforts have just about started to bear fruit. And how will his quitting affect Amazon Prime Video and its grandiose plans to dominate the Indian OTT market?
Vijay Subramaniam has been the driving force behind Amazon Prime Video going from strength to strength in India in the past four years, almost since launch. He was the one to spearhead the whole direct-to-digital trend in streaming when he engineered the acquisition of seven films for releasing directly on Amazon Prime Video, stunning the entertainment industry in the midst of the pandemic. And there was no looking back after that. Film after buzzy film made its way to Amazon Prime Video for a straight to OTT release – Soorarai Pottru, Maara, Toofaan, and 50+ more. Besides acquiring movies from all major film industries, he also oversaw the release of shows conceived and created in India – Made In Heaven, Inside Edge, Mirzapur, The Family Man, among others, all came to life under him.
However, in recent months, there has been a churn of sorts at Amazon Prime Video. The spotlight seems to have shifted from Vijay Subramaniam to Aparna Purohit, Head of Indian Originals at the company. The lady has been in the public eye, more often than not. She’s also been receiving a lot of publicity, given umpteen interviews to online as well as print publications, and been hailed as the motivating force behind Amazon Prime Video’s string of successes in recent months.
On the other hand, there’s hardly been any mention of Vijay Subramaniam’s prowess and achievements outside of trade publications. Barely anyone knows him as the one to put Amazon Prime Video firmly on the path to success. It’s almost as if Vijay Subramaniam and his achievements have been sidelined, unconsciously maybe, but they have. And maybe that is the reason of his disillusionment and decision to quit?
Whatever be the reason, there is no denying the fact that Vijay Subramaniam’s quitting is a major loss for Amazon Prime Video in India. It remains to be seen how the coin falls on that one.
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