The first look of Shantaram has dropped and it has made us think. Although AppleTV+ and its services are available in India, you would hardly see them make any significant ranking in the competition. Although it has Academy and Emmy winner titles like CODA, Severance, and Ted Lasso, hardly anyone bothers about AppleTV+.
The credit for this downright rejection goes to no one else than the platform themselves. They never promoted their content in India let alone made anything original.
Thus more than mere availability, what matters most is establishing a connection with the audience. HBO Max has that connection even without offering its services in India and making only American stories. Because Disney+Hotstar holds the reins of marketing, they seldom worry about that.
Regardless, if Apple TV+ really wishes to grow its market in India then now is the time. Very recently, they came up with the first look of their upcoming series Shantaram.
It is based on a novel of the same name by Gregory David Roberts. The series is set in multiple countries which also includes a major portion in India. Also, the name Shantaram is typically Indian.
Having Charlie Hunnam in the lead role, it will star many Indian-origin actors like Shubham Saraf, Sujaya Dasgupta, Rachel Kamath, and Shiv Palekar.
Long story short, Apple TV+ is already developing the series for its target audience which is mostly American. With not so great efforts, they can easily make it big in the Indian subcontinent through marketing a series that is anyways coming.
But let’s see if it comes true.
Shantaram will start streaming on the 14th of October with three episodes on premiere day. Then it will continue dropping episodes every Friday until December 16th.