India is home to Bollywood, Tollywood, Sandalwood and many other film industries which are responsible for churning out movies and content for audiences. However, the advent of online streaming platforms like Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, gave rise to fresher, quicker and new generation of content. These platforms gave hope to hundreds if not thousands of aspiring filmmakers a fora to showcase their talent.
Amazon India is home to hundreds of fresh and original content made in India and has some hugely successful shows and movies. Some of the successful shows include Mirzapur, Breathe, Made In Heaven and Four More Shots. These shows have huge demand and there is one person who is responsible for the original content on Amazon Prime Video. Aparna Purohit is solely responsible for identifying and curating the original content which goes up on the Amazon Prime Video.
Aparna’s journey began when she worked as an assistant director for a bunch of films before moving on to casting and production. “I joined Sony TV and was there for about a year. But I just knew I didn’t want to get stuck in this formulaic rut. I wanted to get involved in disruptive stories. At the first chance, I moved to UTV – this is before the Disney merger had happened. Spotboy (UTV’s indie wing that made films such as Dev D, Udaan, Shahid) was yet to be formed. It came into existence while I was there (sic,)” says Aparna.
Following her stint at Sony, Aparna moved to Reliance Big Pictures where she would work closely with directors like Shyam Benegal (Well Done Abba) and Rituparno Ghosh (Abohomaan.) Aparna says “This was the time when I was finding my own thematic voice and for it to be nurtured by two of filmmaking’s greatest institutions, to get a window into their minds and their craft, was a phenomenal gift. It’s what helped me understand stories in all their complexities (sic.)”
Before long, Aparna worked at NFDC’s Film Bazaar before running the Sundance India Lab. It was then Aparna would be offered a chance to head the creative development at Amazon. Before Amazon Prime Video could boast of its huge content library Aparna had to woo directors to bring their content to their platform. Most of them were hesitant because they thought Aparna would ask for a particular star to be castedcast. Aparna would say “No. Let’s talk stories. Whatever has been in your closet, bring it out (sic.)”
Aparna mentions how she had to unlearn and learn a lot on the job. She says “We’ve to be mindful of every track. One character’s action on Season 1 episode 2 can have a repercussion on episode 7 in Season 3. Cliffhangers are important. The narrative structure, with each episode being a story unto itself, to it being a part of the broader narrative, is key. These are all aspects you cannot prepare for, you end up learning with every step on the way (sic.)”
On Breathe Into The Shadows, Purohit says the audience reception was high. She says they were “thrilled with the amazing response and the love we have got from the fans (sic.,)″ adding that the streaming company was glad to have the show in their content selection. “Abhishek Bachchan, Amit Sadh, Nithya Menen among other cast of the show delivered a stellar performance (sic.)”
Aparna Purohit is determined for Amazon Prime Video to be impartial and an equal opportunity platform for storytellers. She says “My team and I read every pitch we get. We reply to everything that’s sent to us. I call ourselves story chasers and hopefully we will not become what we were trying to run away from (sic.)”
Article Credit- Huffington Post
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