Sudip SharmaPaatal Lok and ColaSudip spoke about the differences between collaborations with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, the two biggest international streaming platforms in India. Sudip co-produced the crime drama “Kohrra” for Netflix last year and “Paatal Lok” for Prime Video during the first wave of streaming in India about five years ago. In the interview, he said he feels Prime Video is too tight-lipped about sensitive data and prefers to collaborate with Netflix.
In conversation with Suchin Mehrotra on The Streaming Show, Sudip was asked if he wanted to highlight any differences in his experience working for the two platforms. He replied, “To an extent, both are the same. The culture is different, the personality of the people you deal with is different. We are still finding our footing in India as the systems and processes are not clearly defined. Netflix’s processes are better suited to do this and they take their role as a media company very seriously because that’s what they are all about. If something happens to these processes, something happens, that’s how they see it. At Amazon, (making films and shows) is just a small part of the business, it’s like a hobby. If I was the richest man in the world, I would want some Hollywood stars at my parties. That’s…”
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Sudip said the information about the viewership figures for Patal Lok provided by Amazon doesn’t tell him whether it was a hit or not. He said no platform is completely transparent about numbers, but Amazon is extremely secretive. “Netflix shares more information than Amazon. Amazon doesn’t share any information. To be honest, we have no idea how big a hit Patal Lok was,” he said.
He speculated that the reason behind this lack of transparency is to give creators no room to negotiate: “There’s a deliberate reason why they don’t tell you anything. Information is power. If I knew how big a hit the show was, I would ask for a bigger budget. That means I would ask for a fair budget. I would have more negotiating power. I would also make an apples-to-apples comparison, which I can’t make. I can’t ask them why they gave another show a bigger budget despite it having lower ratings.”
In a recent interview with the comments section, Sacred Games creator Vikramaditya Motwane revealed that he wanted to rope in Sudip as a writer for the show but Netflix categorically refused as he works for Prime Video. Vikram said that the talent pool to choose from is small anyway so they won’t proceed this way.
Sudip is currently gearing up for the release of the second season of Paatal Lok, which will be releasing more than four years after the first season. He didn’t speak about the reason for the delay but admitted that the process has been “tough” and has “aged” him. However, he hinted that it is the best thing that has ever happened to him. After Paatal Lok 2, he will begin work on the second season of Kohrra.
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