“Date Gone Wrong” is the first of a slate of original short-format video series being produced at Eros Now, the Indian streaming service operated by Eros International.
The company plans some 50 Eros Now Quickie series launches in 2019, as part of its recently hinted-at strategy of launching 100 new series on the platform. Original content that is not available on other platforms is regarded as a means of attracting and retaining subscribers.
“Date Gone Wrong” is an anthology of quirky stories of first dates going wrong in the strangest and most unexpected manner. A second Quickie series, “Paissa Fekk Tamasha Dekk,” is a title that celebrates pranksters. Both series will be immediately available.
Other Quickie series to be launched will range in genre from topical, culture-driven fiction and non-fiction stories, with themes including comedy, slice of life, docudrama, travel, food. Quickie series will typically have 6-8 episodes, and each episode run 8-10 minutes. The short format is the first by an Indian platform that is targeted at mobile first consumption.
Eros Now COO Ali Hussein last month told Variety that the company is planning 100 originals and that it will invest $50-70 million in its original content slate over the next 18 months.
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In the longer-form space, Eros recently launched digital shows “Side Hero” and “Smoke” and a made-for-digital feature “Meri Nimmo,” directed by Bollywood hitmaker Aanand L. Rai. This month it unveiled human trafficking drama “Flesh” starring Swara Bhasker ( “Veera Di Wedding”) as a belligerent female cop who takes matters into her own hands. Co-produced by Siddharth Anand and directed by Danish Aslam (“Break ke Baad”), “Flesh” will air in 2019.
“Eros Now Quickie reiterates our commitment towards providing real value to our audiences by creating unique and original concepts that engage and stand out. We want to continue developing compelling content, expand audience engagement and add novelty to the platform by refreshing the service continually. Quickie is yet another initiative towards our promise of a one stop destination for all entertainment,” said Ridhima Lulla, Ers Group chief content officer, in a prepared statement.
Eros Now has 13 million paid subscribers and 128 million registered users. In India, it operates three pricing tiers. The free tier provides access to music videos and trailers. The next tier, priced at $0.70 cents per month, gives access to the entire range of content in standard definition, while the premium tier that costs $1.40 a month, provides access to the collection in high definition, subtitles, and multiple device usage. Outside of India, only the premium service is available, priced at $7.99 in the U.S., while in the U.K. it costs £4.99 per month.