Akshay Kumar’s Ram Setu becomes first Bollywood film to be produced by Amazon Prime Video

Amazon.com’s Prime Video will co-produce a Bollywood film, it said on Friday, marking the streaming giant’s foray into film production in India. The south Asian nation is one of Amazon’s fastest growing Prime Video markets, where founder Jeff Bezos has said it is doing better than anywhere else in the world.

Amazon Prime Video and two studios will produce Ram Setu, a film starring actor Akshay Kumar, it said in a statement, without mentioning a release date.

“We are delighted to further take a step into co-producing by collaborating with a film that highlights our Indian heritage,” said Vijay Subramanium, the head of content at Amazon Prime Video India. The film’s title is the Hindi name for Adam’s Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals linking the southern state of Tamil Nadu to the neighbouring island nation of Sri Lanka.

Indian mythology holds that the bridge was built by an army led by the Hindu god-king Rama. In India, Amazon’s Prime loyalty program, which offers free delivery, early access to deals during sales and free music and video streaming, costs 999 rupees ($13.77) a year.