There’s a new video-on-demand (VoD) platform in town, and it is being curated by Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap. According to this ScreenDaily report, ‘myNK’ will launch in June with a carefully curated list of close to 200 titles, all of which will be handpicked from the Cannes, Tribeca, Sundance and Berlinale film festivals.
Proud of @myNK_India . Launched at the #Cannes2019 . More associations with international sales agents and distributors coming soon. https://t.co/xs6bsuJOuZ
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 21, 2019
India has recently seen an explosion of streaming services with the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime leading the way. While Hotstar has stepped its game up with some mind-boggling numbers from IPL and the recently-concluded HBO show, Game Of Thrones, other platforms like Zee5 and Voot haven’t been able to earn the same credibility. Ekta Kapoor’s AltBalaji has created its own following by milking the lax censorship troubles.
However, none of these platforms have taken up the cause of international art-house cinema, except for MUBI. Launched by Singapore-based Miners Inc, the platform that was unveiled at the ongoing Cannes 2019, is reported to have tie-ups with several international production houses like The Film Collaborative, First Hand Films, Imagination Worldwide, and even festival favourites like Kew Media Distribution, Off The Fence/ZDF, Wide House and Wide Management and The National Film Board of Canada.
myNK has been unveiled at #cannes2019 !#myNKatCannes #Cannes72 #cannesnext #MDF19 pic.twitter.com/JVqGHaiC3t
— myNK (@myNK_India) May 18, 2019
This could be a boost for filmmakers in India, with more than few foreign productions entering the Indian market, and catering to Indian sensibilities. Kashyap himself, is co-directing a series for Netflix – Sacred Games S02.
The VoD platform, myNK, will be a direct competitor to MUBI, which till now was the only platform in India for the exhibition of international art-house cinema. With Anurag Kashyap’s name being attached to the former, should definitely boost interest among cinema lovers in India. For the longest time, cinema lovers in India were dependent on the dark corners of the Internet to watch lesser-hyped foreign films and shows (outside of Hollywood), but now with the launch of myNK (along with MUBI) should take care of the crème de la crème of art-house cinema from around the world.
