Audible Brings the Best in Digital Spoken-Word Entertainment to India

Once the lights turned off, members of the audience inside the century-old Royal Opera House were transported to Mumbai’s underworld in a multi-cast audio crime thriller that conveyed how artfully performed words can be theater for the ears.

“Beneath the blood-soaked fingerprints of cinematic fantasies of crime is an untold truth that, until now, has been meticulously wiped clean,” one performer’s voice rang out.

The five-minute excerpt from the Audible-exclusive Mafia Queens of Mumbai was part of the launch event for Audible.in, a dedicated service that puts Indian talent and spoken word front and center. A panel discussion featuring the three Bollywood actors who voiced the story—and who were joined on stage by Audible Founder and CEO Don Katz—headlined the event.

“Audible really exists to connect the best writers and actors, the best editors, the best directors and the best producers to the best listeners in the world,” Katz said to the audience of journalists, customers and creators. “We work daily to support the professional creative class and we’re doing that in India and anywhere else we launch.”

The long-awaited Indian service marks our ninth digital storefront and brings to India’s voracious readers a selection of 200,000 audiobooks and original programs, including 400 Audible-exclusive titles by leading Indian authors, for less than $3 a month. Members will also discover the Audible “welcome pack,” featuring an array of premium long- and short-form titles.

Bollywood star Radhika Apte, who performs Mafia Queens with Rajkummar Rao and Kalki Koechlin, said she was excited to see the spoken word be given its due—underlining “the weight of the words.”

“Here, you just have your voice, and so how you want to pitch it and what’s the tonal quality and how you want to direct the imagination of the listener” are critical, she said. “And also it’s personal because everyone’s going to listen to it individually.”

They were joined in conversation by Durjoy Dutta, India’s leading romance author, who wrote The Last Boy to Fall in Love, an Audible Original and his first audio romance.

“When I was writing it, of course it was a new medium, it was a new format, so it was a bit challenging,” Dutta said. “But as I went in a few chapters, it sort of felt like I was having a conversation with the listener, it felt like I was confiding in my listener.”

In addition to Mafia Queens of Mumbai and Dutta’s original work, titles available at launch include exclusive audio performances of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s greatest works, nutrition and wellness titles, Ruskin Bond’s autobiography and mythological stories by Amish.

As customers, journalists and our India staff enjoyed finger food and drinks outside the historic Royal Opera House, Audible customer Sarat Rao, 35, told Audible’s Asia-Pacific head Matt Gain that he’s been listening to A History of the World in 6 Glasses with his partner. “How does it work, you have six glasses of wine, then you listen?” Matt joked, as they traded other listening recommendations.

Rao said his discovery of Audible in 2015—years after being diagnosed with macular degeneration of the retina—has been “absolutely mind-blowingly fantastic.”

“I’m really glad you guys have come to India,” Rao said. “Hopefully, the amazing Indian writers will be well-represented in audio.”