DISNEY+ HOTSTAR FORAYS INTO MOVIE PREMIERES

To capture pent-up demand for new Bollywood releases, over-the-top ( OT T) multiscreen platform Disney+ Hotstar on Monday forayed into movie premieres — a domain monopolised by theatre screens for over a century.

The OT T platform has lined up a clutch of Bollywood releases awaiting theatrical premiere for some time now.

From the Akshay Kumarstarrer Laxmmi Bomb to Ajay Devgn’s Bhuj: The Pride of India, Hotstar has announced at least seven new films that will be released on its platform this year.

Starting July 24, Hotstar will release these films, begining with Sushant Singh Rajput and Saif Ali Khan-starrer Dil Bechara. According to Uday Shankar, president of Walt Disney Company (APAC) and Star & Disney India, it’s a win-win for both — the platform and film producers and cast grappling with the prolonged shutdown of theatre halls due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Theatres are a special experience. They will always exist and thrive. The potential of the industry cannot be capped by the number of release windows and theatres available. The initiative will dramatically increase the number of films that can be made, giving film-lovers more films to enjoy and the creative community more films to make. We firmly believe this will generate massive momentum for more and different kinds of films to be made in India,” said Shankar.

Hotstar, the largest OT T player in the country after Jio (35.5 per cent market share) with over 30 per cent share of the market, continues to attract more audiences, compared to global leaders like Netflix (9.2 per cent) and Amazon Prime (14.8 per cent) in India.

This move comes at a time when the ~20,000 - crore -a-year Indian film industry is impaired with lockdown of multiplexes and single -screen theatres — leaving it with no other avenue but to try and monetise the OTT platform.

Estimates suggest there are over 250-million OT T users in India. This number is expected to surpass 450 million by 2022.