Niche platforms amplify regional flicks
With mainstream over-the-top (OTT) services prioritizing movies with a broader audience appeal, primarily in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, niche local language platforms are stepping up to help smaller regional film industries, such as Bangla, Gujarati, and Marathi, find a place in the digital streaming landscape.
According to trade experts, Bollywood and the two dominant film industries down south lead viewership charts for most streaming services, leaving smaller regional films vying for pan-India attention.
This trend has prompted smaller OTT platforms to seize the opportunity to carve out a niche by acquiring some of these films, albeit at low rates.
“The top three or four platforms are not interested in looking at regional content, except in southern languages. In such a scenario, the ability to cater to specific dialects (by showcasing content made in less mainstream languages) works as a differentiating factor for some platforms,” said Akshay Bardapurkar, founder of Planet Marathi.
While major players stay away from directly competing with language-specific OTT platforms, these niche platforms benefit from catering to an underserved diasporic population seeking content in their native language, he said.
A regional film producer, seeking anonymity, said major platforms are clearly prioritizing big-budget films, primarily in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
For instance, Netflix has premiered titles such as Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan and Dunki, Vijay's Leo, Mahesh Babu's Guntur Kaaram, and the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal. Additionally, the platform has acquired Pushpa 2, a sequel to Allu Arjun's Telugu blockbuster, alongside Vijay's Greatest Of All Time and Jr NTR's Devara.
Amazon Prime Video has also disclosed plans to premiere Shahid Kapoor's Ashwatthama - The Saga Continues, Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 4, and Ranveer Singh's Don 3 post theatrical release. Other titles include Ramcharan's Game Changer, Pawan Kalyan's Hari Hara Veera Mallu, and Suriya's Kanguva and Housefull 5. While occasional picks from Punjabi or Marathi cinema find a spot on platforms including ZEE5 and JioCinema, which have their own film production arms, opportunities for smaller regional language films is limited to niche players.
“The bigger focus is always on content that appeals to a larger audience base. Languages such as Hindi, English, and regional languages with a larger speaking population, often get more attention because of their potential to draw in more viewers," Soumya Mukherjee, chief operating officer of Bengali streaming service hoichoi, said.
"OTT platforms may base their decision-making process on viewer preference and consumption trend. For instance, if data indicates that subscribers prefer content in a particular language, the platform may cater to that preference.”