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Right content, right medium

Last Updated 24 March 2018, 07:14 IST

Bollywood and Indian television are both staring at some serious competition. Not from Hollywood, but from streaming apps that are providing Indians with digital entertainment that is exciting, exclusive and affordable. A movie outing would cost a family anything over Rs 1,000 - throw a popcorn or two and it can easily go up by another 1,000 bucks. Netflix monthly subscription starts at Rs 500, while Amazon Prime and Hotstar are much cheaper. Then, there are also other free options like Voot and Alt Balaji, which are snapping at Hotstar's heels. Little wonder then that more and more Indians are logging on these apps on their smartphones; with data becoming faster and cheaper, streaming apps are fast turning out to be the go-to destination for private and blockbuster entertainment.

Perhaps, recognising this potential and rightly understanding that it is Hindi and regional entertainment that really gets in the eyeballs, both Amazon Prime and Netflix are in a breathless race to provide original Indian content. For now, Amazon seemed to have pipped Netflix though the latter came to India with more fanfare. It's latest offering Breathe, about a father's desperate struggle to find blood donors for his ill child while ducking from an antagonist cop, starring R Madhavan and Amit Sadh, is doing quite well on the app. Prime also has an impressive array of Indian stand-up comedy shows - a genre that is greatly popular with youngsters.

What's more, Prime has signed up with big production companies like Dharma Productions and Vishesh films for exclusive online rights. It also has reportedly signed a deal to air all Salman Khan movies.

Netflix, which initially came to India heavy with Hollywood and western content, soon realised its folly and is now playing catch-up. It has a deal with Shahrukh Khan and is all set to air its original India series Sacred Games, Anurag Kashyap's magnum opus starring Saif Ali Khan. For Valentine's Day, it released Love Per Square Foot, a heart-warming tale of two youngsters finding love while looking for a place to live. For lovers of thoda hatke Bollywood, Netflix has quite a collection - from Nawazuddin-starrer Haramkhor to the easy-breezy Tu Hai Mera Sunday.

Not one to be left behind so easily, Ekta Kapoor is upping her game and how! Very unlike the TV soaps she produces, on Alt Balaji, there is Haq Se, an adaptation of Little Women set in violence-ridden Kashmir, and there is Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain, a tale of midlife crisis that premiered on March 16.

So while television soaps continue to drown themselves in the sinkhole of inanity and mindlessness, a whole new world of stirring stories is opening up online. Maybe the competition will make television producers take a hard look at the quality of content they offer - but don't bet on that!

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(Published 24 March 2018, 07:14 IST)

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