If you are a movie or TV buff you have Netflix in your life, and if it’s not available in your country you probably want it. India doesn’t want to lag behind in the video streaming zone and has a number of sites that cater to TV and Movie needs with the same on-demand streaming idea.
Let’s break down some of the websites that are available, their pros and cons, and acquaint ourselves with the quality of these websites in India. So without wasting time, here we go;
Hot Star
The name just stands out, doesn’t it? The website markets itself as the destination for TV, Movie, and Sports lovers. It has an organized and attractive layout. They have everything segmented visually. Hotstar also has original videos on the website. The tabs on top help navigate broadly through the website. This is a website for International show watchers, however, Hooq may dominate the international market when it comes out.
In the “more” tab you can browse through on a language basis. If you want to watch any particular video later, you can save it on your “playlist”, this is a new feature added by the website.
When you place your mouse on the video icon, it displays a small bubble with information about the show and has some social network sharing options (Facebook and Twitter) options, you can also click on the heart icon to like the video or give it a thumbs down. Hotstar is available for Android and iOS users.
BoxTV
The first impression I got when I opened this website was “Is this meant for adult entertainment?” The website is vulgar and requires parental control. The first category on the website is “lust and desire” and their international show selection is next to nothing, but includes “calendar girls” and “wild parties”, so you can get the drift.
In the other categories too you will find racy videos, there is a definite target audience this website is trying to cater to. They have only two tabs, movies, and TV. And both have the “free” option to select if you want to catch a free show or movie. I couldn’t stay too long on the website to explore it further because it lacked taste and class. You can start watching at min INR 49.
DittoTV
Here’s what caught my eye, there is the “live now” category that strikes the first thing you open the page! This is a great marketing move I must say! It’s akin to the sale tags on the website “Sale closes at 00:22:16”.
It’s not appalling though is anything it will get you to the show you want to watch real fast, and build excitement. Four main tabs on top, including live TV, which I am starting to believe is their niche.
They also have notification options for the users, these people take TV viewing seriously! Another amazing feature on DittoTV is the option of browsing through channels, and they have quite a large selection but almost none that air international shows.
This is not a website if you are not a Desi TV and movie fan. The turn-off for me on the website was the ads at the bottom, very randomly placed, and took away from the overall feel of the website, which is otherwise designed well. Available for Windows, Android, and iOS, so that’s a plus point right there.
Spuul
This is made for lovers of Indian cinema and shows. There’s not one international show or movie on their website. Spuul has a large database for its customers, the website doesn’t have any tabs, but videos are organized by categories of channels and genre, you can find shows in Tamil and Telugu as well. The logo emanates the Indianness of the website with the red bindi.
Eros now
The Indian motion picture production and Distribution Company set off to satisfy customers in another sphere. Focus on Indian entertainment again, but what set apart the video options of Eros are the music videos! You can watch movies, TV shows, and music videos also. This website is about getting the user hooked practically; they display their subscription details on the front page, with their two payment packages; Basic and Premium.
Music lovers will find this place more fun. They claim to provide high-quality content including regional shows. Eros already having a presence in the film market of India, has a lead in terms of goodwill and reliability. Customers would feel eager to try their website. They definitely have an edge, with their experience in the business.
BigFlix
The Reliance Entertainment-owned website is the first Indian on-demand movie streaming website. It is the stop for movies in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Telugu. You will want to explore this website if you have multilingual movie interests. The website is well designed, with all genre movies on display on the front page itself.
There’s nothing complicated about this particular website. When you place your mouse on any movie icon it will also display ratings, now this is interesting, you can download it right away or keep it aside or “add to queue”.
This is a good feature for movie lovers, many people venture into watching a new movie based on rating alone, and the genre takes a back seat when it comes to ratings from other viewers.
BigFlix has an upper hand in this, and also for the fact that it’s focused on movies only, this may seem like a downside for TV lovers, but the website can focus on building up a better movie database, and maintain the interests of customers who are movie fanatics but don’t necessarily enjoy TV shows.
The wide language option is also a plus, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam-speaking people, are able to understand the other language due to similarity, they will have options to explore, and this is a positive for the website in an entrepreneurial sense. All movies are priced at INR 49 only. You need to have the Microsoft Silverlight Plugin installed in your system to stream.
YouTube Movies India
Google launched its YouTube streaming service in 2013, and the reason why we don’t know much about it is; that the movies aren’t that new, there’s a variety of languages, but no TV shows. It’s a rather so-so project.
Just like the abundant population of India, the on-demand streaming industry is expanding, Ogle is set to officially launch end of this year, and they have opened registrations on their website. HOOQ is another exciting venture.
The Suleimani Keeda leaves much to be desired from The Viral Fever Media Labs with their online venture TVF in the box office, they may have a larger plan like making and promoting their original productions. Hungama Play is a new app launched by the digital company Hungama.com. Their focus will be movies from Hollywood and Bollywood.
No one has yet tapped the Pakistani TV show market, which is becoming quite an appeal amongst Indian viewers.
There’s competition in the market regardless of who owns the website at this point, however, there is a definite emptiness in the provision of international shows and movies. The youth is driven toward them and the next natural step should be to set a stronghold before Netflix takes it by storm. Maybe that’s the fear?!
Image Source: Streaming media on tablet PC
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