Disney first acquired 21st century fox on 20th march, 2019.They introduced a combined value pack with their own adaptations of Disney originals for example – the Mandalorian, marvel original shows, etc under the name Disney+ streaming. They then acquired Hotstar and Star India the same year and gave us the service Disney + hotstar which features English content, original Disney films, TV shows and original hotstar specials.
Due to the current COVID 19 situation there has been an increase in content consumption. Almost 3 months into the lockdown, streaming services competition to provide more has increased. Keeping this in mind, Disney + Hotstar has rented Ramoji film city for 3 years. Located in Hyderabad and known to be the world’s largest film city includes live film tours of Tollywood and Bollywood films, Fundustan, Magic Park and much more.
This means it gives Hotstar the advantage over other OTT platforms to create more content with the vast shooting space. On one hand, due to covid 19 there were many releases on various streaming services like ‘gulabo sitabo’ on Amazon, ‘Laxxmi Bomb’, ‘Shakuntala Devi’ and more. Whereas on the other hand, what big budget action or drama films can do in theatres will not work at home. This is a temporary situation which has both advantages and disadvantages. As of now engineers of film are producing content that is viable for OTT more than theatres.
There is no doubt that the stories provided by OTT reach pan India more than in theatres but there is also a push in viewers watching more regional cinema which might lead them to theatres after all. The parameters of film and TV business on the whole in India are very different from the world so even though Hotstar has the advantage of huge shooting space, the conversation exists between other streaming services. At the core of the entertainment world Filmmakers are clear in the direction their stories wear a better fit, at home or in the theatres. It will be interesting to see this move in motion by Hotstar itself.
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