Indian OTT biggies such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney Plus Hotstar started off operations in India with a blatant language bias. Hindi was the only language that mattered to them, and they looked down upon all other Indian languages. The movies they premiered on their platforms were all Hindi.
Cut to today, and it’s the other way around. Every OTT worth its salt is going all out to woo viewers from the Southern states of the country. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada have taken centre stage in the content strategies of Netflix, Prime Video, SonyLIV, ZEE5 and Disney Plus Hotstar. Each of these streaming platforms is on an acquiring spree of movies from the South. But what’s ridiculous is that after acquisition, they stream the said movies in only the four South languages – Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada – no Hindi!
Hindi as a lucrative option has all but been sidelined by all of these OTTs.
Netflix has been in the forefront of releasing top notch South films. It is also in the forefront of starting the no-Hindi bug. It has not been releasing any of its South films in Hindi since several months now. And now, even Prime Video, SonyLIV, ZEE5 and Disney Plus Hotstar have caught the no-Hindi trend.
Bimbisara, Sita Ramam, Oke Oka Jeevitham, Viruman, Thiruchitrambalam, Ramarao On Duty, Cobra, Warrior, Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu, Jana Gana Mana, Hey Sinamika, Don, Virata Parvam, Ante Sundaraniki – none of the above movies has been released in a Hindi dubbed version. Most of the movies in the above list are available to stream in dubbed versions of multiple South languages – Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada. And none is available in the Hindi dubbed version.
The list of movies not available in Hindi dubs goes on and on and on. It seems OTT biggies are simply not interested in dubbing films in Hindi anymore for what is arguably its largest base of viewers.
What could be the reason for this?
Either the entertainment industry is suffering from a dearth of Hindi translators…
Or OTTs simply don’t care.
Given India’s vast pool of talented freelancers looking for translation gigs, the first is a far-fetched scenario.
Which means OTTs simply don’t care to give their subscribers a satisfying viewing experience.
If Hindi language speakers want to watch a compelling film from the South, they must rely on reading subtitles to get by. But reading subtitles and watching the film simultaneously is not everyone’s cup of tea, especially older viewers. The vast majority of Hindi subscribers rely on Hindi-dubbed versions to watch content from the South. By not delivering on the needful, OTTs are committing a grave blunder.
Not to say, the language bias of OTTs is sad, sordid and downright shameful!
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