The highly anticipated Telugu Andhadhun remake, ‘Maestro’, was released worldwide on Disney+ Hotstar (or just Hotstar to most of the non-Indian subscribers), barely an hour ago. However, since Hotstar had stopped its streaming service in the US earlier this month; its Indian content has been shifted to Hulu (which is also owned by Disney) for streaming. To make matters easier for new subscribers, Disney created the Disney Bundle which allows subscribers to access Disney+, ESPN Plus and Hulu all for a single price. However, it looks like Maestro never made it across the Atlantic and onto any of the Disney streaming platforms.
The Disney Bundle was a package created by Disney to be a force in the OTT market on multiple fronts. Disney+ produces quality content that rival the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, ESPN Plus allows international sports to be streamed at an affordable cost and Hulu is supposed to take on smaller US streaming platforms as well as International Indian subcontinent content streaming platforms as well such as ZEE5, Aha Video, etc. And while the media conglomerate has only started to make changes to its streaming platforms, this start is not how they will endear themselves to their Indian/Indian American audiences.
Maestro has been released on Disney+ Hotstar in India without any problems so far. Getting to watch quality content as soon as it is released is a trademark feature among big OTT platforms such as Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. This may only seem like a minor setback, but the Telugu community will not forget this lapse and it will definitely have an impact in the Disney Bundle’s future endeavours.
UPDATE: Maestro is now available to stream on HULU for U.S. subscribers.