(Image source from: indianexpress.com)

One of the worst hits that have affected the world because of Covid-19 is the movie release. Majority of the Bollywood movies which were scheduled to release on 2020 are now going to be released on Disney+Hotstar for free online streaming.

Reports suggest that the platform is all set to release the top 7 big ticket Bollywood movies that were originally planned for theatrical release. This could provide them with a lead over some of their competitors including Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.

The announcement came out on Monday following some of the reports from the rivals Netflix and Prime Video, which are also planning on some releases. This is coming off as a big hit to some of the popular movie theatre chains including PVR and Inox Leisure.

“This is something that we’ve been thinking of for a long time. The pandemic provided this opportunity because a number of films that are ready or about to be ready don’t have any clarity on when they can be released,” said Uday Shankar, the head of Disney+Hotstar operations in India.

Even with India currently in the first phase of Unlock following its two months of lockdown, the malls, multiplexes and the theatres are still not operational.

Streaming platforms including Amazon Prime Video and Netflix had already signed rights with some of the Indian production house to feature some of the Bollywood movies on their platforms but the new mainstream movie releases have always been on the theatrical platforms.

Ever since Covid-19, things have taken a tumble for the worse, making the film producers and directors to resort to the digital platforms for their movie releases.

Shankar further reiterated saying that the digital releases were currently in the talks for the past year or so because of the rising population and the lesser number of movie theatres across the world. He said that the Covid-19 situation just accelerated the process and nothing else.

As per the statistic reported by Hotstar, the platform has over 300 million active users on the platform. While majority of the users avail the free service with ads, the platform has reported that they believe that these existing users later convert into paid or premium users too.

Hotstar was acquired by Disney for a whopping $71 billion in 2019. The services were later rebranded as Disney+Hotstar in April.

Hotstar further reported that the first Bollywood movie release that they are likely going to make is with the Bollywood remake of “The Fault in Our Stars” starring Sushant Singh Rajput. It is going to be released on July 24.

By Somapika Dutta