5 Desi Alternatives to Netflix in India Online streaming now includes Bollywood - and its cheaper than you'd expect!
By Rustam Singh
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Netflix launched in India earlier this year among much fan frenzy, especially parodying along the notes of the famous "Netflix and chill" reference to finally an option in India as well. But Netflix has fewer options for an Indian user, and even fewer Bollywood movies. If you're a moralist or simply fear the law, Torrents may not be the right option for you. If you consider video streaming, the data consumption can be as high as 1.5 GB every hour – which on the limited internet packs available in India and no mainstream company actually offering unlimited and uncapped Internet – the options are limited. Still, comparing the financial costs of watching a movie in the theater, and the luxury of pausing and watching new or even as classic releases at the convinces of your home is completely worth the booster pack.
Here are a few top picks to use on your smart phone to skim through a movie while travelling on your 3G/4G pack, or sneak under a blanket on your home WiFi:
Hotstar
The official app from Star Group is especially targeting sports coverage, but also includes movies and TV shows. It also has regional content, and runs completely free without registrations. You may have heard of Hotstar from where AIB's official first mainstream TV show, "On Air with AIB' streams.
Spuul
One of the early pioneers of streaming content online in India, Spuul has stayed away from English movies altogether and focusing only on Hindi content. It runs of a reasonable monthly subscription fees after which you can stream as much content you'd want. Its catalogue includes classic shows like Malgudi Days, and practically any mainstream Bollywood movie you'd want to watch.
Eros Now
Eros offers a large collection of unlimited free music, and a limited selection of movies and TV shows for free users. At one of the cheapest rates in this category, one of the fastest updates of their database of movies, Eros makes a great pick if you're a serious movie buff. It also offers unlimited selection of movies without ads at just 99 rupees a month. The interface is clean, and the ad free experience makes it worthwhile.
Hungama
Although you can easily rip off the videos available everywhere once they stream, Hungama offers you the option to legally not just stream but also download unlimited movies, songs and wallpapers, after their subscription monthly fees. The app has some glitches, but has potential for growth.
UTV Stars
Officially released from India's biggest house of entertainment, it offers a large collection of movies to choose from. The interface is brilliant giving the opportunity to choose titles based on their movie posters. It's worth a check.
Clearly, all current online streaming apps follow a similar format of streaming videos. Perhaps a better solution for the Indian market can be imbedding YouTube videos into these custom websites, so the owners earn revenue through YouTube and the video loading doesn't hang up as often as the custom flash players do. Are you reading this entrepreneurs? There's a huge market out there !
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