Netflix, Amazon join regional bandwagon with Marathi, Bengali, Tamil movies

Regional content, be it films or documentaries, comedy or music, has been firing up the Internet in India for a few years now.
With cheap data and easy access to content, small local libraries such as Hoichoi (for Bengali content) and national home grown platforms such as Alt Balaji, Voot from Viacom 18, Hotstar from Star India and, besides of course the dedicated channels for several Indian languages on YouTube, have flourished.

Now Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar are raising their stakes in the game, commissioning original shows and going all out to acquire regional films for their libraries. Could this sound the death knell for local entertainment platforms or will the entry of the big brands help deepen the language market further?

“India is one of the largest internet markets in the world and we have seen strong growth since our launch,” says Jessica Lee, vice president, Communications–Asia, Netflix. The availability of regional content on Netflix has increased significantly since its launch and a range of titles, old classics to modern hits in Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and other languages, are a part of the library. Ditto for Amazon and the rest.

Experts say that the Indian market appears to be hugely lucrative given the vast numbers of Internet users and untapped potential, but when Indian and international over-the-top platforms look to grow their presence in the country the multiplicity of languages is a challenge.

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