The new normal is witnessing a barrage of emerging players in the OTT world

Mona

From the world premieres of big-budget films to offering content in regional languages, if year 2020 has done some good it has been the rapid rise of OTT platforms and plethora of content across genres. Not just the mainstream players — Amazon Prime Video, Disney Hotstar, Netflix India, Sony Liv and Zee5 — but MX Player, Eros Now, Voot, ALTBalaji, Jio Cinema and Hungama Play are doing well too. That’s not all; the new players in the market are offering niche content as well.

Addatimes (Bengali), Aha (Telugu), CityShor.TV (Gujarati), Hoichoi (Bengali), Koode (Malayalam), Neestream (Malayalam), Oho Gujarati, Olly Plus (Odia), Planet Marathi OTT (Marathi), Regal Talkies (Tamil) and Sun NXT (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali) are some of the emerging players in the OTT space. Right from old Bengali classics to rather cutting-edge Malayalam cinema, they are making their presence felt in 2021. In fact, a few of them — Aha, Koode, Planet Marathi OTT, Olly Plus, CityShor.TV – came on to scene in 2020 itself. OHO Gujarati was launched in May 2021 while GudSho was founded by Sriram Manoharan in April 2021, which offers about 100 plus movies across the four South-Indian languages -Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada.

Punjabi turf

Trust Punjabis not to lag in this race! Mukesh Gautam, vice-president, PTC Network and PTC Play, says, “So far there has been uncertainly with regard to films, so web content is being made in Punjabi. We are also in the process of launching our own platform along with revamping the app. Just like Punjabi films have ensured their space, Punjabi web series and full length films shall also find their viewers and grow on OTT, marking their presence world over.”

Pitaara TV is set to launch an OTT platform catering to Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri audiences by August this year. Sandeep Bansal, managing director, Pitaara TV, says, “OTT is the need of the hour and the future of the industry. For long, I have been thinking of it, but the pandemic triggered it. It is the best time to launch a dynamic platform that would deliver quality entertainment to people at a reasonable cost.”

Pocket Films, which has been in existence for over a decade as a distributor of short films with over 5,000 videos, 3.27 million subscribers on Pocket Films’ YouTube channel, recently launched their own OTT division. Saameer Mody, founder and managing director at Pocket Films, says, “Given the diversity of languages and culture, OTT is set to enjoy a boom in regional languages in the times to come.” Redprime App Pvt. Ltd, launched in January, 2021, aims at giving a slice of different cultures and languages in its web series. “We are starting up talk shows and reality shows for our subscribers after introducing them to 26 web shows in multiple languages,” says the CEO of the channel Sandip Rathod.

Honeymoon phase

Vishal Kumar Patil, co-founder, Gemplex Media Pvt. Ltd, opines, “OTT is in the honeymoon phase right now, there is enough in this pie for everyone to share. Our subscription base has touched a million and we pride ourselves in being original content-providers.”

Now there is also an exclusive OTT platform for plays and performing arts, Nine Rãsã, which is backed by actor Shreyas Talpade. This sure is an attempt to ensure performing arts are kept alive. There will be detractors but then as different mediums open up, these are teething troubles. For one thing is certain, there is no dearth of diverse content on OTT!