MUMBAI: As India’s digital landscape is poised to undergo a renaissance, Eros International’s over-the-top (OTT) platform Eros Now is gearing up to produce multiple in-house flagship original programmes. Additionally, the platform will also showcase premieres of recently released Bollywood films.
The Eros Now mobile app for Android and iOS platforms, which will be free for download as of now, has also tied up with Anil Kapoor Film Company to co-produce the Indian adaptation of a popular international sitcom, the name of which will be revealed at a later date.
Eros’ OTT platform will roll out its original content strategy with three ad-free shows namely Khel, The Client and Ponniyin Selvan. These shows will have film-like production values targeted at young Indians, which is the largest demographic of the Indian population.
Khel is a wicked dark drama featuring an insider’s perspective on the twisted characters that populate the world of cricket and the Indian Premier League. It is directed by Karan Anshuman. On the other hand, Rohan Sippy will helm The Client, which is a thriller based show starring Bipasha Basu as the main character. Ponniyin Selvan is an epic period drama based on a popular Tamil historical novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, which is an in-house production by Eros South.
Moreover, in a bid to create hype for internet users, Eros Now will also be premiering the latest Bollywood movie Tanu Weds Manu Returns on 19 July even prior to its television release. The other Bollywood movies that are scheduled to stream on the platform are Badlapur, NH10, Shamitabhand Happy Ending amongst others.
Eros Now COO Karan Bedi said, “Eros Now is a premier online application for Android and IOS users, which will feature different genre of movies, TV serials, music albums and releases, that too free of cost. Eros Now’s library has over 1.5 lakh movies, which will be showcased only for the online app users. The app will also feature TV shows of different channels like Colors, Sab, Sony and Pakistani TV channel Hum TV.
While the Eros Now app will be free for now, the company will be building an in-app payment mechanism, wherein users will have to pay for some content that they want to watch exclusively in the near future. These may be movies sans ads or movies in HD quality. The price point will range from Rs 50 - 150, which might include daily, weekly or monthly chargers.
Eros International Plc Group CEO and managing director Jyoti Deshpande said, “Eros Now app has over 19 million users across the country in its pre-launch phase and Eros has done their market survey in which there are 500 million internet users out of which 382 million people are active smart phone users, so as consumption patterns has change globally, Internet entertainment networks have begun to rapidly replace traditional, linear television. It’s our turn now. And I believe that Eros will have the first mover advantage in this space with the strength of its vast content library and dominant market share to further consolidate its leadership position as it reinvents itself from a film studio to a more consumer facing content and digital company in the next phase of growth.”
It may be recalled that recently Asian OTT player HOOQ entered the Indian market and also has plans to introduce original content. On the other hand, Indian broadcasters like Star India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Entertainment Television are also upping their digital strategy by putting their might behind their OTT platforms namely Hotstar, Ditto TV and Sony Liv respectively. With more and more players entering the digital fray, premium content and competitive price points will play a major role in acquiring subscribers as well as raking in the moolah.
