Amidst lockdown, Disney Plus makes it way to India; users can start streaming from Friday

Hotstar paid subscribers will get access to Disney+ content - new VIP subscription at Rs 399 and Premium at Rs 1,499.

By Gaurav Laghate, ET Bureau | Updated: Apr 02, 2020, 12.42 PM IST

Unlike other international markets, where Disney Plus has been launched as an independent service, in India, Hotstar service will be upgraded to Disney+ Hotstar.

MUMBAI: Disney Plus, the much awaited video streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, will launch in India on April 3rd, via Hotstar.

Earlier, the service was supposed to launch on March 29th, along with the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the suspension of the league made Star & Disney India to suspend Disney Plus launch as well.

“We were planning to launch along with IPL, but decided to hit a pause and have a relook at the strategy amid concerns on safety and fear on Coronavirus,” Uday Shankar, president, The Walt Disney Company APAC and chairman, Star & Disney India, told ET.

“There is a certain sobriety in the environment and we also want to be responsible and sensitive to that. But given that there is no fresh content being launched in Indian market, we feel there will be hunger for quality content, and that’s exactly why we decided to launch it now,” he added.

Unlike other international markets, where Disney Plus has been launched as an independent service, in India, Hotstar service will be upgraded to Disney+ Hotstar. The Disney Plus content will be available only to the paid subscribers, as reported earlier by ET.

Talking about the size of the market, Shankar said that overtime, Disney+ Hotstar will change the entire SVOD (subscriber video-on-demand) landscape.

“Digital is becoming mainstream and we believe that ours is a mass market proposition and as mainstream as possible. We all are very committed and believe in the power of local language. Our strategy is to go for the entire pyramid and not just top of the pyramid to unlock power of a country like India. We see a massive proposition,” Shankar said.

While the existing Hotstar VIP and Hotstar Premium subscribers will not have to pay any addition cost till end of their subscription plans, the new subscribers will have to spend extra – Rs 399 per annum for Disney+ Hotstar VIP and Rs 1,499 per annum for Disney+ Hotstar Premium. Earlier, the two plans were available for Rs 365 and Rs 999, respectively.

Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscribers will get access to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and the superheroes movies like ‘The Avengers’, ‘Iron Man’ etc along with recent Bollywood releases including ‘Panga’, ‘Tanhaji’ and more. The service will also allow subscribers to watch Hotstar Originals, including Neeraj Pandey’s ‘Special Ops’, ‘Out of Love’, ‘Criminal Justice’, and live sports.

Disney+ Hotstar Premium subscribers will have additional access to English language content and 29 Disney+ Originals, including ‘The Mandalorian’, ‘High School Musical’, and ‘Lady and the Tramp’, as well as the latest American shows from studios like HBO, Fox and Showtime.

Disney+ Hotstar will have a separate Disney+ branded section, which will help users navigate the Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic content available on the service. Additionally, parents can navigate through the kids-safe mode to access age-appropriate content.

“We believe that discovery of content on platforms like Hotstar and Disney has to be guided. So we will launch the service with lot of content, and offer more gradually to guide consumers towards discovering it,” Shankar said.

SRK, Saifeena, Lata Play Good Samaritans, Donate For Covid-19 Relief

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The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world down to its knees. Not only developing countries like India, even the developed nations like the US are struggling to keep up with the speed at which the deadly disease is spreading. Moreover, there’s a clear shortage of basic medical equipment like masks, sanitisers and hazmat suits that the doctors fighting the pandemic on the front lines require.

Given the trying times we are in, several renowned personalities from the Indian film industry have come forward to help those in need. The donations, both monetary and otherwise, seek to bring the much-needed relief to those struggling to copy with the crisis.

Here’s a comprehensive list of actors and famous personalities from India and the US, who are playing good samaritans and helping their countrymen fight the pandemic.