Streaming wars: Niche platforms champion regional flicks
Jawan and Dunki, Vijay's Leo, Mahesh Babu's Guntur Kaaram, and the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal. Additionally, the platform has acquired Pushpa 2, a sequel to Allu Arjun's Telugu blockbuster, alongside Vijay's Greatest Of All Time and Jr NTR's Devara. Amazon Prime Video has also disclosed plans to premiere Shahid Kapoor's Ashwatthama - The Saga Continues, Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 4, and Ranveer Singh's Don 3 post theatrical release.
Other titles include Ramcharan's Game Changer, Pawan Kalyan's Hari Hara Veera Mallu, and Suriya's Kanguva and Housefull 5. While occasional picks from Punjabi or Marathi cinema find a spot on major platforms including ZEE5 and JioCinema, which also have their own film production arms, opportunities for smaller regional language films is limited to niche players. “The bigger focus is always on content that appeals to a larger audience base.
Languages such as Hindi, English, and regional languages with a larger speaking population, often get more attention because of their potential to draw in more viewers," Soumya Mukherjee, chief operating officer of Bengali streaming service hoichoi, said. "OTT platforms may also base their decision-making process on viewer preference and consumption patterns. For instance, if data indicates that subscribers prefer content in a particular language, the platform may aim to cater to that preference," he added.
According to independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai, the popularity of Tamil and Telugu cinema stems from the success of dubbed Hindi versions, which appeal to audiences in North India. Similarly, Hindi films dubbed into southern languages also gain traction on OTT platforms, he added. “Punjabi or Marathi cinema, on the other hand, is not viewed as much
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