After postponing its official arrival in India by four days, Disney+ is finally launched in India on Friday. The company rolled out the service in India through Hotstar, which is already a very popular streaming service in the country. Here, Disney+ will be officially known as Disney+ Hotstar. The app is now available on Android, iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick and Android TV.
New subscribers can pay Rs 399 for the Disney+ Hotstar VIP yearly subscription that will have select content. If you want to purchase the flagship Disney+ Hotstar subscription, you will have to shell out Rs 1,499 per year. Existing subscribers, who were paying Rs 365 and Rs 999 annually for the plans, will have to pay more on the renewal time.
For example, you can watch Disney+ movies (dubbed), kids content (dubbed), new Indian movies, Hotstar Specials, and unlimited live sports in 720p in the Rs 399 plan. But if you want to watch Disney+ original content such as the Star Wars spinoff ‘The Mandalorian’, and all Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Disney movies (all in 1080p resolution), you will have to subscribe to the Rs 1,499 plan.
The wait is (finally) over! Your favourite stories are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/3KctGF5mLR
— Disney+HotstarPremium (@DisneyplusHSP) April 3, 2020
‘With the success of Hotstar, we ushered in a new era for premium video streaming in India. Today, as we unveil Disney+ Hotstar, we take yet another momentous step in staying committed to our promise of delivering high-quality impactful stories for India that have not only entertained but also made a difference in people's lives, a promise that is even more meaningful in challenging times such as this,’ Uday Shankar, Disney APAC president and Star & Disney India chairman, said in a statement.
India currently has a host of international and local streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, Voot, Eros Now, Zee5, SonyLiv, TVF, among others. With the addition of Disney+, the video streaming space will see an increased competition, especially at a time when the people are staying at home due to countrywide lockdown in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.
