BigFlicks.com, a part of the Reliance ADA group, announced the launch of its on-demand movie download service. The site claims to offer the biggest range of Indian movies in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Kannada, to be available for the option of either download to own at attractive prices or free streaming. The company will offer download to rent and subscription services in its portfolio of operations.
The company will be introducing its movie rental services through its online home delivery service as well as a network of retail shops. The roll-out of these services across the top 10 cities will begin in September.
Rajesh Sawhney, president, Reliance Entertainment, said, “BigFlicks is a big step in the evolution of the Indian movie industry. We have seen that in mature economies, the demand for home entertainment is increasing with the rising income levels of consumers. A typical Hollywood movie generates more revenues through home entertainment than through theatrical distribution, while in India, home entertainment contributes in low single digits to a movie’s revenues. And that is because we lack an effective home entertainment platform.
With this venture, our vision is to build a scalable business model that brings entertainment to all kinds of consumers and homes through a multi-channel distribution platform across broadband, Internet and home delivery, and retail infrastructure. Secondly, we believe that BigFlicks.com will become the window of Indian entertainment content to the world. With over a billion people on the net, and increasingly on broadband, the portal offers an opportunity for the Indian movie industry to reach out to audience across the world.”
Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, Bigflicks.com, said, “Our current portfolio includes two thousand movies that are available for download. A customer can either download the movie or watch it via streaming. At a later stage we also plan to offer TV shows, astrology and cookery. While there will be charges for downloading a movie, a customer can watch a movie free of cost using the streaming option as that will be advertising-driven. Our target audience initially is the strong 25 million non-resident Indian (NRI) segment. This is a large but very fragmented audience, which is difficult to reach through the traditional theatrical distribution route – and, as a result, piracy fills the gap between demand and supply. We are confident of marginalising piracy by offering a legal alternative at compelling price points.”
BigFlicks.com seeks to connect to subscribers in North America, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and Australia.
The company aims to have 100 shops by the end of this year and by the end of three years, they are aiming to be present across India through a network of 5,000 shops. The price point to download will be in the range of $2-$15.
– Mumbai Bureau
