aha OTT: Leading Tollywood's streaming charge
Passionate Telugu Movie Buffs Embrace Streaming Originals with Enthusiasm
Hey Streamers 👋,
A warm welcome to the 31st edition of the “Streaming in India” newsletter, your weekly news digest about streaming players, OTT trends and more in one of the fastest growing video markets! Appreciate your support and in case there are topics that we might have missed out so far, we are open for suggestions and feedback. If you are not already a subscriber, please sign up and join 2,650+ others who receive it directly in their inbox every Wednesday.
Netflix’s share of demand in the critical growth market of India dropped from 41% in January 2023 to 30% by October. This news comes in with the backdrop of Amazon recently announcing its 2024 slate of shows and movies in India, totaling 69 new or returning shows and movies. This is not the first time we have seen the platform making focused content investments in this critical growth market. Prime Video has already had good success in India but the competition has been heating up (Read our Jio piece here for more details) here. This year’s lineup heavily featured thrillers, one of the most popular genres, and included the Indian version of “Citadel” (“Citadel: Honey Bunny”) and the third season of the hugely popular “Mirzapur.”
Today’s program:
Tollywood! (No, it’s not a toy)
aha OTT
My Views
And….Action!
Tollywood
Telugu cinema, popularly known as Tollywood, thrives as a significant segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to producing films in the Telugu language. Situated in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, it stands as India's largest film industry in terms of box-office revenue, selling a staggering 23.3 crore (233 million) tickets in 2022 alone. Renowned for its technical prowess, especially in visual effects and cinematography, Telugu cinema boasts some of India's most advanced craftsmanship.
Among its notable achievements is the production of high-budget blockbusters, with "Baahubali 2" (2017) emerging as the highest-grossing film in Indian cinematic history. The industry's monumental presence includes Ramoji Film City, recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's largest film studio complex, sprawling across 1,666 acres.
The roots of Telugu cinema trace back to filmmaker Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, a pioneer who produced short films and established the first Indian-owned cinema halls in South India since 1909. Notably, Naidu's "Bhishma Pratigna" (1921) is considered the inaugural Telugu feature film, earning him the title of the 'Father of Telugu cinema.' The industry marked significant milestones with films like "Bhakta Prahlada" (1932), the first Telugu film with audible dialogue, and "Sati Savitri" (1933), which received international recognition at the Venice Film Festival.
Initially renowned for mythological narratives, Telugu cinema gradually diversified its themes, embracing contemporary social issues as depicted in films like "Raithu Bidda" (1939).
Over the years, it has evolved into a powerhouse of creativity, setting benchmarks in Indian filmmaking while retaining its cultural essence and historical significance.
aha OTT
Overview:
aha is a leading over-the-top (OTT) platform offering a 100% local experience for Tamil and Telugu audiences.
It provides a wide range of content, including movies, web series, and more.
Content Offerings:
Features the latest Tamil and Telugu movies and viral web series.
Showcases content from popular stars such as Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Vijay, Ajith, and more.
Offers "aha Originals," exclusive content produced for the platform.
Founding and Leadership:
Founded by Allu Aravind, known for his contributions to the Telugu film industry.
Allu Aravind's vision was to create a streaming platform exclusively for Telugu content.
Ajit Thakur leads the platform as its head.
Milestones and Achievements:
Soft launched on 8 February 2020 with an event called aha Preview.
Actor Allu Arjun endorsed aha as its brand ambassador in November 2020.
Reached one million subscribers within a year of launch and surpassed 1.5 million paid subscribers and 40 million users by July 2021.
Launched aha kids in August 2021, focusing on children's programming.
Introduced aha 2.0 in November 2021 on a cloud-native platform, Quickplay.
Expansion and Features:
Launched the Tamil language version of aha in February 2022.
Offers a "Free" section featuring free movies, shows, and the first episodes of series.
Provides 4 24x7 live channels for continuous entertainment.
Includes "how to" videos for user-friendly navigation and platform usage.
My Views
Ajit Thakur at IBC last year said that as part of his research on the Telugu entertainment landscape drove across several towns, villages and cities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - what he found was that most people were watching 6-8 hours of online video per day, as compared to 3-4 hours per day which is the national average.
Also, most of the folks he met were watching Korean / Hollywood dubbed, Tamil, Hindi and Netflix pirated, NOT Telugu - most of the Telugu content being released in theaters was expensive for common folks. This was the genesis for the birth of aha OTT!
aha has emerged as the go-to destination for Tamil and Telugu entertainment enthusiasts. With milestones like reaching one million subscribers within a year of its launch and expanding its offerings with aha kids and a Tamil version, aha continues to redefine digital entertainment, making it accessible to millions across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and beyond.
Amidst the evolving landscape of Indian OTT, regional platforms like aha serve as beacons of diversity and local flavor. As industry giants like Reliance Jio and Disney+ Hotstar form alliances and mergers, speculation looms over the fate of smaller players like aha. Rumors swirl regarding aha's potential sale to Reliance Jio, sparking concerns over potential monopolization.
Such consolidation could raise eyebrows at the Competition Commission of India, highlighting the need for regulatory scrutiny to preserve competition. It will honestly suck to see only one company dictate terms for OTT subscribers in India!
That’s all for today folks. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues.
The OTT content of the week is the highly-anticipated ‘The Great Indian Kapil Show’ which has finally been released on Netflix. The show features Kapil Sharma as the host and Archana Puran Singh as the judge. The first episode of the show is out and features the three important members of the Kapoor family – Neetu, Ranbir, and his sister Riddhima as guests. Another big surprise revealed on the show is the return of Sunil Grover as Dafli. Full on humor and laugh out loud gags with a new episode dropping every Saturday!
Streaming in India is a weekly newsletter exploring the trends that matter to streaming professionals in India. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join several others who receive it directly in their inbox every Wednesday.
Interested in advertising with The Streaming Lab and reach a qualified audience in MENA & India? Email me
Download our market reports STREAMING in MENA and STREAMING in INDIA.
I also work with streaming services, content creators, rights holders, platform providers or media consultants and help them upgrade their tech & turbo charge their revenues. Contact me here.