Why Hoichoi's Vishnu Mohta feels theatrical releases of films help OTT players

Shree Venkatesh Films owned Hoichoi will now stream Bengali movies that are yet to be released in theatres

Launched in September 2017, regional video-on-demand (VOD) platform Hoichoi has released more than 50 shows and premiered several movies over the years. From the house of Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF), one of east India's biggest film and TV producers and distributors, Hoichoi has reported a five-fold growth, both in terms of consumption and subscriber acquisition.

The Bengali video streaming platform will now foray into streaming movies that are yet to be released in theatres. Another offering on Hoichoi, ‘First Day First Show’, will release new movies, just like Disney+ Hotstar does with multiplexes. As cinema halls across India are still shut, producers are now looking at OTT platforms to release their films.

SVF also runs cinema halls in the eastern part of the country. Vishnu Mohta, co-founder, Hoichoi, feels that the films releasing directly on OTT platforms won't have much impact on cinema halls’ business. In an interview with afaqs!, Mohta shares his views on the digital releases of films, Hoichoi's expansion, and much more.

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