The Disney Plus streaming service was launched in the US back in November. It quickly expanded to many other countries, including India. But instead of getting a dedicated app, Indian users saw the existing Hotstar streaming platform rebranded to Disney Plus Hotstar.
At the time of its April launch in India, the newly packaged Disney Plus Hotstar also raised subscription prices and added a trove of new content to the existing service. In this article, we'll tell you everything there is to know about the platform which competes with the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in India.
What is Disney Plus Hotstar?
As we mentioned before, Disney Plus Hotstar is a collaboration between Disney and Star India's existing Hotstar streaming service. In 2018, the Walt Disney company bought out 21st Century Fox in a $71 billion acquisition. This made Star India – owners of Hotstar – a part of the Walt Disney group.
So when Disney Plus became official last year, it was only natural that it take advantage of Hotstar's existing infrastructure in India to promote the library of Disney content.
In March, the erstwhile Hotstar's black and neon logo was switched to a royal blue Disney Plus Hotstar emblem. Disney later added all its content to Hotstar in April, marking the official debut of the new streaming service in India.
The platform now includes access to Disney Plus original content and legacy Disney titles, along with hundreds of other movies and series, including shows from HBO, Fox, and Showtime. It also includes live sports coverage, including live professional cricket matches.
In India, it has all Disney movies and shows available in local Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
Where is it available?
While Disney Plus is available in a bunch of countries, Disney Plus Hotstar is an India-only service.
After its official launch in April, Disney disclosed that over 8 million people have already subscribed to the Disney Plus Hotstar Premium tier (more on that later) in India.
Overall, Hotstar has more that 300 million monthly active users, making it the biggest streaming platform in India. Disney Plus alone has over 50 million subscribers worldwide, about 16% of which are from India.
How much does it cost?
The streaming service has three subscription tiers in India.
The yearly subscription price for the Premium tier is Rs 1,499 ($20), up from its previous price of Rs 999 (~$13). However, if you were on the cheaper yearly subscription plan before prices were revised in April, you will be able to continue on the same plan till it expires.
There's also a monthly Premium subscription plan which costs Rs 299 (~$3.95) per month.
Both the yearly and monthly premium plans include access to all Hotstar and Disney Plus original content, in addition to content from HBO, Fox, and Showtime. Premium members will also get exclusive access to the latest Hindi and regional movies.
There's another cheaper Disney Plus Hotstar VIP yearly subscription available for Rs 399 ($5.2). With it, you can watch all content on the service except for American shows and movies. Also Disney Plus original content will be available only in dubbed languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu. To watch in English you will need to be a Disney Plus Hotstar Premium subscriber.
Another thing to note about the VIP tier is that you will see personalized ads while subscribed to this plan.
If you're not a member of the service yet, you can become one by clicking on the button below and subscribing to your preferred membership plan.
What formats and devices does it support?
You can access Disney Plus Hotstar through a bunch of devices. Here's the complete list.
- Desktop web (All PCs and laptops)
- Android (All Android phones and tablets)
- iOS (iPhones, iPads, etc)
- Amazon Fire TV Stick
- Android TVs, Android TV boxes
- Apple TV
- Chromecast
Unlike Disney Plus in other countries, you can't stream content on Disney Plus Hotstar in 4K. The resolution is 1080p full HD and sometimes even drops to 720p, making the experience not so great in comparison to services like Netflix and Apple TV Plus.
What TV shows and movies can you watch?
Disney Plus Hotstar has a vast library of TV shows and movies, both in English and regional languages. These include all the awesome animated and live-action titles from Disney like The Mandalorian, some of the best HBO shows, as well as Hotstar's own library of specials.
Disney Plus Hotstar is also the home of all Marvel and Star Wars movies in India. So you can watch the entire Avengers series or all the Star Wars films and animated shorts on the platform.
You can check out the links below to discover all the best content on Disney Plus Hotstar.
- Disney Plus: The master list of movies and TV shows
- The very best movies you can watch on Disney Plus Hotstar right now
- The 5 best Hindi TV shows to watch on Disney Plus Hotstar
- The ultimate list of the 20 best english TV shows you can watch on Hotstar
So that was everything you need to know about Disney Plus Hotstar in India. For more on streaming services and content, check out the links below.
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