We have been eyeing the India launch of Disney+ Hotstar in the country for a long time. As per new developments, it seems like the wait will be longer than expected as the launch has been put on hold.
Originally, Disney+ was supposed to come to India on March 29 in conjunction with Hotstar. Earlier this month, on March 11, the beta app was available for a few existing users who were able to access all of Disney+’s content at no extra cost. The launch was meant to coincide with the start of the Indian Premier League.
IPL 2020 got postponed indefinitely owing to the mounting coronavirus concerns in the country, which is said to be one of the main reasons why Disney+ will be rolled out on a later date now. “We recently announced that Disney+ would launch in India through the Hotstar service in conjunction with the beginning of the Indian Premier League cricket season. Given the delay of the season, we have decided to briefly pause the roll-out of Disney+ and will announce a new revised premiere date for the service soon”, said Uday Shankar, President of The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star & Disney India.
When it eventually makes its way to India, Disney+ Hotstar will compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video as well as local OTT platforms such as ALTBalaji and Zee5. It already has amassed almost 30 million subscribers in less than six months, partly thanks to exclusive shows such as The Falcon and Winter Soldier.
Disney+ will be included if you subscribe to Hotstar. The VIP plan is currently priced at Rs 365/year, while the Premium plan is available at Rs 999/annually or Rs 299/monthly.
