BookMyShow launches streaming platform in India

Homegrown movie and events ticketing platform BookMyShow on Friday rolled out a transaction video-on-demand (TVOD) streaming platform in India that offers users the option to rent a movie for a finite duration or buy it for unlimited access.

The move comes at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic greatly disrupted the entertainment business and movie viewing experience as lockdown restrictions kept theatres out of bounds for the audience for months.

The platform is designed to offer a personalised experience based on a user's preferences, transaction and behaviour on BookMyShow.

The platform will allow users access to features such as downloads, offline viewing, and casting. BookMyShow stream will feature a library of some of the best and handpicked collections of films from across the world and will also feature multiple marquee premieres every Friday.

"BookMyShow Stream' is a natural extension of our cinemas business and respects the existing theatrical windows for content. It empowers users to pay only for the content that they watch -- a prevalent trend in other global cinema markets, as yet untapped at scale in India," Ashish Saksena, Chief Operating Officer -- Cinemas, BookMyShow, said in a statement.

Starting Friday, the new service will be home to Christopher Nolan's "Tenet", Gal Gadot starred "Wonder Woman 1984", horror fantasy "The Craft: Legacy".

Besides these, films like "Alone", "Yes God Yes", "The Peanut Butter Falcon", "The Guilty", "Les Miserables", "Unhinged" and the acclaimed Russian Sci-fi thriller "Coma", from premium independent studios will premiere exclusively on the platform.

The platform will feature Hollywood content through partnerships with leading global production giants including Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures, among others.

It will also bring films from the library of major Indian production houses such as Viacom18, Shemaroo and Rajshri Productions as also regional content providers like Divo and Sillymonks, among several others.

BookMyShow Stream will also be one of the first Indian streaming platforms to have acquired the permission to host content from independent film distributors like PictureWorks, Superfine Films, Impact Films, Kahwa Entertainment and VR films.

It will be available for viewing on BookMyShow's mobile app and website as also Apple TV, Android TV, Firestick, Chromecast and desktop browsers, the company said.