Coronavirus impact | Angrezi Medium gets an early digital release

'Angrezi Medium' film poster (Image: Twitter/@irrfank)

The Irrfan Khan-starrer Angrezi Medium, which released in the second week of March, has now been released on a video streaming platform.

The film's box office collection was severely affected due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The movie is being streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.

The decision for an early digital release seems like a step in the right direction as consumption of online content, especially on video streaming platforms has increased due to lockdown restrictions in place.

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In fact, a BARC-Nielsen data shows that between March 21-27, time spent on video streaming apps on smartphones increased by 11 percent. Time spent per user on video OTT (over the top) platforms during the same period was 236 minutes.

In the same period, time spent watching movies on video OTTs increased by 37 percent.

After original series, movies are the most watched content on video streaming platforms on smartphones, according to the data.

Video OTTs have yet again proved that they are not competition but complement to the theatre business.

According to FICCI-EY 2020 report on media and entertainment, digital rights continued to grow with an increase in revenues from 1,350 crore in 2018 to Rs 1,900 crore in 2019 driven by a growth in both rates and volumes of films purchased.

Amazon Prime has acquired the digital rights for 12 of the 30 highest-grossing Hindi films of 2019, followed by Netflix (nine films), Zee5 (eight films) and Hotstar (three films).

The digital release has given Angrezi Medium a new lease of life after the film struggled to sustain its theatrical release due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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