Netflix now in India: All you need to know

Finally, Netflix is here! At the ongoing CES, Netflix decided to expand to over a 100 countries, and what makes it exciting for us, is that India stands among them. It is immediately available for a one-month trial and then you will have to cough up Rs 500 for a basic package. If you are looking for HD quality then you pay Rs 150 additional that amounts to Rs 650 and at Rs 800 you get HD and Ultra-HD.  We’ve got a quick hands-on with the service and here’s all you need to know. You can either download the app on an Android or iOS device or access the same via the web version. We decided to go old school with web. Netflix needs you to signup for the service and also key in your credit/debit card details in order to start the one-month free trial. Though the company says it won’t charge any amount, it did mention and deducted Rs 70 as international transaction fee. The company gives you the liberty to cancel subscription anytime within one month and will also send a reminder two days before the free trial expires and more importantly, before it decides to debit the subscription fee.  So, it is quite likely that you wont be subscribing for every member of the family. So, if you share the account with someone, then you both can have separate accounts. This way, one can have multiple accounts which can be managed separately.  Netflix also ensures that your kids don’t access content that you don’t want them to. It lets you mark a checkbox if a kid will be using an account.    It then lets you choose three movies/shows that you like and then curates and recommends lists on similar lines.  This way, it will let all other account holders key in their favourite options that will help them customise the Netflix experience.  You can choose the various device that you plan to access Netflix. Keep in mind, the standard package lets you watch unlimited movies on one screen at a time.  So, every time you start Netflix, it will let you choose your profile.  The user interface is simple. The top right corner shows the Browse option, under which you get quick access to TV shows, documentaries, comedies and genres so on, the lists you make, any new arrivals and a section that shows various ways in which you can watch via Netflix and there is no dearth of options. You can watch Netflix using Smart TVs, streaming media players, game consoles, smartphones, tablets and more.  As you move your cursor over a movie, it highlights it to view the one-liner description. You can watch your flick straightway or click on the small downward arrow that will take you to a page as seen above. You can then view other details such as who is starring, genre and something called ’this tv show is’. It terms content as exciting, gritty and so on. Once you click on exciting, it takes you to a page that has all content listed under exciting.  Today, content is king and that’s something most users would be looking for. Netflix has roughly 40- 50 movies under the Indian movies and Tv shows. We also came across a movie in regional Marathi language.  The list of movies isn’t the most exciting we’ve seen and many others have more to offer in terms of content. However, the content selection is not that bad either. Netflix has added some of the coolest shows such as ‘That 70s Show’ and ‘Dexter’. There’s a good selection of comedy shows as well and even some rare stuff like Russel Peters Comics without Borders. Action and adventure fans will have their fill of movies and the same goes for the classics. Talking about classics, there are some Bollywood ones as well like Lootera. Still then, the streaming giant seems to be going in for a balance of local and international content. Having said that, Netflix has just entered India, and knowing its popularity, the company may crack some deals in terms of content.  The streaming interface is pretty simple too. As we opted for the standard package, we were able to view the content in HD, and believe us when we say - opt for HD. At this point, we aren’t sure if the company would have more content if we had opted for HD.  Each time the account marked as ‘Kid’ tries to access the account, it will directly take them to the Kids section with relevant content. Netflix has a long way to go, at least in terms of content that it has on offer. Moreover, streaming services are still at a nascent stage in India and urging ‘value for money’ Indians to cough up Rs 500 to 800, will require much more than that. It also will be competing with some popular names in India such as Hungama, and also Spuul. Netflix entering India hasn’t unsettled the existing players, rather they are glad that there will be more awareness and the space will finally grab eyeballs that it deserves. Siddhartha Roy, CEO, Hungama said, “We are glad that global players like Netflix are keen on entering the Indian market, since this will contribute in raising awareness about the streaming services as well as grow the market as a whole.” Subin Subaiah, CEO, Spuul Global said, “Netflix’s entry into India is a welcome and much anticipated move for the VOD space in India. Their arrival will help grow and educate the market. India, unlike more developed markets comes with its own set of challenges - price sensitivity, multitude of languages and poor data connectivity which all providers, Netflix included have to contend with. That said, the market and the opportunity is massive and growing. India has typically been a single TV household - it is now transforming into one where ~650M people will have a TV in their pockets by 2019. At Spuul we will continue to execute on our focus of providing the best quality Indian content to the masses. Our upcoming product releases and content additions will reflect that.” With pan-India 4G plans and increasing internet penetration, streaming services could finally get out of the box. More competition would mean better service and offers. All in all, it will be a win-win situation for consumers.