The Hindu Business Line : Rajshri Media's entertainment portal

Rajshri Media (P) Ltd has launched its broadband entertainment portal www.rajshri.com with over 300 films, documentaries, television serials and videos totalling to more than 3,000 hours of entertainment content.

The portal coincides with the launch of Rajshri group's current film release Vivah, which the company will make available online from Friday, and claims is a first in the history of Indian cinema.

According to Mr Rajjat A. Baratya, Managing Director, Rajshri Media, the industry has been very supportive and offered its content, which includes oldies like Amar Akbar Anthony, serials like Mahabharat and Rajshri's own productions, and even remix videos and short films.

The rights remain with the producers and advertising earnings are to be shared between producers and portal owner. The company will in the next six months look at a subscription fee format depending on usage patterns. For now the streaming is free.

"We only have a guesstimate as to how the venture will do. Since there has been no precedence to this kind of portal, we have no water tight business plan," says Mr Barjatya.

The portal is primarily targeted at the 25 million global Indians, which the company believes will make this venture a success. Download fees thus range from $9.99 for Vivah (around the price of ticket in the US) to $ 4.99 for other films and even lower for the classics. Downloads are protected by digital rights management software and are viewable for 72 hours following download.

People of Indian origin earn more than 15 to 20 per cent of the national average in UK and Canada, and the difference is even higher in the US. They also have a very high PC and broadband penetration, says the company. The popularity of Indian movies amongst Pakistanis, Russians and Japanese are also expected to draw viewers. Rajshri Media expects to extend content to cover programmes on spirituality and yoga, food and even management seminars. The company will also be creating content of short duration specifically for the medium, and for downloads on mobiles.

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