Most of the international films that The Criterion Channel and Mubi offer are not of the mainstream variety. They tend to be pictures that best play in art houses. However, mainstream, populist film does not exclusively belong to Hollywood. Countries all around the world have their own mainstream film culture, and no place is that more evident than India. In this case, the country doesn’t even just have one mainstream film culture but many, depending on location and language.
Mainstream Indian films — whether they be in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, or any other language that has fostered its own film industry — have a pretty decent showing on both Netflix and Prime Video. But that doesn’t mean they have everything, particularly if it is outside the Hindi-language industry. For instance, 2022’s “RRR” became a sensation in the United States, but if watch it on Netflix, it will be dubbed into Hindi, even though its actual language is Telugu.
India has many different streaming services, including Eros Now, aha, and more, but if you’re going to get one, it probably should be ZEE5, which is $12.99 per month. The service primarily focuses on South Indian films in Telugu and Tamil, though it does feature many different language options. ZEE5’s selections include a ton of original programming, recent films like “Ghoomer” and the aforementioned “RRR” (in its original Telugu), and Indian classics like “Mughal-E-Azam.” Indian film availability on streaming services is as wide-ranging as the country’s cinematic output, so if ZEE5 doesn’t have the programming you desire, another Indian streamer surely will.
