Now you can hire DVDs online

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The Hindu

Seventymm offers more than 10,000 titles in various languages, including Kannada

Bangalore: Renting DVDs or CDs of movies just went high-tech. You need no longer drive to the neighbourhood, ask for the much-talked-about movie you want to see or instead settle for the second best available. Or even find yourself watching an obviously pirated copy that tests your eyesight badly.

Prices of cinema tickets, especially in the multiplexes, are astronomical, but the movie industry is churning out feature films as fast as ever; about 900 movies a year, 250 to 375 of them from Bollywood.

Collection

The box-office collection across the major cities is Rs. 320 crores annually, double that of the collections in the United States.

Turnover

If television grosses Rs. 12,000 crores a year, films follow with an estimated turnover of Rs. 7,000 crores. Of course, the staple fare on most TV channels is movies or song-and-dance clips from movies.

Online ordering of movies for rental has come to Bangalore through a company called Seventymm, backed by U.S. venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson which has invested Rs. 10 crores with the promise of a follow-up funding.

Those overseas have realised that films are almost a religion among most Indians.

To launch the online service here was actor-singer Vasundhara Das.

This online retail model in home entertainment (www.seventymm.com) will offer more than 10,000 titles in English, Hindi and six regional languages, including Kannada, according to its founder Raghav Kher. "Consumers are looking for both choice and convenience and they are tired of watching poor quality and pirated prints'' he says.

On this online video store you can browse through more than movie titles, all details including cast, theme and genre can be seen.

You can create online your own `movie queue' listing priorities and order two at a time. They are delivered to your door and picked up later, all free of additional charges.

Revenue

The revenue model, according to Mr. Kher is simple. You can sign up by paying Rs. 199 towards rent for movies for a month or pay Rs. 540 to get an unlimited number of movies each month, if there are enough good ones your care to watch. They don't have to be returned within 24 hours either, but a reasonable time limit is being worked out.

All DVDs and CDs will be authentic licence copies, guaranteed for viewing quality, he says. With 900 movies made each year, the choice for the consumer is large enough.