Netflix is converting a Bengali streaming catalogue into a three-language national library. At an event in Mumbai on Thursday, the platform and Hoichoi, the Bengali OTT service owned by SVF, announced a two-year content partnership covering both new releases and existing titles.
The mechanics of the deal
Every series Hoichoi launches over the next two years will arrive on Netflix in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, timed to the same day as its Bengali premiere on Hoichoi. The arrangement gives Netflix exclusivity for those three language versions.
The first title under the pact is “The Cursed Temple of Kauriburi,” a horror series drawn from folklore, premiering Nov. 6 with Jeetu Kamal, Solanki Roy and Paoli Dam in the lead roles. The companies said more releases would follow in the coming months.
Netflix is also taking 14 existing Hoichoi series. The catalogue spans crime thrillers, detective mysteries, folklore horror, social and courtroom drama, and romance:
- “Madam Inspector,” “Sampurna,” “Lajja,” “Eken Sirji,” “Anjaan Saaye,” “The Curse of Parnashavari,” “Bloodlines”
- “The Adventures of Daadi & Jagga,” “Raat Abhi Baaki Hain,” “Achinta: Trial By Law,” “Shaadi Ka Siyappa”
- “Queens,” “Parineeta: A Love Story,” “Mahanagar”
Why Netflix is buying regional catalogues
The pact is part of Netflix’s stated effort to supplement originals with licensed programming from outside producers. The company pointed to its global audience, which it puts at close to a billion people, as the incentive it offers studios, networks and creators.
The Hoichoi agreement follows two similar moves. In France, Netflix now carries the full programming lineup of broadcaster TF1. In Brazil, it struck a deal this month with Globo, a broadcaster that had long kept its content off Netflix in its home market even while licensing it elsewhere.
What the deal changes for Hoichoi and media buyers
Hoichoi launched in 2017 as SVF’s new media venture and is run by co-founder Vishnu Mohta. It hosts more than 2,000 hours of programming, including over 100 original series, films, shorts and docuseries, and says it reaches more than 250 million Bengalis worldwide.
The Netflix partnership lets Hoichoi address Hindi, Tamil and Telugu audiences without building three new language stacks itself. For media planners and entertainment marketers, it turns a regional catalogue into national inventory — one they can now plan around at launch rather than after a title proves itself in Bengali.
The two companies will also co-produce new shows. Netflix and Hoichoi plan original series that rework selected Hoichoi stories, with Hoichoi Studios producing and new creative voices attached to each adaptation. Details on those projects were not disclosed.
Source: Variety
