Disney+ has launched in India, two weeks earlier than scheduled, with the Hotstar app being updated to new branding called, Disney+ Hotstar.

There hasn’t yet been a change to premium subscription plans, with both the Hotstar Premium and Hotstar VIP subscriptions still available.

The Disney+ Hotstar Premium subscription costs Rs 299 per month (around $4) or Rs 999 per year (around $14) while the Disney+ Hotstar VIP plan costs Rs 365 per year ($5).

All of the new content is available in four languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, but you need to have the Premium account to get access to content in English.  Some of the Disney+ Originals are only available to Premium account holders.

The official description for these accounts say:

• By subscribing to Disney+ Hotstar VIP: unrestricted access to live sports (like VIVO IPL, Premier League, Formula 1 and Tennis), latest Star TV serials before they premiere on TV, latest Bollywood movies, our exclusive library of shows we’ve produced as Hotstar Specials and Disney+ shows and movies in dubbed vernacular languages.
• By subscribing to Disney+ Hotstar Premium: everything in VIP & the latest American TV shows, Hollywood movies & Disney+ movies, shows and Originals in all languages including English.

The new content has been added to the app as channels, which include Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, Mickey Mouse & Friends, Princesses, Disney Junior, Super-Heroes, Action Adventure, and Animals & Nature.  Which sounds similar to how collections are shown within Disney+ elsewhere.

And because it’s merging with Hotstar, the app has a huge library of other content including shows like Game of Thrones, Grey’s Anatomy and even DC movies, because Hotstar has a huge amount of licensed content.   Plus it has content for all ages including R rated movies like 20th Century Studios Stuber!

By merging Hotstar and Disney+ into one app, it does look like Disney is wanting just one single app.  It will be interesting to see if this happens elsewhere or if they view India as a special case, since it has over 300 million users already.

“For our India users we’re bringing the world’s best stories from the best storytellers at Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars. 200+ movies, 100+ shows and 30+ originals!” is shown in the apps description.

The app has also been updated in other countries including the UK to the new rebranded version on both Google Play and IOS stores.  Though its not yet clear how this might vary from country to country with regards to content.

More details on Disney+ Hotstar are expected to be revealed later this week.

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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