Disney+ Hotstar to stream new film ‘Gulmohar’ on 3 March

Disney+ Hotstar will stream Gulmohar, a film produced in-house by Star Studios, on 3 March. It stars Sharmila Tagore, Manoj Bajpayee, Simran and Suraj Sharma, among others.

Last May, movie production house Fox Star Studios, part of the Walt Disney Company India, rebranded to Star Studios, and said it will now back films for both theatrical release as well as direct-to-digital premieres. Fox Star Studios has been known for hits like M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story, Sanju, Neerja and Chhichhore, in the past.

Its slate last year included Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva, directed by Ayan Mukerji starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy and Nagarjuna Akkineni and co- produced by Dharma Productions, besides Madhur Bhandarkar’s Babli Bouncer starring Tamannaah Bhatia co-produced by Junglee Pictures. It has also announced a remake of Malayalam film Hridayam co-produced by Dharma Productions.

The Walt Disney Co will be reducing its workforce by 7,000 as it saw its video streaming platform Disney+ lose paid subscribers by 1% in the October to December quarter, from 164.2 million to 161.8 million. Disney+ Hotstar, which the service is known as, in India and other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, saw subscribe count dip by 6% to 57.5 million from 61.3 million.

The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for international Disney+ (excluding Disney+ Hotstar) decreased from $5.83 to $5.62 due to an unfavourable foreign exchange impact, the company said in a statement. The average monthly revenue per paid subscriber for Disney+ Hotstar increased from $0.58 to $0.74 due to higher per-subscriber advertising revenue.

Bob Iger, who was reappointed chief executive of Disney in a surprise move last November, said the company is looking at strategic reorganization, where there will be three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN and Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products.