OTT originals are a hit in the grey market

Latest Bollywood releases and Oscar films are in for stiff competition in the city’s bootleg DVD market. What with originals made for OTT platforms in India flooding the grey markets — from Behala, Jadavpur to Gariahat — customers are spoilt for choice. Be it Bengali or Hindi — pirated copies of the originals are flying off the shelves even without their theatrical release in Kolkata.

“This is what they want now,” said a DVD shop owner in Gariahat, who did not want to be named. “We have all the originals of the Bengali detective and thriller series,” he added. Each copy costs Rs 50, but can even come for as cheap as Rs 35 with a bit of bargaining. A collection of six films in one DVD is also available at the same price. “But we can’t take guarantee of the quality in these collections. It is better to buy them individually,” the shopkeeper added…Click here to read the full story