Should you subscribe to Hoichoi?

Hoichoi is an Indian on-demand video streaming platform, owned and maintained by SVF Entertainment Pvt Ltd. It was launched on 20 September 2017 with over 500 Bengali movies and over 1000 Bengali songs. With time, Hoichoi has developed a huge library of Bengali movies, short films, web series and music which can be accessed with a Hoichoi subscription from their App, Website, or streaming devices.

It is the first OTT platform from Bengal focusing exclusively on Bengali language content, worldwide.

You can stream some movies, episodes of originals and mini-episodes on Hoichoi at absolutely no cost. You will find the free comedy, thriller, must-watch episodes on Hoichoi in the sections with the respective names and the mini-episodes of less than 10 minutes in the section “Hoichoi minis”.

Hoichoi has 13 million subscribers as of September 2020.

Available on: Hoichoi is currently available for Android, iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Roku. Mi TV, LG Smart TV and Samsung Tizen.

Download and onboarding experience:

The size of the Android app is 27 MB and the download and onboarding experience was smooth. Subscription is needed to view content on the app, however, if you wish to watch content for free, you’ll have the option for the same.

Subscription Plan:

1 Year Subscription Plan ( 1 Simultaneous Stream) for Just Rs 599. Watch Detective Series, Dupur Thakurpo, Charitraheen, Comedy Series, Eken Babu Season 4, Haami, Paanch Phoron and many more with 1 Year Plan at an affordable price of Rs 599.

1 Year Plan ( 2 Simultaneous Streams) : Rs 899 Only.

Users also have the option of referring a friend and earning an extra month of subscription. 

Hoichoi on Airtel Xstream App (earlier Airtel TV App)

• Hoichoi content is available on Airtel Xstream App & website
• The offer is valid for all prepaid users above Rs 99.

Hoichoi on Vi TV & Movies (earlier Vodafone Play) App

• Hoichoi content is available on Vi Movies & Tv App & website
• The app is available on Google PlayStore as well as on the Apple App Store.
• All Postpaid users with Red plans above Rs 399 get free access to the Vodafone Play App.
• All Prepaid users with Unlimited Recharges worth Rs 179 or above get free access to Vodafone Play App.

Hoichoi for Jio Fiber customers

JioFiber customers on Silver and above plans get access to Hoichoi content through the Hoichoi platform on their Jio Set-Top Box. Moreover, the Bengali and Hindi Original Series of Hoichoi can also be viewed on the Jio TV + app.

Hoichoi on MX Player

Hoichoi content can be streamed for FREE on the MX Player website. You can stream popular Hoichoi shows like Love and Affairs, Pabitra Puppies, etc on MX Player.

Hoichoi Free Web Series And Movies

Without a Hoichoi subscription, you won’t be able to download the content. But you can stream it for free on Airtel XStream or Vi TV & Movies app or the MX player website.

Apart from that, Hoichoi itself offers a section of free movies and episodes like Humans vs Corona, Suchipatra, Game Over, Boy Interrupted, Taranath Tantrik, etc that you can enjoy without paying anything.

To cancel the renewal of your subscription, write to them by sending an email at support@hoichoi.tv Upon cancellation, you will be notified via email.

What to expect:

The on-demand platform focuses on Bengali language films and entertainment content mainly but also provides English subtitles to all movies. Currently, it features over 500 film titles, including more than 100 SVF produced films and about 400 other films. Apart from this, Hoichoi contains more than 1,000 Bengali songs for audio streaming globally. The platform is also introducing children's content and has original films, web series and short films across many genres.

Hoichoi has a catalog of over 500 Bengali movies that span across genres like Drama, Romance, Comedy and Horror. Classic Movies by acclaimed Bengali filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray and Rituoporna Ghosh are also available. Some of these hits include Dwitiyo Purush, Love Aaj Kal Porshu, Nagarkirtan, Konttho, Vinci Da, Shah Jahan Regency and Kedara.

For the music buffs, the Hoichoi subscription also has over 1000+ Bengali Songs from the most popular albums which you can download and stream offline as well. You will find songs from classic as well as modern renowned Bengali artists like Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal. Note that Hoichoi songs are exclusively available only on the Hoichoi app, for Android and iOS.

Hoichoi is a Bengali Video streaming platform that lets you watch your favorite Bengali movies anytime anywhere. Hoichoi showcases classics like Raincoat, Chokher Bali, Bhai Amar Bhai, as well as the latest Bengali blockbusters like Zulfiqar, Gangster, Rajkahini. It has the largest library of Bengali Cinema. Now you can spend more time with your favourite stars like Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Dev, Mimi, Nusrat Jahan, Yash Dasgupta, Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and many others.

Design and experience:

The design is simple and neat with lots of widgets like Just Added, Hoichoi Top 10, Rebel Ritwik Ghatak, Mithun Chakraborty Specials etc. in each section which makes it easier for the user to choose content. The dark background colour makes the content stand out and the lighter text is clearly readable on all screens. The ‘See More’ option for the widgets in the app provides more options to the user as well.

The platform allows the user to search between shows and movies as well as free content. It also gives users a sneak-peek into upcoming content.

I watched the short ‘Kolkotha’ as part of my review for this OTT platform:

The movie/show detail page has the following information:

• Director
• Starring
• Synopsis
• Social media links of the film

It also has recommended movies like:

The standard features available on the video player include:

• Play
• Volume
• Rewind
• Resolution
• Full-Screen

Search:

-Recent and trending searches are shown before a search keyword is typed.

-Search can be done within a category like Shows, Movies or Free

Pros & Cons:

Pros:

• Access to the largest catalog of Bengali movies: A Hoichoi subscription gives you access to Bengali movies that range from classics like Panther Panchali to the latest Bengali blockbusters like Dwitiyo Purush, Love Aaj Kal Porshu, Nagarkirtan, etc
• Access to Hoichoi Originals: Hoichoi premium plan lets you enjoy all Hoichoi originals spanning through genres from Comedy like Dupur Thakurpo, Thriller like Byomkesh, to Mystery like Eken Babu.
• Music Streaming with 1000+ Songs
• Ad-Free Streaming
• Access To Offline Content: With a Hoichoi subscription, you can download your favourite content to watch it offline. This feature is only available on the app.
• Watch On Multiple Devices: HoiChoi has two different plans and both allow login to two devices, the costlier yearly plan allows two simultaneous streams.
• 1080p Video Support
• English subtitles: Hoichoi offers English subtitles for all of its Web Series, Short Films, Original Movies. In addition to this, more than 200 movies currently have English subtitles.

Cons:

• No option to download content on a laptop or PC
• No option to skip intro while watching a series
• No wish list or suggestion tabs on the app/website
• To change the password or log out from all devices, one must contact the customer care
• Full-screen mode on the app does not cover the entire screen and has very limited toggle options
• Non-Bengali viewers may find it hard to completely understand the content and will have to rely on subtitles.

Why should one subscribe?

With its rising popularity, HoiChoi TV is planning to target even a larger audience. They have released the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Arabic dubbed versions of their most popular TV shows for non-Bengali viewers. You would love a HoiChoi subscription if:

• You are a Bengali (duh!)
• You enjoy Bengali movies and TV shows
• You are looking for innovative original content and web series with a different cultural background
• You have an ear for Bengali music

Rating:

Based on the user experience, the pros and cons, the rating given to Hoichoi is 7.5 on 10. When the whole world is taking a dive into the ocean of OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Hoichoi literally means ‘non-stop entertainment’ and they provide the same, with the largest collection of Bengali Entertainment.