Kolkata headquartered film production company, Surinder Films, has acquired Addatimes, the first Bengali language OTT platform in the country.

Surinder Films is a leading production house of Kolkata, and has produced over 100 Bengali films. It has also produced more than 6,000 hours of television content across leading TV channels.

Addatimes, which was launched in 2016, was the first platform to create original web series, short films, Bengali video songs, short love stories, detective movies, thrillers, suspense dramas and comedy series for the Bengali audience, Surinder Films said in a media statement.

“We have been in the business of Bengali film production, distribution and content creation for both regional and national channels. In today’s context, we found that the OTT platforms have immense growth potential and it is the right time to invest in them. Thus, we decided to acquire Addatimes, the first Bengali and one of the well-known OTT platforms.

“Here, we would be creating, as well as acquiring content of varied genres keeping in mind the audience interest. We already have an interesting line up of big-ticket Bengali movies and a host of web series, which we would start streaming soon. We look forward to a creatively exciting journey ahead,” said Nispal Singh, Director, Surinder Films, in a statement.

The first web series after acquisition to be streamed on Addatimes will be ‘Amriter Sandhane – The Banaras Chapter’ that will start off from April 14, 2023, celebrating the occasion of Poila Boishak (Bengali New Year).

The eight-episode series is a mythological thriller set in the holy city of Varanasi. The star cast includes Chandan Roy Sanyal, Sauraseni Maitra and Debasish Mondal, amongst others, and is directed by Abhinandan Dutta.

Following this, there will be a rib-tickling series, ‘Gentlemen’, starring Joy Sengupta, Mir Afsar Ali, Rudranil Ghosh and Madhurima Basak in the lead, which is directed by Korak Murmu. It will be steaming from May, 2023.

‘Gentleman’ apart, Addatimes would also digitally premiere some mega feature films like ‘Kaberi Antardhan’ (on March 26) followed by ‘Mitin Mashi, ‘Sagardwipey Jawker Dhan’ and ‘Magic’in the coming months. New films like ‘Love Marriage’, ‘Bhootpori’, ‘Ardhangini’, ‘Paakhi’, ‘Tarakar Mrityu and ‘Tenida’ will be digitally premiered on Addatimes after their theatrical releases.

“We plan to release between 15-18 original contents a year, to begin with. As far as films are concerned, there will be more than one release per month,” added Singh.

Addatimes subscription plans include Rs. 799 for a single screen for one year and Rs. 1,199 for two screens for a year. For international viewers, the subscription comes at $ 49.99 for  two screens.