Bollywood distrib Saavn has teamed up with Hulu to stream pics online, including "Sarkar," one of many Indian adaptations of "The Godfather."
For now there are five subtitled films available on Hulu besides 2005's "Sarkar," which stars Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan -- "Hera pheri," (2000) starring Akshay Kumar; 2004's "Hulchul"; 2000's Aishwarya Rai starrer "Dhaai akshar prem ke"; and 1992's "Deewana."
More films will be made available through the year.
"One of Saavn's goals is to make Bollywood more accessible to everyone and by having these films on Hulu we believe that more people in the U.S. will open up to the genre that is revered by billions around the world," said Vin Bhat, co-founder and CEO of New York-based Saavn.
This is another step to prevent people from viewing pirated versions of Indian films online. Among legal websites that stream newer pics is indie Bollywood studio Rajshri.
Contact Shalini Dore at
shali.dore@variety.com