Binging with Netflix

A silent revolution has been brewing in some developed nations of the world. It's called cord-cutting - freeing oneself from the shackles of cable television and shifting to a medium online, where, for a fixed fee, one watches what one wants, at one's leisure.

Spearheading the revolution in the US is Netflix, and this week it came to India. Signing up on Netflix is easy. What is more, the first month is free (and you can cancel any time)! I went in for the Premium package, at Rs 800, not because of the promise of Ultra HD content, but because one can simultaneously watch on four screens. If you don't need that many screens or Ultra HD, cheaper plans are available, starting from Rs 500 a month. Next, I tried logging in on my Android phone. After spending a good 10 minutes waiting for it to log in (I use an Airtel 4G connection), I had to cancel and log in again. Not an auspicious start.

The interface, though, was very user-friendly, and cleanly arranged under several heads such as TV shows, comedies, stand-up comedies, new releases. Oscar-winning movies, family adventures and also documentaries. Plus, if you didn't know what to watch, it would helpfully tell you what was popular on Netflix. And yes, it has a section called Indian movies & TV, which had a smattering of Bollywood and regional films, as well as independent films. I wasn't too impressed, frankly.

I chose Master of None, an original Netflix series. It gave me the option to binge-watch the full first season as well. The first episode had me in splits, and truth be told, it largely played without a hitch on my phone.

Next up was my fourth-generation iPad, which was connected to the home Wi-Fi network with a high-speed broadband connection. I selected The Blacklist but was disappointed. Only season 1 and 2? I'm watching third season on my TV!

That settled, I decided to watch the evergreen Roman Holiday. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn didn't disappoint, but my wife wasn't thrilled. "You're watching this alone," she complained. Well, technology helped. I logged on to Netflix on my bedroom PC (which has a much bigger monitor) so we could watch the movie in ease. And no, I didn't have to struggle to resume watching from where I left off. Switching devices is a smooth experience.

In the time I spent using the app, I was very satisfied with the experience. As for the content, well, I won't be spending good money to watch Indian content on Netflix. It's not worth it. But if I want a consolidated streaming app that has access to a comprehensive library of English shows, there's little to beat it. But a caveat. A broadband connection at home and at least a 3G connection on your mobile device is a must if you want to enjoy the content in high definition.