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Lazy Genie is a well-designed site, but its lack of contact number and Terms and Service suggest it isn't trading yet. We like their irreverent star-up tale about a group of guys who reasoned why pizza delivery had taken off in India (the convenience) and made the connection to DVD rental delivery. This is definitely not a massive corporate-backed service, but there is merit in its smaller roots, and someone clearly went rough a lot of trouble to design the site.
They have an impressive 27 genres to aid browsing, as well as lists like Top 10 Best Rentals, Classic, and Featured. Their actual film information is excellent, displaying hyperlinked actor, director, studio, genres, as well as format, studio, release date and average customer rating. You can also write your own reviews and they have an email newsletter. Another rare feature is the ability to purchase gift certificates for others Likewise, they have a stellar film search engine, allowing multiple entries to search on title, actor, genre, language, keyword, and time period--all simultaneously.
Like most Indian DVD rental firms, Lazy Genie sends its films by courier, but they only do so Monday through Friday, not Saturday, like some companies.
However, it is a bit worrying that when we looked at the Terms and Conditions page in May 2007, there was a big white space with no text. Additionally, there are very few reports on Lazy Genie on the web or blogosphere, suggesting the site is small and rather untested--we've tried contacting them to no avail, and so conclude the site is either in hiatus or has not been launched yet. In fact, there is an identical site called DVDCafes.com which they also appear to have set up and which also remains defunct.
Prices: Lazy Genie has three unlimited subscription plans: 2 discs out at a time for RS 490 per month, 3 discs for RS 549, and 4 discs for RS 750. They also have a pricey capped subscription of 3 discs in a month total for RS 245 (working out to RS 81 per disc). You can also rent single DVDs for Rs 79 per disc (this hasn't been thought through, as, there is no incentive to use the 3 disc subscription, as pay-as-you-go is actually cheaper.)
Note, you must return all your discs to Lazy Genie before canceling; this means you will have to empty your queue, otherwise they will keep sending you discs even after you've mailed your discs back.
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Rental Basics