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Madhouse was acquireed by Seventymm in mid-2007 and is no longer trading.
Madhouse is a growing business with some innovative practices and features, but one which lacks the web site polish of some of the leading contenders. Madhouse was founded in December 2004, headquartered in Delhi, and in May 2005 expanded to the tri-city region of Chandigarh, Panchkula, and Mohali, with plans for a national rollout in the next two years
Madhouse, like several other companies, claims to be India's first to offer movie rental through a multi-channel model, allowing customers to interact through web, SMS texts, phone, and kiosks. If you order a film before 5pm, they will deliver at your doorstep the next working day. Madhouse is open Monday through Saturday, but is closed Sundays and holidays. They are open 10 AM to 8 PM Monday to Saturday to deal with calls and movie requests.
Madhouse has pioneered an improvement to the current courier pickup system for movies you have already watched, which should speed turnaround and may become a model for other companies. You can drop films off at Madhouse Movie Points--normal shops near you, such as a chemist, grocery store, internet cafe, etc. (185 and counting in the NCR, 20+ in Chandigarh), as well as Skypak drop boxes, scattered throughout the NCR region.
Madhouse has an impressive 27 genres, which adds browsing considerably, and their movie search engine is of above average utility, featuring searches on movie, actor, director, or language,--the only thing which could be improved here is an advanced search option combining multiple fields into one search. We are impressed with their film information on each title though, including hyperlinked entries for author, director, studio, and genre--so you can click on them and see other films a given actor or director has done. In addition, there are listings of format, year released, language, region code, running time, and rating. Our only qualm on this otherwise excellent title information is they also really should have the ability for customers to rate films, and preferably, to write reviews as well.
Comments and reviews on the web and blogosphere are generally positive. We understand Madhouse sometimes include a sachet of microwave popcorn for instance--a nice touch. We also saw a promotion that Madhouse in March 2007 was offering a free DVD player if you purchased a year's subscription to the service, though this may no longer be in effect. However, we have seen the odd complaint that sometimes a region 3 DVD is shipped.
Madhouse was founded by skilled professionals seeking to build a national brand. One of their founders, Nandini made it to the Top-8 of Business Baazigar contest. Madhouse started with seed capital from founders and is now "angel-funded" by well-established investoRs
Prices: Madhouse has only one unlimited subscription plan: 2 discs out at a time for RS 499 per month (Rs 700 security deposit. They also have two limited monthly plans: 5 discs total in a month for Rs 199 (averaging 40 Rs per disc--also Rs 350 security deposit) and a 10 disc per month plan at Rs 349 (averaging a mere Rs 35 per rental, also security deposit of Rs 700).
Not only that, you get 10% off of these subscription tariffs if you subscribe for 6 months, and a whopping 20 off if you subscribe for a year and pay up front--this is the way to go for massive savings if you like Madhouse's system. On the 10 disc-per month plan above, if you purchased a year up front, you'd pay a discounted Rs 28 per disc--the cheapest we've seen anywhere.
In addition to these subscription tariffs, there are also three pay-as-you go tariffs which are not charged monthly, for three-day rentals (though they are more expensive than the monthly systems and we don't recommend these unless you're a sporadic viewer.) You can get 5 discs (usable anytime within 3 months) for Rs 300 (averaging Rs 60 per disc) with a Rs 350 security deposit, or 10 discs useable within 6 months for Rs 550 (averaging Rs 55 per disc) with an Rs 350 security deposit, or finally 20 discs usable within a year for Rs 1000 (averaging Rs 50 per disc--this one is at least reasonable compared to other companies) with a Rs 350 security deposit.
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Rental Basics