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 Seventymm is India's largest online DVD rental service, and we believe clearly the best. Launched in March 2006, it already boasts an unbeaten inventory of 15,000+ film titles (with multiple copies of most of these), and one of India's most advanced DVD rental websites. The service currently serves Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, and surrounding areas, with customer service phone numbers for each. They even have an SMS text number to arrange movie deliveries.
Seventymm boasts one of the most advanced movie search engines in India, allowing queries on movie, actor, director, language, customer rating, year range, and even genre. In fact, we believe no other country's DVD rental sites feature search function on customer rating--so you can list say, all five star rated films in a given genre, year, or by a specific actor--excellent. They have an impressive 24 genres, and each entry lists cast, director, producer, language, edition (VCD or DVD--if they have both you can choose which to rent), censor rating, and customer rating. This is impressive, though we do have a minor quibble, we'd prefer if these were hyperlinked, so that if you click on Pierce Brosnan on the actor field it went to a screen with all Pierce Brosnan films, for example.
To match the impressive browsing functionality and general quality of site design, Seventymm has additional features like a blog, and RSS newsfeeds which you can subscribe to and see all their latest releases as they come in--these newsfeeds cover their various languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Marathu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Assasmese, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, and Oriya. These are particularly useful if your film interest is in a niche language.
They require you have at least 10 titles in your queue to ensure they'll always have something in stock you'd like to see (in our experience, this is not a problem, you'll probably have dozens of titles in your queue within days of browsing the site.) Once you pick your titles, within one working day a Seventymm courier or logistic partner will bring the first two discs to your doorstep. Then just sign into your account when you've watched them to schedule another courier to come pick them up.
Seventymm also wins points for being open some of the longest hours in the business, which can only help you get higher turnaround and greater value--shipping movies 8am to 10 pm Monday through Saturday. As with all other Indian DVD rental companies we've reviewed, they do not process returns or deliveries on Sundays or national holidays. We haven't heard many problems about damaged discs, but their Terms and Conditions do allow for charges of Rs300 for VCD or Rs 1000 per DVD for damaged discs, a determination made at Seventymm's discretion.
In mid-2007, they launched a limited number of game rentals, but only about 40 titles for Xbox 60 when we reviewed the site in November. Hopefully, Seventymm will expand their game rental inventory in the coming months.
Founded in 2006, Seventymm has strong financial backing from several Indian and well as US venture capital firms. The firm continues to feature in Indian and international news as the market leader, and we expect the company to continue expansion. For instance, in mid-2007, they acquired rival Madhouse DVD Rental and in August 2008, they raised $12 million in venture capital funds. Reports on the internet and blogosphere are broadly positive.
Prices: Seventymm has surprisingly few subscription options: one unlimited plan which you can watch as many movies as you like, 2 discs out at a time for RS 549 per month, and one limited subscription, 4 discs total in one month for Rs 199. Both require an Rs 999 refundable security deposit and a Rs 499 registration fee--while nearly all Indian companies require a deposit, few require a one-time registration fee, which is somewhat disappointing.
However, the way to save money is to use one of their Reel Deel plans; if you purchase a year up front on the unlimited plan, you pay Rs 5490, saving Rs 1098 compared to if you'd paid monthly. Or, on the limited 4-discs total per month plan, you can pay Rs 1990 for the year, and save Rs 398 compared to paying monthly. We suggest you trial Seventymm for a month or two to see if its the service for you, and if so, go for one of these annual plans for the savings.
If you cancel, you will have a generous seven days to return your outstanding DVDs or will be subject to charge.
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Rental Basics