Bollywood films at the doorstep of US homes

NEW YORK: South Asians living in the US  need not trudge any longer to the neighbourhood video library or  put up with poor prints. Now DVDs of even the latest Indian movies can be delivered at their doorstep at a reasonable cost.

Film buffs can rent the films from iTalkies.com, which is modelled on Netflix.  After returning the movies by mail, they can order more online. The postage both ways is paid by the company. 
 
iTalkies, started in 2004, has so far been serving the Seattle area, where it has one percent market share compared to Netflix's five percent. The company recently expanded operations to the tri-state area, opening a shipping office in New Jersey.
 
"Tremendous feedback from Indians in the New York and New Jersey area prompted us to come here," Shaiwal Singh, the company's founder and CEO, told.  
 
Singh says the company has on offer over 5,000 titles of Indian films, both old and new, in seven languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Marathi and English. The iTalkies library has both popular flicks and critically acclaimed and award-winning films.
 
Singh says Bollywood's and his company's audience in the US has been growing beyond South Asians.