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Not A Review: Frenchman’s Creek, A Novel By Daphne Du Maurier

I read Frenchman’s Creek in high school. I picked it up mostly because I’d immensely enjoyed ‘Rebecca’, but it surprised me by turning out to be a love story.

Back then, it was just that: a passionate romance novel, and very well written. Now, after having denounced romance as a genre across various media and then having circled back to it, Daphne du Maurier’s book has become so much more.

At one point, I’d read a library book twice before I returned it — one of my many hacks of making do with the three-books-a-week quota that we had at school.

Later on, I lost track of how often I went back to the Harry Potter and Twilight series (go ahead, judge me). That stopped entirely once I started working.

The luxury of going back to a book wasn’t a freedom I could allow myself. I was always behind on my reading, and there was an ever-growing pile of books awaiting review.

Over the past year or so, however, I’ve been listening to more and more audiobook versions of tomes I’ve read earlier. Some narrators are a delight to listen to.

As much as I’ve been a Potterhead, I don’t know that I’d have kept going back to the books if it weren’t for Stephen Fry’s narration. But I’m often happy with not-quite-bad voice artists too; they let me dive into books amid all the increased pandemic-induced domesticity.

That’s how I went back to the Frenchman’s Creek. I listened to the Audible version, performed by John Castle. It brought much calm during a period defined by spells of crippling anxiety. 

I found the romance between protagonist Dona, Lady St Columb to polite — and not-so-polite — London society, and the French pirate just as enticing as the teen me did.

It was in the sense of serenity this work brought me that I found my freedom, my escape, even as Dona does by retiring to Navron House, her aristocratic husband’s remote Cornwall estate. 

Perhaps, this was all the more so because I’ve just moved into a tiny flat of my own.

And getting away from the drudge of a routine ironed out over nearly a decade — and getting trapped in another one, though newer — has helped me find a part of myself that’s asleep while around other humans.

A far less exciting, or charming, side than Dona, of course (I may have been slightly more adventurous than her only with my hair; I didn’t balk at the idea of taking a pair of scissors to my long curls and gleefully sent them tumbling to the floor).

Screenshot from movie Frenchman’s Creek (1998)

In fact, I’ve shunned the outdoors and retreated more than ever into domesticity. But that’s more a reflection on the current times than anything else: paranoia is the order of the day. 

And yet, the move has been liberating, and so has the experience of going back to a book that was, until not so long ago, relegated to a dusty, cobwebby nook of my brain.

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Gossip, news, or insight: What will you pay for?

Back in the 90s, the probability of coming across the good, the bad, and the ugly online was a simple ‘X square’, where ‘X’ is a superset of all the things online.

We have come a long way from then.

What started with The Dot Com Bubble in the mid-90s paved the way for establishing a whole new industry around technology in the early 2000s, making ‘information’ one of the most valued resources of the early 21st century. Access to information became the key to drive growth in the IT and other industries across the globe.

The smartphone revolution and Internet penetration have made sure we have access to a seemingly endless feed of content at our fingertips.
While Google’s Search engine was launched to help us efficiently navigate through all of that, it gradually but surely became the catalyst for the ‘trend-based’ content that is plaguing the current news industry.

We now live in a world where we are bombarded with information of all sorts every day. This often leaves us oversaturated, desensitized, and attention deficit.

As we start to care less and less, it’s easy to overlook things. That’s when the lines between the inherently distinct forms of information – news, opinion, rumor, fact, and fiction — start to blur for us.

While the lack of ingenuity is concerning in general, the biggest blow is served to those who are strictly in the business of delivering factual information like data journalists or even historians.

It’s like looking at a news report on estimated food grain loss due to impending locust attack in North India, with the same lens you see a speculative piece on celebrity breakup based on a trending photo. The optics are discomforting.

With the emergence of many news publishers (broadcast and digital), the competition to retain its viewership is getting harder. Thus it is necessary to put together content with the latest necessary information. Well, ideally it is equally important to deliver authentic and balanced news. But, it’s not an ideal world.

Since it takes money to run a newsroom and no one is willing to pay for news, even when they, many ‘straight news’ publishers have armed themselves with a ‘trends desk’ that churns out several listicles a day.
There is nothing inferior about listicles.

In fact, listicles could be a brilliant format to ease in complex subjects like personal finance management or Dalit Feminism Movement. But surely no one is interested. Personal finance is good SEO around Budget and Dalit Feminism won’t be trending until a Dalit woman hits the headlines.

Drake’s latest Tik Tok challenge for the win.

When journalistic content struggles to find its identity in the current volatile media space, it is convenient for misinformation to slip in. From deliberately spreading false information during COVID 19 pandemic to rumor-mongering to instigate lynching against Indian minorities, the Fake News machinery is a serious threat to legitimate sources of information and people’s lives.

While media houses (domestic and international) grapple to fact-check the rising number of fake news every day, polarisation has heightened in society, with many refuting mainstream media’s credibility.
Credibility is a major news value and researchers have used various measures and statistical procedures to understand relation between media credibility and viewership.

The pressure of round the clock news is already compelling news publishers to compromise on credibility and run after ‘breaking news’. An assessment study conducted by Center for Media Studies in New Delhi (CMS credibility tracking study press release available online) showed that even though the viewership of news channels has gone up, their credibility hasn’t.

President of the USA, Donald Trump’s use of ‘Fake News’ to refute the American media has only made things worse for media everywhere.
When encountering a controversial issue, the word ‘truth’ becomes subject to circumstances of each party involved. It’s no longer about who has the facts right, but what facts rightly fit our echo chambers.

And, we can thank some of this behavior to Facebook’s ‘News Feed’ that ranks stories based on a user’s likely preferences through a computer-controlled algorithm. In simple words, FB shows us what we like (read most engage with), filtering out what we aren’t fans of, creating an illusion that the world agrees with us.

We like and share the news we agree with, post the surveys and studies that conform to our views, and pass off those who challenge them as the insignificant minority or trolls. The result is this collective failure of a world that can’t face our realities with a pinch of salt.

How does one escape this bubble, then? Since going offline and becoming hermits is out of the question, we can start by listening to those we don’t agree with, instead of blocking them out.

The echo chambers and opinion bubbles have forced us into having a one-dimensional understanding of the world that is wanting of insight and nuance.

We must also bring the emphasis back to getting it accurate. Accuracy isn’t as simple as getting the facts right. The level of verification and authentication required differs from story to story, subject to subject. The requirement for accuracy for a factual entertainment or comic story will vary from that of a historical documentary or current affairs.

Experts, researchers, data scientists, storytellers, publishers, broadcasters, and the custodians of the fourth estate must take a fresh look at the business of information, fix what’s broken, and optimize existing resources to fill the insight need gap.

Social media engagement and views are good indicators of how content has performed. Using existing data and the algorithms would help with it, but absolute faith in numbers may blindside us.

Let’s ask ourselves: What is the last piece of news, blog, or opinion piece that has been shared on my social feed? Have I paid anything for it?
Ultimately, it comes down to what we value. When content makers identify ways for information to add value and help us grow, people pay a premium for it.

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Jujutsu Kaisen comes on Netflix this October; Official trailer released

The much anticipated new horror-fantasy anime Jujutsu Kaisen just dropped its first full-length trailer and fans can get enough of it.

The 1.30 min long trailer, streaming on the studio Toho Animation’s official YouTube channel promises a dark storyline, with lots of action.

When and where to watch Jujutsu Kaisen

Anime Jujutsu Kaisen is set to release in October 2020, across MBS and TBS network’s 28 stations in Japan, along with digital platforms like Netflix as clear from this tweet.

Mappa announces staff and cast for Jujutsu Kaisen

Photo: Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen (Credit: Toho Animation)

The announcement came from its production house Mappa’s official Twitter handle, along with a fresh list of staff working on the project and cast for its voice actors.

  • Yuuji Itadori: Junya Enoki
  • Megumi Fushiguro: Yuuma Uchida
  • Nobara Kugisaki: Asami Veto
  • Satoru Gojou: Yuuichi Nakamura

Sunghoo Park is directing the series, while Hiroshi Seko has taken charge of composition and script. Tadashi Hiramatsu is designing the characters and Hiroaki Tsutsumi, Yoshimasa Terui, and Arisa Okehazama will collectively be responsible for the show’s music.

Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen

Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Toho Aimation

The anime will be adapted from one of the best-selling horror manga of the same name, which is serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump since March 2018.

Shueisha releases its individual chapters, while Viz media is responsible for its English translations.

It tells the story of highschooler Yuji Itadori and his friends at the Occult Club, who end up unearthing a cursed rotting finger and supernatural horrors are unleashed.

The TV anime adaptation of Gege Akutami’s (in)famous manga series ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ is expected to be one of the most eyeball grabbing releases to hit our screens this year.

Given the cult following surrounding the manga, often crowned ‘GOAT’ by its fandom, it is surprising that fans are comparing this to the likes of Tokyo Ghoul.

Keep an eye on this section for the English translated trailer of the show.

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BTS’s Jungkook visited Itaewon: BigHit Entertainment apologizes

In what you would call a ‘daebak’ situation, K-Pop world’s god-tier idol Jungkook from BTS has admitted to being in Itaewon a couple of weeks ago, violating social distancing norms during COVID 19. 

“It is true that Jungkook visited Itaewon. He did not go to the problematic place where the patient in early May had the confirmed case, and he went about a week beforehand.

He followed the government regulations and voluntarily got checked for Corona-19, and we decided that it was not our place to interfere in his personal life.”

BigHit Entertainment’s official statement read.

Why is this such a big deal?

BTS’s Jungkook, NCT’s Jaehyun, Seventeen’s Mingyu, and ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo found themselves in a soup when news publication Dispatch claimed they went to ‘Itaewon Clubs’ during Golden week holiday (April 24-May 5).

This, in spite of advisory for social distancing, was repeatedly being made. The four idols apparently started at a restaurant and went to two different clubs in Itaewon. 

New coronavirus cases hit South Korea in Itaewon

Earlier, several new cases of coronavirus infections were reported to spread from Itaewon clubs in South Korea. The government had asked those who had visited the concerned Itaewon clubs between April 24 to May 6 to self-quarantine themselves for 14 days.

Although the four idols had tested negative for Coronavirus, ASTRO’S Cha Eun Woo took part in all off the band’s comeback promotions, disregarding the self-quarantine period, if Dispatch’s report is to be believed. Jaehyun also MC’ed for ‘Inkigayo’ on the 26 April, 3 May, and 10 May.

Naturally, this raises question regarding the artiste’s civic responsibility and their agency’s poor handling of their schedule that jeopardises other’s health.

BigHit Entertainment Apologises for Jungkook

While Jungkook wasn’t reported to have attended any event during the aforementioned quarantine time, BigHit Entertainment, which represents BTS, issued a statement explaining his stance, and also apologized for their poor handling of the situation when the news initially broke.

We have no excuse that we placed the artist’s personal life before we were able to emphasize the importance of social distancing. We bow our head in apology.

Jungkook visited the restaurant and bar with his friends on the night of April 25th. Afterward,  he did not have a cough or a fever, and his results came out negative. He is also deeply regretting how he did not follow social distancing measures seriously.

BigHit Entertainment

Labels representing the other three artists involved in this scandal are yet to make their public statements. Keep an eye on this space for further developments.

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Oricon: Japan loves Star Wars over One Piece during lockdown

Oricon’s latest sales numbers are out for April 2020 and there is an unexpected twist according to their fresh ranking.

Going by Oricon’s latest sales stats, TV anime Demon Slayer unsurprisingly managed to retain its number one spot as the most loved franchise in Japan.

It was followed by an unexpected entrant on the list. Disney owned sci-fi extravaganza Star Wars found remarkable success among Japanese fans, making it the second-most-loved franchise.

The final installment of the 9-part long movie series titled Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker released last year in December. All episodes of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars also dropped on Disney + last month.

After this unexpected departure from non-Japanese production, anime 5-Toubon No Hanayahome took up the third spot on the list based on the manga’s sales. It is followed by the all-time favorite anime One Piece on the fourth spot, and the stage-play Touken Ranbu at 5th spot.

There is no denying the fact that the entertainment industry has taken a major hit during this coronavirus pandemic. In Japan, apart from the live-action dramas and movies, several animation projects had to be either canned or delayed. 

But that doesn’t mean video consumption has slowed down, with millions under lockdown. In fact, it is quite the opposite, if Oricon’s numbers are to be believed.

Oricon is a Japanese enterprise that providing market data and ranking information for music, video, books, and more.

The complete list of the top 20 franchises and their sales performance is available on Oricon’s official website.

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‘Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden If -If-’ new release date announced

If you were heartbroken when next installment to ‘Cardfight!! Vanguard’ TV anime was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, here’s some good news to cheer you up.

It was decided today that the next in line of the TV anime, titled  ‘Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden If -If-’ series will now release on May 3, 2020. The anime was earlier postponed from its original premiere date on April 11, to April 25. 

According to its official website, the anime will air in Japan on TV Aichi and TV Tokyo at 8 am local time. The studio is yet to provide details on its international and digital release but it is mostly to follow the route of its predecessor. 

The subbed version of the earlier anime from the franchise was released on Crunchyroll, while a dubbed one was released on its official youtube channel.

Card Fight!! Vanguard is a Japanese multimedia franchise produced in collab with Bushiroad that consists of multiple anime television series, an official trading card game, a manga series to its name.

Earlier, Bushiroad International had also released Cardfight!! Vanguard Zero, its mobile gameplay on April 9 for English speaking players. Currently, the game-makers are running a promotion that gives away ‘Double VP!’ till May 15.

Although it is still uncertain if the broadcaster and the studio won’t further delay the release due to COVID19, we can only hope that with Japan slowly relaxing lockdown, the anime releases pending will get back on track.

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Selfie to anime: Is ‘Selfie 2 Waifu’ worth your time?

What would I look like as an anime character? This is one of those questions we must have wondered at least once in our lives but shrugged it under the carpet for being too ridiculous or random. 

But just like every other ridiculous and random thing that we are indulging in the lockdown thanks to coronavirus, getting our anime avatar or celebrity ‘waifu’ (anime crush) seems to be the latest internet fad.

Here are some of the anime selfies doing the rounds on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/DaryaEmerald/status/1166253153534324738?s=20

Selfie to Waifu:

And while we are at it, why just limit it to our own selfies? Selfe to Waifu is the new social media trend that has Asia hooked, with many looking up their favorite actor, actress or idol’s anime avatar.

How to get your anime selfie?

Simply upload your selfie on Selfie2Anime your anime version shall be mailed your anime avatar whenever it gets done. How it works is they analyze your photo that is uploaded, and matches it with a similar anime mugshot from their database.

If you want a more quick result, you can simply look up Selfie 2 Waifu, ad upload any photo to get its cartoonised version delivered right then and there. 

Trying it out:

Fad or not, as an anime fan I had to give it a shot, to review the sites behind this trend and of course, personal curiosity. So here’s how it went.

This is the first picture I had uploaded as a test both the sites with.

Papri Das AKA SINN
Photo: Papri Das AKA SINN

These are the results:

SINN
PHOTO: My anime avatar (apparently).

If you ask me, I didn’t see any significant difference between the two, and compared to the original photo, the anime selfie or my anime avatar wasn’t anything awe-worthy.

So I tried out a few more pictures, of my own, and other celebrity photos. These are the result. 

ALTERED USING SELFE2WAIFU
PHOTO: ALTERED USING SELFE2WAIFU
ALTERED USING SELFE2WAIFU
PHOTO: ALTERED USING SELFE2WAIFU

‘Your Name’ director Makoto Shinkai as an anime character:

MAKOTO SHINKAI (ALTERED USING SELFE2WAIFU)
PHOTO: MAKOTO SHINKAI PHOTO ALTERED USING SELFE2WAIFU

In conclusion, ‘Selfie to Anime’ or ‘Selfie to Waifu’ is a one time try at best, but does it create your anime alter ego you wanted for so long? Not quite.

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TV shows starring Irrfan Khan and where to watch them

“People like to see my work, not my face.”

Irrfan Khan (1967 – 2020)

Indrajeet Pratap Singh from Saheb, Biwi and Gangster Return; Saajan Fernandes in The Lunchbox, Mr. Masrani from Jurrasic World, or even as the police officer from Slumdog Millionaire — the man who immortalized such colorful characters is no more.

Irrfan Khan died at 53 on 29 April 2020, after putting up a prolonged and ferocious fight to a rare form of cancer. And with him, the Indian film industry, and quite frankly, the world of performing arts at large lost a gem.

He is albeit known for some of the most groundbreaking roles in Indian and international cinema, but did you know he has a rich list of television (series) to his name?

If you are looking to celebrate his television performances, here a specially curated list of his Indian and international TV shows that are totally binge-worthy.

Tokyo Trial (2016)

(Drama, Historical)

Tokyo Trial Irrfan Khan
Photo: Stills from Tokyo Trial/Netflix screenshot

Synopsis: A four-part mini-series that puts perspective on the decade-long investigation into events in the Pacific during and after WWII. ‘The International Military Tribunal for the Far East’ is the Japanese version of the German Nuremberg Trials, where war criminals were tried after the Second World War. 

Irrfan Khan’s role: Justice Radhabinod Pal

His character justice Radhabinod Pal was added last-minute addition from India to the tribunal because the Allies wanted an Asian, but ironically India was then still a British colony. Irrfan’s portrayal of a dissenting judge who was set to carve his own legal point of view gives a much needed philosophical backbone to the series.

Appears in: All four episodes.

Also starring: Tim Ahern, Paul Freeman, Serge Hazanavicius 

Where to watch: Netflix

In Treatment (2010)

(Medical drama)

 Irrfan Khan from In Treatment
Photo: Stills of Irrfan Khan from In Treatment

Synopsis: A TV drama on psychotherapist Dr. Paul Weston’s sessions with his patients in his own home. 

Irrfan Khan’s Role: Sunil Sanyal

Khan is perhaps best known to the US audience for his Season 3 role on HBO’s In Treatment, where he played retired math professor Sunil from Bengal, who is coping with his wife’s death. He reluctantly visits Paul to discuss this and his subsequent displacement to the U.S.

Appears in: Season 3 premiere episode

Also starring: Gabriel Byrne

Where to Watch: HBO, Disney + Hotstar

Jai Hanuman (1997)

(Mythological)

Irrfan Khan from Jai Hanuman
Photo: Stills of Irrfan Khan from Jai Hanuman

Synopsis: A Hindi television adaptation of the Hindu mythological epic Ramayana, from the perspective of Hanuman that aired from 1997 to 2000. It covers the birth of Hanuman and Rama and goes on till the time of Tulsidas.

Irrfan Khan’s role: Irrfan Khan played the role of sage and Sanskrit poet Valmiki.

Appears: 178 episodes

Also Starring: Siraj Mustafa Khan, Raj Premi

Where to watch:  Disney +Hotstar/ Youtube

Banegi Apni Baat (1994)

(Romcom, Slice of Life, Coming of Age)

Photo: Screenshots of Irrfan Khan from Banegi Apni Baat
Photo: Screenshots of Irrfan Khan from Banegi Apni Baat

Synopsis: Hindi teledrama that aired from 1993 to 1997 in India, depicting the ups and downs in the lives of young college kids. It was a breakthrough show that launched several famous actors and actresses into the net decade.

Irrfan Khan’s role: He played Kumar, one of the central characters. He starts off as an abusive father, who’s wife leaves the family. The character development of Kumar from a careless father, to a man who learns from his mistakes and takes care of his family, is one f the key themes of the show.

Also starring: R Madhavan, Firdaus Dadi 

Where to watch: Zee5

Chandrakanta (1994)

(Mythological, fantasy, period drama)

Irrfan Khan in Chandrakanta
Photo: Screenshot from Chandrakanta

Synopsis: A star crossed love story between two enemy kingdoms’ prince and princess, based on Neerja Guleri’s book by the same name. The princess also becomes an object of desire for a villainous king who resorts to war and black magic to win her hand in marriage.

Irrfan Khan’s role: Irrfan apparently reluctantly agreed to the future in this fantasy show, after his friend Shahbaaz Khan requested him. He quickly earned fame by his meticulous portrayal of twins Badrinath and Somnath, who have very distinct personalities.

Also starring: Shikha Swaroop, Shahbaaz Khan

Where to watch: Youtube (Some episodes are missing)

Bharat Ek Khoj (1988)

(Historical, docudrama)

Irrfan Kan from Bharat Ek Khoj
Photo: Stills of Irrfan Kan from Bharat Ek Khoj

Synopsis: A 53-episode Indian historical drama based on India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s book The Discovery of India (1946), which covers a 5000-year history of India from its beginnings to independence from the British in 1947.

Irrfan Khan’s role: Irrfan reprised several well-known figures in this with the most prevalent one being Al Beruni

Also starring: Roshan Seth, Om Puri, Tom Alter

Where to watch: YouTube

Other noteworthy mentions include Kiirdar (1993), Star Bestsellers (1999), The Great Maratha (1994), etc. This list is in order of newest to the oldest show to have released, and only includes the ones you can find online to watch.

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‘Where Your Eyes Linger’, First BL Kdrama, Announced

Are you into BL or Boys Love? Then get ready to add this upcoming title from Korea to your ever-growing guilty pleasure list. 

Naver just put out a report announcing web drama ‘Where Your Eyes Linger’, which Son Jin Ah, Double You Story, and EnergDic would jointly produce.

The drama is expected to have eight 10-minutes-long episodes and will be released via a dedicated streaming app on May 22.

Why should this make it to your watch-list?

If the makers’ are to be believed, this would be first-ever Korean drama that would break the stigma of homosexual relationships with BL content.

Apart from the obvious appeal of Boys Love centric story, this web series will feature Han Ki-Chan of ‘Produce 101’ fame and Jang, Eui-soo, who had previously appeared in dramas ‘Bad Papa’ and ‘Psychometry That Guy’.

Actress Choi Gyu Ri, known for featuring in music videos in Super Junior’s ‘Magic’ and BTOB’s ‘Dear Bride’, will also be seen in this upcoming web drama.

Award-winning director Hwang Da Suel will be in charge of the direction of this project.

He had previously penned the web drama ‘Love As You Taste’ and picked up the 2018 Catholic Film Festival award in the short film category for ‘Spring In Summer’.

Synopsis

Hang Gi Chan and Jang Eui Soo in ‘Where Your Eyes Linger

‘Where Your Eyes Linger’ or ‘Where Your Eyes Stay’ will tell the story of hot-blooded Taejoo, who belongs to a Chaebol family. He is a self-proclaimed heir who doesn’t lack any more or resources.

The special friend he keeps by his side as a bodyguard is the enigmatic Guk. They will be joined by other characters who both complicate and bring to light the unique dynamic between these two boys.

A theatrical version will release in Korea in June. Japanese fans can catch the show via the Rakuten website, and it is expected to release in more than 200 countries.

[Source: Naver]

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Nites TV no more, but alternatives exist

Nites TV has met its inevitable end after growing concerns over user safety, and copyright infringement got DMCA to shut it down.

If you are dismayed at losing access to all the movies and TV shows that Nites TV promised us for free, we have explored a few alternatives that may you cheer up.

Before we go into listing a few of such options though, we would like to clarify that by no means would we advise or encourage our readers to stream content illegally. Please use this information wisely with sound judgment and with awareness (and in compliance) of your local laws

Now that we have the disclaimer out of our way, lets dig in.

AZM

AZM.to is a website similar to Nites TV that has popped up recently, that streams the latest movies in HD for free. It has a vibrant catalog that includes popular foreign language movies from across Asia, apart from your usual Hollywood suspects.

While AZM specializes in only HD movies, its sister site Noxx has all the TV shows you want.

AZM is truly a copy of Nites TV in terms of how the site looks like, and how it functions by hosting multiple streaming platforms on its servers. Even its copyright disclaimer sounds notoriously similar.

“Disclaimer: No copyrighted or illegal content is hosted on this website. all content is hosted on non-affiliated third-party websites.”

Thus the legal and safety concerns with this site are similar to that of Nites TV. If you are worried, we have addressed these legal and safety concerns in detail here.

Tubi TV

If you are concerned about your safety and don’t want to risk legal action by accessing your content through sites whose legitimacy is under doubt, but still paying for content is not an option, then Tubi TV is an alternative you may want to explore.

Tubi is an ad-supported video-on-demand service with over 20,000 movies and television shows from major Hollywood studios.

Tubi is available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and can be accessed on over 25 devices – the most of any ad-supported video-on-demand service, if their claim is to be believed.

Streamio

This is a media platform that allows you to watch movies, series, YouTube channels instantly. You can watch a wide variety of content in HD, with subtitles. It mostly works on the peer-to-peer video sharing concept.

What makes its library super-rich is it sources its content directly from legit streaming platforms like Netflix Filmon, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and so on. It also allows you to cast on your preferred screen using DLNA, Chromecast, or AppleTV.

It also comes with an add-on that lets you stream torrents. The freemium version has limited functions, obviously, but you can get full access with a one time fee.

Popcorn Time

This multi-platform service is a mecca for endless streamable videos. It is open-source, and hence free. It runs on a program that fetches torrents directly from the swarm and thus there’s hardly a cap to how much you can stream on it.

It also supports HD viewing, and comes with multilingual subtitles and dubs. The best thing is that it runs on almost any operating system – Windows, Mac, Android, Linux and even Android TV.

Its endless catalog can get overwhelming to use, but if you know what you are looking for, this is the best free opensource streaming service out there.
It has a long-standing history of being resilient to government regulations, and keep making comebacks, whenever taken down.

ZION

Out of all the alternatives we explored, this one seemed to have the most refreshing take on movie streaming. Zion is an app-only-based streaming platform that promises the latest popular TV shows and movies available across OTT platforms in one space.

It is specifically designed for android TV and hence supports most casting devices. It gives you access to torrent services like Debrid so you can download, stream and cast simultaneously on your home device.

It also supports subtitles that you can directly search from its third-party library, and also allows to you pick up where you left off.

The catch is that all of this is only available for free if you join their Zion Club, and right now they are running promotions for a free lifetime membership if you share TvZion links with your friends.

Perhaps, this one is also a more legit-sounding approach to making its free-to-watch library accessible.