Aha (streaming service)

aha

Screenshot aha website screenshot on 8 April 2021
Type of business	Streaming media
Type of site	Video on demand Streaming media
Available in	Telugu Tamil
Founded	February 8, 2020
Headquarters	Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Country of origin	India
Area served	Worldwide
Owner	Geetha Arts My Home Group
Founder(s)	Allu Aravind
President	Allu Aravind
CEO	Ajit Thakur
Industry	Streaming Entertainment
Products	Streaming media Video on demand Digital distribution
Services	On-demand video streaming
Parent	Arha Media & Broadcasting Private Limited
URL	www.aha.video
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Required
Users	1.5 Million (paid; as of November 2021)
Launched	March 25, 2020.
Current status	Active

aha is an Indian over-the-top streaming service which offers Telugu and Tamil-language content. It is owned by Arha Media & Broadcasting Private Limited, a joint venture between Geetha Arts and My Home Group. The service was soft launched on 25 January 2020 and launched officially on 25 March 2020, coinciding with Ugadi, the Telugu New Year.

History

Allu Aravind revealed that he was enamoured with the digital environment and developed a habit of binge-watching. Soon he came up with the idea of starting a streaming platform for hosting solely Telugu content. He then discussed the idea with his family, who encouraged him and which led to talks with Jupally Rameswar Rao, who joined as a partner in the venture. Ajit Thakur heads the platform.

Market and expansion

After opting for a soft launch on 8 February 2020 an event named aha Preview was conducted where all the film makers who worked on ''aha Originals'' attended and presented their work. In November 2020, aha announced actor Allu Arjun as its brand ambassador. The platform has acquired one million subscribers within a year of its launch, and by July 2021, it has over 1.5-million paid subscribers and 40-million-plus users, catering predominantly to the markets of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.

In August 2021, aha launched aha kids, a sub-brand focusing on children's programming. It is scheduled to launch on 10 September, coinciding with Vinayaka Chavithi. aha 2.0 was launched in November 2021 on a cloud-native platform from Firstlight Media.

The Tamil language version of Aha was launched in February 2022.

Original programming

The service began its operation by acquiring digital rights of films such as Arjun Suravaram, Kaithi (Telugu dubbed version) and Choosi Choodangaane.

Original shows and series

The original scripted content which debuted on the service during the soft launch was Kotha Poradu, Shithappens and Geetha Subhramanyam 2020. Masti's created by Krish debuted on 8 February 2020. For the first year, the scripted original content included 25 original shows. Talk show Sam Jam with Samantha Akkineni as its host premiered on aha on 13 November 2020. Aha has planning to offer over 50 original shows for the year 2021. Aha Talk show Unstoppable With NBK with Nandamuri Balakrishna ranked 5th on IMDB among the top 10 reality shows.

Series list

Original films

The following original films debuted on the service during the COVID-19 pandemic; most films which had scheduled theatrical releases have been shifted to online release. Aha have acquired many films to be presented as aha original films.