Ford v Ferrari is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

While the lockdown is starting to ease in many parts of the country, social distancing is still the norm of the day. Amid following the new guidelines of safety, many are preferring to stay indoors and continue their work from home. Life within limited space can surely get mundane, but streaming platforms have surely come as a saviour in these unprecedented times.

Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot Select, AltBalaji, Zee5, Sony LIV, Apple TV+ and other streaming platforms are putting their best foot forward so that their audience can get the best possible content. In the last few days, Netflix’s Bulbbul, Sony LIV’s Bhosle, Disney+ Hotstar’s Aarya have gotten a great response from the audience.

Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming series Breathe: Into The Shadows is the next big OTT release. The show marks Abhishek Bachchan’s debut on the web platform.

Disney+ Hotstar is also increasing the stakes in the OTT space as the streaming platform is releasing as many as seven Bollywood films. These films are – Dil Bechara, Sadak 2, Bhuj, The Big Bul, Laxmmi Bomb, Khuda Hafiz and Lootcase. This comes after Amazon Prime Video released Ayushmann Khurrana and Amitabh Bachchan starrer Gulabo Sitabo. Vidya Balan’s Shakuntala Devi is also set to release on the platform soon. Other OTT releases include Janhvi Kapoor starrer Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl that is coming out on Netflix.

Among the international content on OTT platforms, Netflix’s Dark Season 3 seemed to please the viewers. Indianexpress.com’s Kshitij Rawat wrote in his review of the series, “Dark has been one of my all-time favourite Netflix Original series, and would easily make it to my list of best five science-fiction series. I first tried this German series because I was told it was Stranger Things, only, well, darker. And indeed, the first few episodes did make it seem as though it was Stranger Things set in an infinitely bleaker parallel universe. But Dark soon became its own thing, with a complex mythology that was knotty enough to rival Lost.”

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Here's what you can watch on OTT platforms today.

14:57 (IST)01 Jul 2020

Ford v Ferrari: Disney+ Hotstar

Starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, Ford v Ferrari is an Oscar-nominated sports drama film. The film's story is set during the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France where Ford has sent in its best people to defeat the racing champions, Ferrari. The film received rave reviews at the time of its release. Ford v Ferrari is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Anvita Dutt's directorial debut Bulbbul enthralled viewers. The haunting tale set during the 1800s in Bengal was mystifying and melancholic. Producer Anushka Sharma has received a lot of acclaim for backing good content via her production house Clean Slate Films. It is to be noted that Bulbbul comes shortly after Amazon Prime Video's hit web series Pataal Lok, which was also backed by Sharma.

Director Anvita Dutt told indianexpress.com, "It was very exciting for me. The neoclassical period is anyway a very fascinating world. From the director of photography, art, costumes, everyone was on the same page. I just told them that I want every scene to look like a Raja Ravi Varma painting. We went with that vision and everything was very authentic. A lot of research went into it as the setting plays an important part while telling a fairytale. I am just relieved that we managed to pull it off."

Anushka Sharma spoke about the film and said, "The journey of Bulbbul, from innocence to strength, happens because of certain things that happened to her. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a balanced world. So there are a lot of times when you feel like you get pushed to the corner. You get undermined. You are underappreciated. And these are things that I and Anvita can talk from a professional point of view, but then there’s also a social part of it where women are literally not ever made to feel empowered. They are not allowed to grow. When you experience all of these, right from the time you are a little girl, you start to get aware of gender. What that does is it constantly makes you feel angry that you ultimately find that strength in you and transform into a stronger version of yourself, a more resilient version."

Half the year has passed and so far we have seen some top-notch shows from various platforms. Some of the best web shows of 2020 include - Amazon Prime Video's Pataal Lok and Panchayat, VootSelect's Asur, Disney+ Hotstar's Special Ops and Aarya.

We have also seen some good content when it comes to international web series. Amazon Prime Video's Upload was an engaging series that created a new world while also delivering an interesting storyline. Apple TV+'s Defending Jacob starring Chris Evans was a slow-burner in the beginning, but as the episodes moved on, the story just got meatier. Netflix's mini-series Unorthodox told the emotional tale of a woman who is stuck in a world that is crippled by customs. Gente-fied, also by Netflix, gave a light-hearted tale of second-generation immigrants in America. Lastly, Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington starrer Little Fires Everywhere told a story about motherhood and its many faces.

With the second half of the year kicking off, it's time to see how the OTT platforms continue to engage their audience.

What to watch on July 1: Movies and web series to watch online

Here are the shows and movies you can stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, ALTBalaji, SonyLIV, ZEE5, Apple TV+ and Voot among more.

Here's what you can watch on OTT platforms today.