Guwahati: Six engineering students have developed an online portal, Movietonne, where users can stream films in languages of the Northeast at a minimal price.

The portal was inaugurated here on Saturday.

"We have been working on this project for the last two years. Our main objective is to promote and preserve regional films, especially from the Northeast, though we will also focus on other language films. Users can watch any film for Rs 40," said Manas Pratim Kalita, chief operating officer of the project.

"There are a lot of good films in languages like Khasi, Mizo, Karbi and Bodo as well as Assamese which don't get a wide release and hence viewers miss the chance to watch them. This portal will give them an opportunity to watch these films," he said.

The portal has been developed by Spandan Keot, Sangita Kalita, Jutika Das, Udipta Gogoi and Gunajit Sarma, all engineering graduates from Girijananda Institute of Management and Technology here.

"Good to see that one can enjoy an Assamese film at Rs 40. But the people behind the website should concentrate on increasing content. It is a great opportunity to watch movies one may have missed in the theatres," said an user.

"As of now, we have two servers and they are mostly used for enhancing the security of the website. We have already put up 18 movies on the portal. We are trying to increase the number to 50 very soon," Kalita said.

He said the portal would also welcome producers of national and international award-winning films to release their films online through Movietonne.

"We will mainly focus on the digitally-literate audience in the first phase because there are still people who cannot afford to purchase mobile phones which cost Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000," said Keot, the chief executive officer of the project.

The film-streaming platform was launched as a tribute to Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, considered the doyen of the Assamese film industry. The name Movietonne is inspired from Chitralekha Movietone, under which Agarwala started to direct films.

The total expenditure of the project depends upon the number of films put up on the portal. Kalita said if the number of films crosses a hundred, the Movietonne team will need more than two servers, which will definitely increase the expenses.

The Movietonne team will release Android and iOS apps in the future and also upload short films and documentaries.

Chairman of Jyoti Chitraban, Pabitra Margherita, designer Garima Saikia Garg, journalist Nitumani Saikia, veteran director Pulak Gogoi and film critic Bitupon Borbora were present at the launch.