FILMS FIND RESPITE ON OTT
With theatres being shut for the foreseeable future, makers are looking at ‘straight to digital’ releases for their movies
With the pall of uncertainty looming large over movies, a tectonic shift is underway in the film industry. Filmmakers aren’t just considering a direct-toOTT system, but also shrinking the eightith week window between theatrical and OTT release for their projects the world over.
Angrezi Medium, which became an immediate casualty of the theatre shutdown due to the Covid-19 scare, was to be rereleased, but has been put out on Disney+Hotstar. Dharala Prabhu, the Tamil remake of Hindi hit Vicky Donor (2012), is available on Amazon Prime Video, as is Telugu psychological thriller Madha. Bamfaad, which was to
mark actor
Paresh Rawal’s son Aditya’s big screen debut, is now heading straight to OTT via Zee5. And there’s buzz that Tamil film Naragasooran will also meet a similar fate.
Bamfaad director Ranjan Chandel calls it a “smart move” and feels “everyone should think about it”. “People will not start going to theatres the day the doors open. Every house’s economy has been affected, so where’s the sentiment to buy movie tickets?” he adds.
While admitting that India is still a “traditional” market that hinges on a box office barometer for a film’s success, trade expert Girish Johar conjectures a surge in direct-toOTT plans, “provided it makes financial sense for both the producers and the sites”.
In the West, even big budget films aren’t being kept out of such decisions, says Shibasish Sarkar of Reliance Entertainment, pointing out Disney’s plan to release Frozen 2 on OTT three months earlier than scheduled, and Universal Pictures’ decision to put out its theatrical releases The Invisible Man, Emma., and The Hunt via on-demand services. Trolls World Tour will also become the latter’s first official day-and-date release on April 10.
“I won’t be surprised if Indian projects, too, start looking at straight to digital as an opportunity. But everyone will have to do their calculations,” says Sarkar.