Producer’s call on film where to release a
The Covid-19 pandemic has pretty much wiped out the release calendar in Bollywood this year. Like everyone in the industry, Rakul Preet Singh is also facing the heat of this crisis, with as many as six of her films in the limbo, but she is not fretting.
“There is no point having a plan of action. Everyone is just hoping that we get a clean chit for shooting but that will only happen when there is enough room for treatment,” she says.
Singh admits that she is itching to go back to work as she hasn’t been at home for this long ever since she became an actor. “Two of my Hindi films (Attack, and a film with Arjun Kapoor) were nearly finished, and I was supposed to start the third, besides three other films in the South. Right now, I am hoping at least one place opens before the other, so I can sort dates,” explains Singh, 29.
This crisis has also brought the prospect of the OTT platforms becoming the preferred medium for producers to release their films. While Singh admits that as an actor she does not worry much about the platform, she says,
“Big films like Sooryavanshi are theatre films. I would want these films to be out in cinemas because the magic of the big screen is different.”
However, given the gravity of the situation and the financial aspect of the business, the actor feels that producers should have the last word in such a scenario. “Once films are ready, it is a producer’s call to release it theatrically or digitally. If they think digital is right, they are the best ones to decide,” she says.