WILL BOLLYWOOD TALK THE OTT BAIT?
With theatres shut on account of Coronavirus pandemic,
the film industry all over the world has taken a hit. Bollywood, too,
is no exception. We have discussed in the past editions of Bollywood
Talk about films that were to release in the months of March, April and
May which got sadly pushed as theatres were ordered to be shut. Many of
these films were fully ready. And it’s no surprise that the OTT giants have begun to eye these movies.
As
we all know, right now, TV and streaming platforms are booming and have
got record viewership since people are all locked down in their homes.
Hence, they are consuming unusually high amount of content, which they
wouldn’t have done if the situation was normal. The OTT platforms
obviously are laughing all the way to the bank. But they too are
concerned since after a point, they won’t have anything new to offer as
even their productions have been halted. Hence, in order to keep the
interest going, they have started approaching makers of all the films
that were scheduled for release in the near future. One might expect
that they’ll approach only filmmakers of smaller and medium-sized films.
However, they have been sending feelers to producers of biggies as
well. Thankfully, Reliance Entertainment, the producers of ’83 and Sooryavanshi, have refused to take the bait and are preferring to wait. Same with Salman Khan-starrer Radhe.
However, the industry and trade were left shocked as it came to light that Fox Star Studios, Akshay Kumar, Tusshar Kapoor and Shabinaa Khan are in advanced talks with Disney+ Hotstar for their film Laxmmi Bomb. It has Akshay in the lead and is one of the biggest and one of the most awaited films of 2020. It was to in fact clash with Radhe on Eid 2020.
Hence, many were astonished that such a big film is opting for
direct-to-digital release. There’s no confirmation on how much Disney+
Hotstar is offering them but it surely must be an excessive amount.
The
Laxmmi Bomb makers haven’t still signed on the dotted line. However,
the fact that they are in talks and that they haven’t denied the reports
has led to anger and even concern among the exhibitors. The theatres
have been shut since mid-March and are running into heavy losses. They
don’t just have to pay salary employees but also bear the overhead costs. Also, once cinemas began, they’ll have to further invest in sanitation measures,
which will further give them a financial blow. Hence, they are just
hoping that more and more big films release so that they can earn
profit. And Laxmmi Bomb is one such film which they were looking
forward to big time. As a result, the speculations of it going on
Disney+ Hotstar has naturally infuriated them. They are also worried
that filmmakers of many smaller and mid-sized flicks might also follow
suit, motivated by Laxmmi Bomb episode. That, in turn, will led to
closure of some cinema halls and loss of jobs for it’s staff.
The
scenario arose in the South as well but there, the exhibitors have much
more power and have resorted to extreme measures. When it came to light
that Ponmagal Vandhal, produced by Suriya’s wife Jyothika will come directly on Amazon Prime after it failed to release on March 27 as it scheduled, it led to a lot of brouhaha. The Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association
have in fact threatened to ban films produced by or featuring Suriya if
Ponmagal Vandhal directly arrives on OTT. It won’t be a surprise if our
theatre owners also take a similar, drastic step.
Fenil’s Bollywood Talk # 619
