Change is the only constant in the world and when the going gets tough, the ‘tough’ needs to get going as well to prove Charles Darwin’s ‘Survival of the fittest’ theory correct. Yes, one might have gotten results following the same repeated pattern again and again. But the ‘unpredictability’ part is what makes things difficult for any industry. Well, in this regard, the Indian entertainment industry is no different as well. If we talk about the era before Covid-19, we simply couldn’t imagine movies released directly on OTT after literally skipping the theatre by choice. It’s almost like cinema was always tailor-made for 70mm celluloid and the OTT platform would be limited to just web series and original shows. However, after Covid-19, things changed drastically. Some of the biggest filmmakers and production houses were forced to release their movies as projects had seen delays of months, sometimes more than a year as well. It was the audience and their binging habit during the 2020 lockdown period which made the makers think that releasing a movie directly on OTT could also be a profitable option. While some movie makers opted to play safe and directly release their films on OTT to ensure a break-even point, some managed to hold onto their conviction by releasing the film only in cinemas. Well, the initial 50% occupancy rule certainly didn’t help their cause and it made people rethink and restrategize as to what and how they exactly want things to be. However, there’s a difference between films forced to directly release on OTT platforms because of cinemas being shut and films that have happily chosen to release directly on OTT despite the option of cinemas being there.
As far as 2022 is concerned, it’s no hidden secret that some of the movies have struggled to reach even break-even points. In fact before Brahmastra this year, the only Hindi movie which was directly released in cinemas and managed to earn a good enough profit was Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. In testing times like these, it’s only normal for makers and their confidence gets shaken up a little bit because at the end of the day, it’s an industry and everyone wants to ensure their bread and butter is safe. So today, we have listed some movies and actors who were smart enough to directly release their movies this year on OTT by completely skipping the theatre. The reasons could be many. For some, it might be the pressure of the box office being too much to handle whereas, for some, the reach of OTT platforms could be the reason. Either way, we have listed down a list of movies which skipped theatres and going by statistics so far, we can say that the reason to skip theatres was certainly a good one for them.
Janhvi Kapoor (Good Luck Jerry): Janhvi Kapoor is certainly one of the most promising young talents in the country and her debut happened on celluloid in 2018 with a bang. For a young actress like her who wants to become a mainstream commercial heroine, skipping the theatre and opting for a direct OTT release was quite a brave call. And well, ‘Good Luck Jerry’ paid rich dividends when it came to that decision. The movie was released directly on Disney Plus Hotstar despite the option of cinemas being there and within its own set of audience, it certainly did well and manage to establish Janhvi as an artiste who’s atleast putting efforts to come out of the humongous shadow of her late mother Sridevi. Good work Janhvi.
Tamannaah Bhatia (Babli Bouncer): We are talking about an actress over here who started her career at the age of 15 in the South and for more than 15 years of her career, she’s just been a part of films and the 70mm experience. But even Tamannaah Bhatia was courageous enough to be fine with a direct OTT release with Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Babli Bouncer’. The movie has received interesting views from the audience who watched it on Disney Plus Hotstar. Given the fact that the movie had a niche audience, releasing it directly on OTT and skipping the theatres was a good idea as in that case, box office pressure might have gotten the better of them.
Akshay Kumar (Cuttputlli): A few years back when Akshay Kumar was delivering smashing hits after hit, almost 2 hits on average every year, who would have thought that the same man would like to opt for a direct OTT release for one of his movies in 2022? After seeing the way Prithviraj, Bachchan Pandey, and Raksha Bandhan struggled in cinemas, Khiladi Kumar decided to go the OTT way with ‘Cuttputlli. The movie didn’t get great reviews from the audience and critics and we can certainly say that going OTT was the right decision for Akshay as it certainly helped him to shy away from his fourth consistent disaster this year.
Alia Bhatt (Darlings): Alia Bhatt made her grand debut in B-Town in 2012 and ever since then, she’s only been a part of movie projects that released in cinemas. However, after seeing the fate of humongous stars and how their movies fizzled at the box office terribly, Alia and the team perhaps thought that a direct Netflix release would be the ideal way to go ahead with it. And yes, it did. The movie earned race reviews and fans loved it on Netflix. However, had it been a theatrical release with soaring-high ticket prices, we aren’t really sure what the date of the movie would have been.
Vidya Balan (Jalsa): Vidya Balan is certainly the true ‘Sherni’ of Bollywood and at a time when it was considered that a female actor cannot carry the burden of the box office, she roared there like a tigress way back in 2012 and ensured ‘The Dirty Picture’ became a blockbuster hit just because of her magic. For someone like her, directly going to cinemas will never be a task. However, Vidya and the entire makers of Jalsa realized very smartly that instead of opting for cinemas which have 50% or less occupancy, it is any day better to go for a platform like Amazon Prime Video which will take their content to all parts of the world effortlessly. Well, it certainly was a masterstroke and Jalsa was hailed as one of the best movies that were released this year. Kudos to you VB.
Yami Gautam (A Thursday): Yami Gautam has been melting the hearts of movie lovers since ‘Vicky Donor’ days and from then onwards, she’s certainly been part of some fantastic projects. She’s one of the very few stars who actually tries more to be an ‘actress’ rather than a star and that’s what makes her unique. Her movie ‘A Thursday’ was released on Disney Plus Hotstar and got good reviews. However, we aren’t really sure what would have happened to the movie at the box office when theatres were running empty anyway. So, a smart and bold call indeed and she managed to come out with flying colours.
Riteish Deshmukh – Tamannaah Bhatia (‘Plan A Plan B’): On one hand, there are projects starring humongous stars who have the potential to raise footfalls with just their mere presence. And on the other hand, there are good actors who are big stars in their own right and always think of the entire team and what they want by putting their personal agenda behind them. Both Riteish and Tamannaah have a humongous audience and yet, they happily embraced the fact that their movie ‘Plan A Plan B’ would be a direct OTT release by skipping the theatres. The movie is an interesting take on how couples perceive love and romance and it has the perfect ‘bingeworthy’ vibes. In challenging times like these when the biggest superstars are struggling to generate revenue at the box office, this was a smart move indeed and they are certainly enjoying the benefits of the same.
Well, slowly and steadily, we are today reaching a stage in the entertainment industry where the line between a theatrical release and an OTT release is getting blurred slowly and for the better. At the end of the day, it’s all about the content and what kind of release platform would be ideal for that particular content that should be the deciding factor for makers when it comes to selecting a release platform. Here’s hoping that a direct OTT release will be looked upon by the audience with the same amount of love and excitement with which they see a theatrical release very soon. Fingers crossed and hope is what we live for.