Bollywood: Any new film will come on OTT platform only after two months of coming to theaters

Bollywood is not having a good time for a long time. New films are not getting audience. Only a few films are working as expected in theatres. OTT is also being considered responsible for this. In such a situation, it has now been decided to resume the old practice of releasing new Bollywood films on OTT only after two months of their release in theatres. Hopefully this will give cinemas enough days to do business.

When the trend of releasing films on OTT started in the country, it was agreed that there should be a gap of at least eight weeks between the date of release in theaters and the date of release on OTT. Now that practice will return. However, according to trade sources, an OTT deal has already been done for Ranbir Kapoor’s Shamshera. So, as per the commitment, it is possible that the film reaches OTT within a month of its release. During the Corona period, theaters started at different times in different states of the country even after many films were released directly on OTT instead of theaters. The occupancy limit was also different in all the states. Theaters in Mumbai did not start for a long time and even after that the occupancy remained only 30 percent for a long time. In such circumstances, an agreement was reached between the multiplex association, distribution companies and producers to allow the film to be released on OTT within four weeks of its release in theatres, so that the producers’ money could be released sooner.

Now the theater business has returned to normal in the last few months. Movies including RRR and Bhubhulaiya 2 have earned records but on the other hand many films are not doing well at the box office. The makers believe that the audience already knows that the film will hit OTT in four weeks, so they choose not to go to the theatres. In this case, if the gap between theatrical release and OTT release is two months as before, then the audience can return to the theaters to watch the film at the earliest. An agreement has been reached between the multiplex association and the distribution companies in this regard.

However, some trade sources say that all these arguments are meaningless. Movies like RRR may come on OTT but people will go to theaters to enjoy it on the big screen. Recently, several weeks after the release of first Pushpa and then Bhulbhulaiya on OTT, housefull boards were swinging in the theaters.