Ott consumption had turned to normal after the pandemic started. Initially, when the theatres were shut due to Covid protocols, movie releases shifted to the online medium, and OTT releases became the norm. Now, slowly transitioning back to pre-pandemic norms, theatres have opened up completely to the general public.
To adjust to this transition period the exhibitors and filmmakers had earlier reached an understanding that the films would release on OTT platforms after a four-week theatre run, this was to ensure that the producers wouldn’t suffer from lower revenue from the box office. But, now that most theatres are running house full shows and there were movies that went on to set record collections at the box office the producers and exhibitors are reworking their arrangements.
It has been confirmed that after August 1 the window for when the movies will get an OTT release will be extended to 8 weeks.
Film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi explained, “It’s a mutually agreed-upon call. Movies like RRR and KGF - Chapter 2 have done over Rs. 1000 crores net business. Films like The Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 have done exceedingly well. JugJugg Jeeyo, too, has done really well. In that sense, the business has come back to normal. With absolute mutual consent and agreement between the production sector and exhibition sector, I believe movies are going back to having an eight-week window for the simple reason that it is in the interest of the producers. The streaming and satellite rights are sold for a fixed price. If the movie does exceedingly well on these platforms, there’s no upside to that. However, the box office is the only place that gives you an unprecedented lopsided upside. That’s the reason why every filmmaker would want to try and get a share of this pie. That can only happen when you give it a proper chance at the box office, that is, when the audience is not thinking in terms of ‘yeh film toh 2-4 Hafton Mein OTT pe aa hi Jaayegi’. More than anything else, it’s about rebuilding the habit of the audience wanting to watch movies in theatres. And this only benefits the producers eventually. The more the box office collections are, the more the producers stand to gain.”
