It was revealed that the makers of actress Jyothika’s courtroom drama -- Ponmagal Vanthal have decided to directly release the film on Amazon Prime Video, rather than wait for theatres to open post lockdown. Suriya’s 2D Entertainment has produced the film. The Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association has taken strong objection to it and has also decided to ban the movie.
Back in Bollywood, there are reports of several producers taking the same route. There is a strong buzz in the industry that Akshay Kumar-starrer – Laxxmi Bomb, a remake of South film Muni 2: Kanchana, Kabir Khan directorial 83, Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil and many others might take the OTT route owing to the busy Fridays in the coming months and too many films lined up for release.
The Multiplex Association of India (MAI) too, in an official statement, has appealed to artists, producers and content creators to release feature films on the big screen, instead of directly releasing them on OTT platforms. “The coronavirus pandemic has seen the cinema sector suffer massive financial losses, with thousands of screens countrywide forced to close down, and many employees, not just of cinemas, but even their supply chains and other stakeholders, facing personal hardship. The situation is truly unprecedented and unparalleled,” read a statement issued by MAI.
“It is crucial that the entire industry unites in rallying against the existential threat to our collective well-being, and that we tackle the crisis unitedly for the sake of our audiences as well as our supply chains and other stakeholders. MAI would like to urge all studio partners, producers, artists and content creators to support the cinema exhibition sector, a vital part of the value chain, by holding and releasing their films in the theatres, once they open again. To this end, we urge all studios, producers, artistes and other content creators, to kindly respect the exclusive theatrical window, which has been a time-tested industry practice, agreed to by all stakeholders, not just in India, but even globally, for several decades,” the statement added.
MAI believes that when this crisis passes, the combination of the pent-up demand and the promise of new movies would boost film business and contribute massively in reviving the industry.
Following the news of Gunjan Saxena releasing on the OTT platform, filmmaker Karan Johar took to Twitter and wrote, “My hugest request to my media friends not to reach any assumptions on our fraternity films... these are challenging times for the business, and false news only makes the situation worse! Please wait for official news on any account!! This is a humble request.”
Siddharth Anand Kumar, Vice President, Films and Television Saregama, India says that it’s an individual call and one needs to see how much money is at stake and whether producers should wait for the lockdown to get over to release their films.
But OTT platforms will not pay the kind of money that’s invested in a project. Kumar says that any producer will only give their film to an OTT player if it makes business sense to them. “If it doesn’t, I am sure they will not want to, so again it’s really an individual choice,” he adds.
Theatre needs to open soon
The Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India has now requested the government to start opening theatres, owing to the enormous business losses they are facing. “I have already sent our request to the government to permit to open theatres by June. Just like other businesses, they have to start opening theatres area wise. We will follow all the necessary steps of maintaining social distancing, sanitisation and not allowing too many people. But we need to start the theatres soon; otherwise, we won’t be able to pay our employees,” says Nitin Datar, president, Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India.
Deepak Kudale, former president and member of the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India, adds that they will make provision for double seating. If they start theatres in June, they will not need air conditioners too. “We can manage with fans and will try to maintain social distancing as much as possible. We hope theatres open around Ramzan because we get a lot of crowd.”
Datar says that if films do not release in theatres, it’s going to affect the government too. “Through the ticket sales, we collect taxes for the Centre and the State, which they will not get otherwise. The government has also faced a lot of losses,” he says.
But will Hindi film producers take the risk of releasing their films when there is no guarantee of masses coming to the theatres? Datar says that keeping that in mind, they have suggested that maybe they can screen regional films. “Right now regional films are badly affected, we can screen these films and maybe there will certain audience who would like to see these films in theatres.”
On the other hand, Kumar also hopes that multiplexes also understand the losses and ramifications of producers who have films that are stuck and on the verge of release, and not force rules and restrictions if a producer decides to release a movie on OTT.
