Battle of the screens: Should theatrical films head to OTT soon after their big screen run?

With movies such as Doctor G, Code Name Tiranga, Goodbye, Laal Singh Chadha among others releasing on OTT platforms soon after their theatrical run, a new trend seems to be taking over the industry. On the other hand, actor Parineeti Chopra recently took to Instagram to urge audiences to watch her latest film Uunchai in theatres stating that it won’t have a digital release anytime soon. Ask if the gap between a film’s theatrical release and its eventual OTT release should be more, and experts have divided opinion.

Anirudh Iyer, director of An Action Hero says, “If people do not go to theatres to watch a certain kind of film, you still want it to be seen somewhere. Any avenue is good as long as people are watching it. Now, a new term has popped up — theatrical or OTT release. For me, a film is a film.”

However, Iyer agrees that a movie hitting the web too soon jeopardises its box-office performance: “Now, people have the option to either watch it [in a theatre] or not. The fear of missing a movie in theatre is gone. That is a big concern for us.”

The gap between the theatrical of a film and the digital release was revised to eight weeks from four weeks in August this year and many still feel that movies should not be released on OTT too soon.

Trade analyst Komal Natha shares, “The time frame for a film to go digital should increase. Ideally, there should be a gap of four to six months. Many people don’t go to the theatres thinking that the film will eventually hit the OTT platforms and that adversely affects the business.”

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh adds in agreement: “If you release the film immediately on OTT, it harms the business of the movie. A gap of eight weeks is important. After that, it should be up to the makers to decide when they want to release their film on OTT. We need to nurture the theatrical business. It is more important.”

Referring to Chopra’s post, producer Amul V Mohan points that it’s entirely up to the producers how they want to “exploit” the film. He elaborates, “They might not want to give the film to streaming platforms right now, but they would do so later. Producers sell the digital rights, music, and satellite rights of a film, and if they feel they will get the right amount after selling these later, then they should go for that option.”

That being said, the decision to push a film for an OTT release depends on several factors and largely on its box office performance.

“Bhool Bhulaiyaa was running in the theatres when it also got released on Netflix,” points Freddy co-producer Jay Shewakramani, adding, “Ultimately, it is the excitement that a film generates. If it doesn’t, then people are more than happy to watch it on OTT. But if a production house is certain that they won’t have their film come on OTT so soon after its theatrical release, case in point Uunchai, for me, it is a great move.”