When producers announced that they were going to skip theatrical release and go in for direct OTT streaming, theatre owners were up in arms about the decision. They were unhappy that films that could draw in crowds once the lockdown ended were bypassing them. However, four months since the closure of theatres, most of the films that released on OTT platforms have received a lukewarm response from viewers.
The first south Indian film, not counting the offbeat indie film Sethum Aayiram Pon, to have a direct OTT release in this period was the long delayed RK Nagar in Tamil. The film came out briefly on Netflix in December last year but was removed. It quietly re-released on April 29. However, the insipid comedy with Vaibhav in the lead failed to make a splash.
In mid-May, Amazon Prime Video announced that it had acquired seven Indian films, including five south Indian films, for direct OTT release. The news led to much hand-wringing and even threats from theatre owners. For instance, in Tamil Nadu, there was talk of theatres boycotting Suriya’s films since his production house 2D had decided to go for a direct OTT release with Ponmagal Vandhal, starring his wife and actor Jyotika in the lead. Other south Indian films to directly release on Amazon Prime Video were Penguin (Tamil), Sufiyum Sujatayum (Malayalam), Law (Kannada) and French Biriyani (Kannada).
Notably, of these five films, three are women-led. The argument doing the rounds was that these films were small budget releases which would have had to jostle with big films for space in theatres, and so it made sense for them to skip the theatrical release. However, none of the five films managed to excite viewers despite the extensive marketing around their release. All of them received either negative or mixed reviews.
Netflix, however, has had better luck with its new south Indian direct OTT releases. The platform premiered two Telugu films, Krishna and his Leela and Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya. Though both the films dropped without much fanfare, they have received mostly positive reviews. In fact, Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya is currently trending on Netflix’s Top 10 India list.
While Disney+Hotstar is yet to release any new south Indian film directly, Zee5 has brought out two Tamil films – Cocktail and Danny. Both received unanimously poor reviews. Aha!, an OTT platform exclusively for Telugu films, premiered Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, a romcom about two people in their 30s who find love. The film received good reviews but the audience was limited since Aha! is a much smaller platform than the well-known players.
Subtitlist and content writer Salesh Dipak Fernando, who closely follows cinema, says that he’s disappointed with the quality of south Indian films that have come out in the past few months.
“Films releasing on OTT is always a welcome move. In a crowded calendar, smaller films rarely make a noise at the box-office. OTT platforms give space for smaller films to find the right audience. However, the quality of the films leaves a lot to be desired. Except for Krishna and his Leela and Sethum Aayiram Pon, the other films have been so-so despite featuring familiar leads. I believe the quality of OTT releases is always going to be a mixed bag even in the future,” he says.
Film enthusiast and critic Harish Mallya points out that with theatres remaining closed, these new releases have been welcomed with the enthusiasm of a theatrical release by avid cinema-goers. While Netflix treats these direct OTT releases like any other licensed content premiering on its platform, Amazon Prime Video has been promoting the films more aggressively. For instance, on Thursday, the OTT platform released a video of Danish Sait and Vidya Balan having a chat to promote their respective films French Biriyani and Shakuntala Devi which are streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
So far, however, viewers feel the content does not match up.
“Due to the pandemic, OTTs have become a window to the world ofcontent. There has been a paradigm shift and people are engaging themselves in Indian as well as non-Indian content streaming on OTT. The exclusive releases have grabbed high attention and are treated like Friday theatrical releases. However, it is disappointing to note that many among these exclusives have turned out to be mediocre, and some are way below average. The primary reason for this seems to be the OTTs chasing the stars and big banners rather than good content. The Kannada and Tamil releases, especially on Amazon Prime Video, were not of quality standard when it came to the writing, and many viewers expressed their dissatisfaction about the same. They said that when they watch something from Spain, Korea or Poland, they don’t care about the banner or stars but watch it just for the content. The approach of Indian OTTs giving more importance to stars than content is quite flawed and disheartening, it will never rise to a level to compete with what comes from other parts of the world,” he says.
Software engineer Fahir Maithutty, who writes frequently on Malayalam cinema, points out that no big budgeted or big star movie from the south has released directly on OTT. He says, “I don’t think the direct OTT releases from south India have been able to generate the intended enthusiasm among small screen viewers. Firstly, big budgeted or big star movies from south India are still waiting for theatre release and are not ready to come out on OTT. On the other hand, in Bollywood, you see an Akshay Kumar movie, Laxmi Bomb, all set to release on Disney+Hotstar directly. Secondly, even the few movies that have released like Penguin, Ponmagal Vandhal or Sufiyum Sujatayum have been below average or have failed to garner enough word of mouth. This means that they haven’t been able to set an example for others to follow in OTT. There are only one or two exceptions like Bhanumathi Ramakrishna that have stood out.”
As a regular theatre-goer, Salesh adds that he’s unable to focus on the technical quality of a film on OTT platforms.
“I’m not able to enjoy the technical aspects of the film, especially the sound. That is one thing I miss about the theatre experience,” he says.
The average theatre-goer may sit through a bad film even if it fails to reel them in because they have made the effort to go to the theatre. Watching a film on an OTT platform, however, is an entirely different ballgame. If the film is not gripping or enjoyable enough, a viewer can lose interest easily. Moreover, there is a wide variety of content on OTT platforms with subtitles, and viewers are spoilt for choice. For a film to do well, it should be of good if not exceptional quality.
Filmmakers can sign pay-per-view or flat rate contracts with OTT platforms. These details are confidential but sources have, on an average, put a price of Rs 3 crores to Rs 8 crores on these south Indian releases. However, the highly anticipated films from the south, like Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham or Master, will suffer heavy losses if sold for a similar price, considering their budget. The viewing experience of these lavish productions may also be curtailed on the small screen; a Vijay film, for instance, is made with the theatre experience in mind and releasing it on OTT first will come as a huge disappointment to fans. These producers are therefore holding on to their films till the lockdown is lifted completely, though it will take time for theatres to reopen and for the crowds to come back.
While theatre owners and producers appeared to be on opposing sides as far as OTT direct releases are concerned, in the southern industries at least they seem to be inadvertently on the same page. As for disappointed fans, they can take some consolation in the fact that they didn’t spend extra money on buying tickets.
“There’s still time for things to come back to normal and for people to hit the theatres. Hopefully, the OTTs will learn from the feedback and work on getting quality content rather than just succumbing to stars and big banners,” says Harish.