OTT premiers best bet for small films over big ones

Although filmmakers and producers of big and small budget movies are eyeing OTT route for a direct release, young director-producer Surender feels that it suits the small movies over star-studded ones. "Its a perfect window for small budget and content-driven movies," he says firmly after pocketing a decent profit by screening his maiden movie 'Amrutharamam' on a digital platform on April 29 and set a trend of sorts in T-town. He reportedly made the love story starring new faces with a shoe-string budget of Rs 1.5 crore and sold it for Rs 2 crore. "Like other filmmakers, I also wanted my film to be released in theatres, but corona outbreak forced me to take a different route, kind of blessing in disguise. I could recover my investment with a decent margin. I am already planning another film with limited crew members for OTT release," added Surender.

Unmindful of ongoing tussle between exhibitors and producers over skipping theatrical release for a direct OTT release has brought forth the debate whether direct OTT is a viable option for all films. "Due to shutdown of theatres, few big films may take OTT route but once theatres are thrown open, they would prefer big screen. Because there is no match for theatrical collections since superstars can mint more than Rs 100 crore at the box office, against fixed amount given by digital platforms, while small filmmakers will stick to OTT premiers for a long time to come," points out Surender.

Leading producer Bogavalli Prasad says for small films, a direct OTT release will mean wider audience and the film can save up on print and advertising cost. For small films, theatrical release is an expensive affair especially if the film has no known names as it gets difficult to get a distributor's backing. So, those who work on micro-budgets consider video on-demand platforms a good deal.

Another aspect is that after theatres were shut down because of coronavirus lockdown, plenty of films are waiting to be released in theatres — both big and small. Due to this content overload, the smaller films may not get the right exposure. Fewer screens, odd show timings will prove detrimental. "Even if we prefer to wait for theatres after the lockdown but we are not sure about getting required number of theatres because small films and non-star movies seldom get more screens in twin Telugu states," adds Surender.

OTT premieres can save the day for smaller films but such a trend, especially in the COVID-19 times, could hit the exhibition industry hard. "We are hoping that audience will throng theatres since digital platforms cannot replace the magic of big screen. Meanwhile, we need govt support for our survival," says exhibitor Ramakrishna.