It’s official – Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo will skip theatres and release on OTT. Amazon Prime Video announced this morning that Gulabo Sitabo will premiere on its platform on 12th June. The Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana starrer is the first biggie to make the move to skip theatres and directly release on OTT.
A lot of movies are in talks with OTT platforms to release directly on streaming. But all of them have been waiting for someone to make the first move. The direct release of Gulabo Sitabo on Amazon Prime Video will open up the way for other big releases to make their announcements.
Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb is reportedly in talks with Disney Plus Hotstar for an OTT release instead of theatrical release. A number of T-Series produced movies may be headed to OTT instead of the theatres.
According to reports in the media, T-Series was in talks with several streaming platforms to premiere its ready for release movies on OTT instead of theatres. Amitabh Bachchan-headlined sports drama Jhund, by Sairat director Nagraj Manjule, Nikhil Advani’s Kiara Advani starrer Indoo Ki Jawani, and Anurag Basu’s multi-starrer Ludo, with Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Aditya Roy Kapur and Pankaj Tripathi, are three T-Series produced movies earmarked for digital release.
Vidya Balan’s Shakuntaka Devi, Siddharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani’s Shershaah, Jahnvi Kapoor’s Gunjan Saxena, Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi’s Mimi, Sunny Kaushal and Diana Penty’s Shiddat are some more names that are planning direct OTT releases.
Netflix seems to have gained an upper hand in snagging these movies for its platform. However, the decision will be taken only after the respective co-producers of the aforementioned movies are also in agreement with the idea. T-Series is co-producer of the said movies. It has in the works around 8-10 movies on the verge of completion.
All these movies and several more, and Bollywood in general, are increasingly leaning towards the idea of digital releases. The change in perception has happened due to the fact that theatres will reopen much later than when the lockdown is lifted. And even after that, people will not be rushing to cinema houses to watch movies.
Watch this space at Binged.com for further updates on this.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.