We were the very first few ones to inform you yesterday morning (read here) that the producers of Dhanush’s much awaited Jagame Thandhiram were in advanced talks for a direct to digital release on Netflix. Last night, we had given a fresh update on the proposed direct to digital release of Jagame Thandhiram’s regarding Dhanush’s stand on bypassing theatres and releasing the film directly on Netflix. Finally, today the news is all over the place that Jagame Thandhiram will release directly on Netflix in the month of March.
However, very few people are privy to the loads of drama that went on behind the scenes, before the deal became common knowledge. Stay with us for a bit, as we unravel the entire sordid mess that resulted in Jagame Thandhiram landing on Netflix.
Let’s start from the very beginning — the story begins from the time that Amazon Prime Video bought the Vijay biggie, Master. Along with Master, Amazon Prime Video got tonnes of extra mileage from the blockbuster, not to say, thousands of new subscribers from down South.
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video’s primary rival in India, was hunting for a movie as big as Master to grab the attention and subscription monies of South viewers. Jagame Thandhiram was the movie Netflix zeroed in on. With a big star such as Dhanush in the lead, and the tonnes of viewer interest surrounding it, the movie was exactly what Netflix was looking for.
We all know that Netflix is a streaming giant with endlessly deep pockets. Well, Netflix got in touch with Jagame Thandhiram’s primary producer S. Sashikanth of Y Not Studios, and made an offer he simply couldn’t refuse. 45 Crores is the figure mentioned by a prominent Tamil journalist on his popular YouTube channel. So Y Not Studios and S. Shashikanth, who until now were committed to a theatrical release for Jagame Thandhiram, started to sing a different tune – the OTT tune.
On the other hand, lead star Dhanush was strictly against the idea of selling out to Netflix, and solidly in favour of releasing Jagame Thandhiram in theatres. In fact, he wanted to follow the Master model – a quick theatrical release of around 2 weeks, and then premiere the film on a major OTT platform. Till the last minute, Dhanush tried to convince producer S. Shashikanth to release the film in theatres first.
But instead of an amicable solution to the issue, the discussions resulted in a sordid mess. Not only did S. Shashikanth stick to his original Netflix release plan, but there was also a major falling out between the two over the impasse. S. Shashikanth has since unfollowed Dhanush on Twitter and Instagram.
Dhanush meanwhile has posted a pointedly sarcastic letter on Twitter, praising the producers of his other upcoming release Karnan, for deciding to release the film in theatres and thinking about theatre-owners, distributors, exhibitors and everyone else whose livelihood depended on the theatre business.
He has ended the praise with a cryptic “even though you had other better options”, the meaning of which is very clear to any and everyone. Of course it is a sarcastic jibe at S. Shashikanth, who, in the eyes of Dhanush, has sold out to Netflix and the lure of making a quick buck.
Check out Dhanush’s subtly sarcastic release announcement for Karnan here –
So, Jagame Thandhiram will finally skip theatres and release directly on Netflix, as we had reported yesterday.
Stay tuned to Binged.com for solid and credible info on the release date of Jagame Thandhiram on Netflix.