‘CU Soon’. ‘Drishyam 2’.
By simply mentioning the name of these two films, the question in this article’s title is already answered. But we will elaborate anyway.
Over a year ago, when the pandemic was a full-on “rage monster” and the entire country was under lockdown, the film industries around the country were trying to grab the attention of OTT platforms, which had suddenly become the most profitable form of media. And among dozens of film industries – Bollywood, Kollywood (Tamil cinema) and Tollywood (Telugu cinema) films became the most sought after by the streaming platforms.
Bollywood’s popularity was understandable as it was the film industry with the biggest pan-Indian appeal. The Telugu and Telugu film industries release the most number of films yearly, even more than Bollywood, cementing its popularity. In such a vast space, Mollywood released its first direct-to-OTT film, ‘Sufiyum Sujathayum’ and critics and Amazon Prime Video subscribers were indifferent to it.
Just when we thought that Mollywood will have to fight to gain attention from other film industries, expecting “a war of attrition” for a couple of years at least, a film in the form of ‘C U Soon‘ starring Fahadh Faasil released on Amazon Prime Video. The movie was an instant hit, with it becoming the most-watched South Indian movie on the platform for that month. While Bollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood were releasing a lot of direct-to-OTT films, a Mollywood film somehow managed to get through the cracks and become a hit.
Then the unbelievable happened – a megastar starring Malayalam film was to release directly onto an OTT platform. And not just any film – a film which many Malayalam film watchers were hoping to happen for years- the Mohanlal starring movie ‘Drishyam 2‘. Many expected this movie to flop since the prequel’s suspense and brilliant writing was what made it so interesting. But somehow against all odds, the movie managed to garner rave reviews from critics and streamers alike, making streaming platforms a viable option for Malayalam filmmakers and vice versa.
And that changed the attention of multiple OTT platforms. Suddenly Malayalam films were desirable, including low budget indie films. In that regard, a special mention has to be given to ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’. A film like that helped an unknown OTT platform gain foothold in the International streaming space, showing that even the reverse was also possible. Films like ‘Joji’ and ‘Irul’ have followed in their footsteps and by the end of this month, ‘Cold Case’ and ‘Sara’s’ will join them as well.
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