Netflix has been having a hard time breaking into the Malayalam direct-to-OTT game so far. The only Malayalam film which released directly for streaming on the International digital platform, ‘Irul’ didn’t do as well it should have, despite a stellar cast. However, some of the other 2021 released Malayalam films – ‘Nayattu’ and ‘Love’ which didn’t premiere on the platform, still managed to garner some attention from the Malayali audience; which proves that they can attract the Malayali audience. But, some new reports have started coming in, suggesting that two highly anticipated Malayalam features ‘Kurup‘ and ‘Minnal Murali‘ could be heading for a direct-to-OTT release on Netflix.
This is pure speculation for now – but in our opinion, it still deserves some addressing. ‘Kurup’ is a film that has been making up wait for a year. Based on a real crime story that happened in Kerala back in the 80s, ‘Kurup’ was supposed to be this epic thriller starring Dulquer Salman who was on red-hot form at the time. ‘Minnal Murali’ was supposed to be Mollywood’s first real superhero film, which was also making us wait for over a year. So it makes sense that both these films went for theatrical releases – which their producers were heavily pushing for.
However, according to the latest reports, the production company behind ‘Kurup’ has had enough of waiting and are looking for a direct-to-OTT release before the movie goes out of relevance. And with the latest Covid-19 complications on set for ‘Minnal Murali’, we aren’t surprised that this production is looking for an OTT premiere as well. And Netflix is at the right place, at the right time to cash in big for these potential “blockbusters”. Quite a coup indeed, if they manage to pull it off.
Amazon Prime Video and Neestream have proved themselves to be the best OTT platforms for Malayalam filmmakers to release their films digitally so far. With the success of films such as ‘Drishyam 2’, ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’, ‘Malik’ and ‘Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam’ among others, both streaming platforms have proved that it’s not the size of the film production that matters, rather the quality of production and its content. Other OTT platforms such as Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar have tried their hand at direct-to-OTT Malayalam features but they haven’t found any success so far. Well, if this “coup” works, the “so far” part might just be changing for Netflix at least.
For now, we are waiting for any news alerts regarding the same and when we do get it – this is where you will want to be when we report it. Follow us on Twitter to know more about the situation.
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