Telugu star Venkatesh Daggubati’s latest movie ‘Saindhav’ has sunk faster than a ton of bricks. The much-hyped Sankranthi release hit theatres on 13th January, 2024. It opened to mixed reviews from critics and audiences, but did astonishingly poor business at the box office.
The poor box office performance of Saindhav is the reason that it is already gearing up for its OTT release, barely three weeks after its theatrical release. Venkatesh’s Saindhav OTT release date has been set for 3rd February, 2024 on Prime Video India, which is this Saturday.
A four-week theatrical window is the accepted norm in the Telugu film industry. That Venkatesh’s Saindhav OTT release date is just three weeks after its theatrical release is proof of the massive failure of the movie in the theatres.
The failure of Saindhav is quite surprising, to be honest. Most critics have appreciated the performance of both protagonist Venkatesh and antagonistic Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The story has been described as a “John Wick meets Drushyam” kind of narrative. However, it seems audiences are tired of watching the same old dark action drama on screen, and are hankering for some innovative scripts in their movies.
The story of Saindhav follows retired gangster Saindhav Koneru (Venkatesh), whose daughter is diagnosed with a rare disease. When he requires a huge sum for her treatment, Saindhav is compelled to return to the world of crime, where he faces off against old rival, gangster Vikas Malik (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).
Telugu film ‘Saindhav’ is written and directed by Sailesh Kolanu and produced by Venkat Boyanapalli under his banner Niharika Entertainment. Besides Venkatesh Daggubati and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Saindhav stars Arya, Shraddha Srinath, Ruhani Sharma, Andrea Jeremiah and Baby Sara in key roles.
Saindhav premieres on Prime Video India on 3rd February, in the original Telugu, and also in its Tamil dub.