The onset of Covid has seen a number of big-ticket films go the OTT way. Big stars and production houses are cracking 4 film deals with major streaming players, whether it’s actor Suriya’s 2D Entertainment or the latest YashRaj Films deal, digital releases seem like the new normal. It looks like the latest to join the bandwagon is none other than Chiyaan Vikram’s upcoming Tamil movie, ‘Mahaan’. Featuring real-life father-son duo for the first time, ‘Mahaan’ is likely to skip theatres and here’s why we think it may not be a smart choice.
Directed by Karthik Subburaj, ‘Mahaan‘, touted to be an action thriller, featuring Vikram and his son Dhruv in lead roles, may be all set to premiere directly on OTT. As per latest reports, the makers are in talks with Amazon Prime Video to seal the deal. Where releasing films in theatres wasn’t a viable option with 50% capacity, the Sivakarthikeyan starrer ‘Doctor’ took everyone by surprise and is on the way to become the first film to gross 100 crores post the second Covid wave. Now that the Tamil Nadu government has allowed cinema halls to operate at full capacity, nothing should stop a film from releasing theatrically.
Another important point is the career graph of Vikram’s son, Dhruv, who made a disappointing debut with ‘Adithya Varma’, the Tamil remake of ‘Arjun Reddy’. It was expected that his second film, ‘Mahaan’ would be a career reviver, since he shares the screen with his superstar dad. However, now that ‘Mahaan’ may land directly on OTT, the young actor seems to be missing out on a lucrative opportunity. Even if the film gets a good response digitally, it might not give Dhruv’s career a remarkable boost, since an OTT hit does not measure up to a theatrical hit. No official announcement has been made so far regarding the OTT deal, though one is expected from the makers soon.