Finally, it is the 12th of December 2021. Which means that today is the day that Dulquer Salmaan’s highly anticipated crime thriller ‘Kurup’ will finally be releasing in theatres. It has been a long journey, with the film producers having to dodge various OTT platforms who have been trying to acquire the streaming rights of the film for months. Netflix eventually succeeded, only for the filmmakers to opt out of the direct-to-OTT plan for Kurup after megastar Mammootty recommended a theatrical release. But with the way things are right now, are we going to see Kurup on a digital platform before 2021 ends?
Well, the correct answer here is – we don’t know. ‘Kurup’ is a highly anticipated film, not just in Kerala but in various other parts of India as well. Dulquer Salmaan, the lead actor has garnered the attention of the pan-Indian audience through films like ‘Karwaan’, ‘Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal’ and ‘Mahanati’. DQ, as Dulquer is affectionately called, has proven himself as a versatile actor. He has been releasing hits lately (well pre-Covid-19 at least), in pretty much any role he touched, so this film should get a good turnout in theatres – both in Kerala and the rest of the country.
However, one incident does come to mind – Thalapathy Vijay’s ‘Master’ which was released in January this year. While the film was doing well in theatres in Tamil Nadu, theatre owners were shocked when they found out that the film would be releasing on Amazon prime Video, a month later. The OTT platform recognized the actor’s crowd pulling power early and probably realized that paying a good amount for a film that has already been in theatres for a month will only benefit them. While DQ doesn’t have Vijay’s megastar prowess, there is still a good chance that Netflix could attempt to make it happen with ‘Kurup’ as well.
Still, times have changed. The pandemic has stabilized within the state and we think people would prefer to watch a movie in theatres, rather than stay at home and watch it on a TV – like they have been doing over the past 18-20 months. So we will have to wait and see how the turnout for the film is going to be. But if this film is as good as it looks in the trailer – there is a very low chance that this movie will be heading to theatres before 2021. But it is not impossible, however.
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