Sidharth Malhotra. Dharma Productions. Amazon Prime Video. They are the well-known team behind the OTT blockbuster ‘Shershaah’. And they are returning with another film, this time in theatres.
‘Shershaah’ was a much-needed hit for all parties at the time of its release. For Sidharth Malhotra, the film will always be a turning point in his career, since it is not wrong to say it single-handedly boosted the ‘Ek Villain’ star’s career, which was going through a dull period for some time. For Dharma Productions, the film reasserted the production house’s position in the digital medium after its many misses, and for Prime Video, the film was the concrete proof that the platform was succeeding in its Indian content library, at least when compared to Netflix India.
So now that the team is reuniting for another action drama, will they be able to recreate the success? This is where things get tricky.
While Sidharth is now a much bigger star after ‘Shershaah’, his presence in the movie still doesn’t guarantee a big box office weekend, especially not in the current scenario. He needs a well-written script and a talented director to get the film to work. It is to be noted that the love for OTT films on social media doesn’t translate into footfalls in theatres.
In today’s turbulent times where uncertainty regarding what will and will not work in theatres, the genre of the film would also play a huge part. The fact that the film will be released with ‘Dream Girl 2’, the sequel to a superhit film adds to its worry. The film will be one of the first Indian co-productions of Amazon set to have a theatrical release, with the last such release being ‘Ram Setu’ which even though started out well, eventually lost momentum.
Yodha is an action thriller and is co-directed by Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha. The film is rumored to be based around an aerial hijack with Sidharth playing the role of a commando sent on the rescue mission. Set for release on 7th July 2023, the film’s post-theatrical rights are retained by Amazon for Prime Video.