The demand for subscription-based OTT platforms has been on the popular rise for quite some time now. While there have been numerous conversations about the repercussions of the same on the box-office collections of films releasing on the golden screen, a lackluster upcoming slate for the latter doesn’t help all that much either.
Take this month alone for example. September 2024 has witnessed the release of well received OTT titles, especially Hindi ones like ‘Visfot’ and ‘Khalbali Records’ on JioCinema, ‘Call Me Bae’ on Prime Video, ‘Berlin’ on Zee5, as well as ‘Sector 36’ on Netflix. OTT platforms can only be given a head-on competition when theatrical releases are in tandem with OTT releases.
However, this has not been the case recently. As compared to the impressive OTT slate for September, the theatrical counterpart has been rather dull. Except for Kareena Kapoor’s ‘The Buckingham Murders’ and Siddhant Chaturvedi’s ‘Yudhra’, the only Hindi titles slated for a theatrical September release are lesser known features like ‘Kahan Shuru Kahan Khatam’ and ‘Binny and Family’.
Moreover, the only two Hindi titles premiering in theaters in October are: the Rajkumar Rao – Tripti Dimri starrer ‘Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video’, as well as Alia Bhatt’s ‘Jigra’. The cherry on top? Both titles are releasing on the same date, i.e October 11!
If this saga continues, it is no wonder that more and more viewers will start relying solely on OTT platforms, as cinemas continue to survive solely on re-releases.