The magic of film releases depends on perfect timing and the target audience. Thangalaan, the much-awaited Tamil film, appealed to everyone through its strong storyline and good cast. Still, when it was first released, almost half the northern audience was disappointed because there was no audio in Hindi. Although the movie was later released in Hindi, most of the population had already watched it in Tamil.
Now with the OTT release underway, a glaring oversight that can reduce the impact is that Thangalaan has no Hindi audio track for OTT release as well for now.
It is more than an inconvenience; it seems a grave misstep to delay the release of the audio of Hindi versions of OTT releases. The Hindi-speaking viewers has eagerly waited to watch the film in their language and grew frustrated because of such delays.
This oversight not only alienates a substantial portion of potential viewers but also dampens the overall hype and reach of the film.
Lack of Hindi audio creates a kind of psychological block for viewers also. They may not be going to watch the film due to this reason as no one wants to waste time if he or she could not view it in a language preferred by him. This can affect the viewership of the movie and its success on the OTT platform.
Regional films that are now coming on the platforms such as Aha also have these kinds of problems. Such platforms are also not free from stigma wherein it houses movies which could not have good box office at their theatrical release because most big banners of South Indian Cinema also continue to be house owners by Netflix or Prime Video which only adds further troubles to Thangalaan because audiences before they can see the film doubt whether it has a quality or what to expect in its content already.
The lack of Hindi audio version for Thangalaan on OTT is glaring and could dampen the excitement of the film and alienate a large segment of its potential audience. This is a missed opportunity to capitalize on the popularity of the film and expand its reach.
Producers and the streaming service must move quickly to address this and offer a Hindi audio version so that the film is enjoyed by everyone who wishes to watch it. Then only can Thangalaan regain its buzz and make a huge difference in Hindi-speaking viewers.