When India started seeing a spike in coronavirus cases in March, the theatres were the first to shut shop in the country and will probably be the last to open as well. This uncertainty over theatres functioning like before has led to several producers considering to release their films directly on OTT platforms skipping the theatrical release. OTT platforms are taking full advantage of this situation and are said to be offering large sums of money to filmmakers.
The boost in OTT platforms has several doubting the fate of theatrical businesses in the future. On Friday, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha who has made films like Article 15 and Thappad took to Twitter and said that nothing will change with the theatrical business and even compared it to the recent chaos outside liquor shops. "Nothing will change the theatrical business in India. NOTHING!!! Here the big blockbusters are not only about the film. It is an event. It is a community event. It won’t change. I hope you saw the liquor shop queues," he wrote.
Meanwhile, it is being reported that this year's Eid releases- Radhe and Laxmmi Bomb might be looking for a direct to OTT release. Makers of Akshay Kumar starrer Laxmmi Bomb are currently in talks to release the film in June on Hotstar. However, the makers are yet to make an official announcement regarding the same. On the other hand, the makers of Radhe-Your Most Wanted Bhai will take a decision after they complete post-production.
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