RED-HOT: 5 NEW TAMIL FILMS TO BE RELEASED DIRECTLY ON OTT, AFTER JYOTHIKA'S PONMAGAL VANDHAL

T. Siva said, "Ponmagal... issue has been widely discussed since yesterday. We planned to confer with the representatives of theatre owners personally, and also requested them not to make this a public issue by bringing it to the media's attention. I had repeatedly asked them to discuss this issue via video conferencing in order to arrive at a consensus, but they did not pay heed to my requests."

Expressing worry over the public glare received by this issue, T. Siva said that Suriya and his production company, 2D Entertainment, must not be targetted for this issue and there are already a handful of films in line for an OTT release, "As of now, there are three producers who have struck deals with streaming platforms to release five of their respective films, and announcements will be made soon. All these films were made at a cost of 3-4 crores and this is a great opportunity for medium and low-budget productions to get a respite from the current problematic situation (regarding releases). This (shutdown) may even extend several months, and in the case of releasing medium budget films, it may even take up an additional ten months to release that film.

Most importantly, Amazon (Prime) is very open in their selection, and they're choosing films on the basis of good content, although when it comes to star-studded films, they prefer its star value over content. They are very forthcoming towards good content, irrespective their budgets. Currently, they are considering a lot of films and are looking for an immediate telecast. Given their revenue (and viability) during the lockdown period, they are able to buy (the streaming rights of) films at decent prices and that is the truth.

The entire film industry is crippled due to the lockdown and when we have a good solution in hand, it is important for all parties to accept this decision and formulate regulations (regarding a film's eligibility for an OTT release). Instead, by raising unnecessary issues, they (theatre owners) are restricting a producer's right to do business."

T. Siva expressed optimism regarding this decision, saying that if Ponmagal Vandhal gets a good rating and revenue through OTT release, it will set a precedent for other films to follow suit, "If we (Tamil cinema) doesn't implement this strategy, we will be setting a bad precedent. The FMS (Foreign, Malaysia and Singapore rights), Satellite and Hindi market rates have dropped and now that OTT platforms have arrived, producers are getting a sizeable revenue out of it. This is not just limited to a particular producer or banner, this applies to all producers."

RED-HOT: 5 NEW TAMIL FILMS TO BE RELEASED DIRECTLY ON OTT, AFTER JYOTHIKA'S PONMAGAL VANDHAL VIDEO