Nagarjuna’s Release Planning Call Needs One More Change?

During the promotional event of Akhil’s Lenin, seasoned actor and producer Akkineni Nagarjuna rightly pointed out how Tollywood lacks proper planning of theatrical release much in advance unlike big-budgeted Hollywood movies like The Odyssey, which announce their dates much earlier. 

While his call for completing all production activities two weeks prior to release is practical, his statement missed an equally important logic which Tollywood should adopt besides just the pre-release planning. It is the gap between theatrical release and OTT debut. 

Lenin, which performed well and emerged as a box office hit this season, is now getting ready for its OTT release in just 4 weeks after the theatrical screening. This strategy is nothing but pushing the long run of movies into jeopardy. Surprisingly, Nagarjuna himself is promoting it as “Mondu Intiki Vacchestunnadu”.

The issue is not just for Lenin, but majority of the recent big ticket films followed the same approach which is no doubt killing the theatrical revenues to some extent and burning the pockets of buyers. 

It is a well known fact that narrow OTT windows directly harm ticket sales and distributor profits. When moviegoers know that a film will be available on their mobile screens in just one month, they become hesitant to spend money on high theatre ticket prices. 

Unless a film receives extraordinary word-of-mouth praise, many viewers simply choose to wait for the home release. Unfortunately, this bad trend to rush for streaming releases comes at a time when theatrical business is actually recovering in the last couple of months. 

Recent films like Peddi, Maa Inti Bangaram, Obsession, Chennai Love Story etc. managed to set the ticket registers ringing despite not getting unanimous blockbuster talk and even though there is no festival advantage. 

Adding to this positive is the recent industry trend that showed that major OTT platforms are struggling to keep audiences engaged due to a shortage of fresh quality content. Consequently, viewers across the world are returning to theatres to enjoy the shared big-screen experience. 

So, it is highly imperative that our filmmakers should not just focus on technical deadlines. But, they should ensure that post release strategies should be chalked out in a manner which helps the films in the long run. 

If star producers, especially Nagarjuna, who is keen on bringing a change to the current release window policy, actively support longer OTT streaming windows, distributors will feel more secure and audiences will be more motivated to return to cinema halls regularly. This will boost theatrical revenues and help create a healthier ecosystem for the film industry.

Completing the film well in time is no doubt essential, but giving more time for theatrical screening is equally crucial for the well being of all parties involved in the business.