After Kona Venkat, Ram Pothineni speaks up on OTT-Theaters controversy

After filmmaker Kona Venkat, young Telugu actor Ram Pothineni has spoken about the ongoing OTT-Theatres controversy and different people view the movie industry in different ways.

The film industry in India is going through a big crisis with all the production works halted and cinema halls shut uncertainly due to the lockdown caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. When many daily-wage workers of the industry were left jobless, the actors and filmmakers united to extend their supporting hand to them and they have to provide them essentials till the end of the lockdown.

The producers of some Telugu movies, which are ready for the release, fear of suffering huge losses due to this uncertainty in the opening of the cinema halls. They are trying to other means to save themselves from the suffering losses. Various OTT platforms are cashing in on the situation and trying to acquire the streaming rights of the films before they hit the big screens.

A few Telugu films have already hit the OTT platforms, while the makers of some big-ticket films are rumoured to be now in talks for their release online. The development came as a shock to the exhibitors and theatre owners, who condemned the producers for releasing their films online sans a theatrical release. This led to a big argument between the two parties.

Some actors and actresses have also opposed the online release of their movies and Ram Pothineni is one among those people. His next film Red is ready for release and it was rumoured earlier that the movie would directly hit an OTT platform. But the actor slammed the reports, saying that he is not in a hurry for it and he would wait for the cinema halls to open for its release.

Ram Pothineni took to his Twitter account on May 18 to share his views on the ongoing controversy. He tweeted, "The thing about the Movie Industry is... It's a Passion for a few.. a Business for most.. & a Gamble for the rest. Everyone sees it from their own perspective..#OTT #Theatrical #RAndoMthoughts (sic)."

A day before Ram tweeted, Kona Venkat, who is ready for release his next production Nishabdham, said that theatre is his first priority. He tweeted on May 17, "We all came to Film industry with a lot of passion and after many struggles.. Audience reactions to our work in THEATRES is our motivation and oxygen ... Nothing can match this feeling.. CINEMA is meant for Cinema Halls.. And that's our "PRIORITY"."