The delay in the reopening of cinema halls seems to forcing the makers of big movies to reconsider their stand on the theatrical release of their flicks. The theatres have been shut across the country ever since the lockdown came to effect in mid-March to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Now, Shibasish Sarkar, CEO of Reliance Entertainment, has spoken about the possibility of releasing their upcoming biggies like Ranveer Singh's 83 and Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi on the OTT platforms. He has stated that the movies could not be pushed beyond Diwali and Christmas.
"We are 100% inclined to take theatrical route. However, at the same time, we don't want to delay the release further than practically possible. That means we will not like to push release dates beyond Diwali / Christmas. So the first option is to go theatrical if cinemas open up and audiences are back," Bollywood Hungama quotes him as saying.
Reliance Entertainment had been firm on releasing the aforementioned movies in theatres. Since there are no signs of theatres reopening, the production house is now looking at other options.
The source adds, "If either cinema halls don't open or corona impact increases many folds....and audiences are not coming... Or in some states theatres open and in some states they won't....in those scenarios we will have to explore all options... Either pure SVOD (video on demand) routes. Or TVOD/PPV (pay per view) routes like what the makers of Mulan are planning. Or part theatrical/part TVOD. Or in some state/countries theatrical and some state digital... Basically we will not like to shift release date further.... and ideally look for theatrical or any other hybrid measure for the best possible release. (sic.)"
It has to be noted that Akshay Kumar's Laxmmi Bomb, Ajay Devgn's Bhuj: The Pride of India, Mahesh Bhatt's Sadak 2 and Abhishek Bachchan's Big Bull are the upcoming movies which will be directly releasing on the OTT platform.
