Disney+ Hotstar has announced seven Bollywood titles directly on a streaming platform featuring top stars such as Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and Alia Bhatt. After months of rumors and a touch of skepticism, actor Akshay Kumar eventually entered the panel during June to reveal a major slate of Bollywood films acquired by Disney+ Hotstar, Disney India’s video streaming platform.
Disney had achieved the impossible in a bulk transaction valued at the rate of approximately 500 crores. It persuaded the biggest stars of Hindi cinema like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and Alia Bhatt to part with the theatrical box office and the consequent strength of 7000 screens by selling their films to Hotstar.
Theatre experience is something that no other platforms can provide, most of the movie lovers prefer theatrical watch over any other digital platforms. But due to the current pandemic, watching movies in the theatre is not practically possible.
The COVID 19 pandemic has far-reaching effects on all areas of the film industry such as theatrical releases, celebrity compensations, promotions, or even shooting. Not everyone from Bollywood will accept it, but the existing political systems have reached a stage of collapse over the past five months.
The capacity of the film industry and the popularity it has achieved so far has been limited due to India’s limited screen count and the appropriate release platforms, which restricts the output and audience appetite, said Uday Shankar, president, Walt Disney Corporation APAC and chairman, Star, and Disney India. This is an opportunity to expand the business and make more films to be produced and released.
From Bollywood movies like Gulabo Sitabo, Shakuntala Devi, Dil Bechara was released directly through OTT platforms. Recently announcements had come that Tamil movie, Soorarai Pottru starring Suriya and a Telugu movie starring Nani are going to be released through Amazon prime. Many other big-budget film producers are also planning to release their movies online if they are getting good profits. Recently makers have also started making movies with small budgets aiming OTT release.
“We are urgently waiting for the theaters to reopen and are hopeful about the same issue”, said Shibasish Sarkar, CEO of Reliance Entertainment Group, the only studio that announced cinematic releases for 2020, Sooryavanshi for Diwali and Christmas sports drama ’83.
Recently Malayalam Actor, Prithviraj Sukumaran, announced that he is all set to feature in the first Indian film which is to be shot completely in virtual production. The untitled project will be directed by Gokulraj Baskar and will be released in Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada.
