Multiplex’s Stand Against OTT
This is a recent development. Until September this year, films in the original language were released even if dubbed versions weren’t. For instance, the Tamil version of Nelson Dilipkumar’s Rajinikanth-starrer Jailer (2023) was released in national multiplex chains across the country, but the Hindi version wasn’t. However, since then, multiplex chains have decided to not screen even the original version of the film in the Hindi market if the OTT window is less than eight weeks. Consequently, films like Kangana Ranaut and Raghava Lawrence’s horror thriller Chandramukhi 2 (2023), Leo and Jigarthanda Double X weren’t released in these multiplex chains and earned significantly less from the Hindi market than they potentially could have.
It is only after Leo that the Tamil industry appears to have become aware of the MAI’s revised stance. “If we had known about it earlier, we could have released the film only in the southern languages and delayed the Hindi release. Perhaps the ground rules were always there, but we didn’t know about it,” said Narendra.
There is a perception among trade analysts that unlike the Telugu and Kannada film industries, the Tamil industry isn’t doing enough to promote their cinema in the Hindi market. Manish Shah of Goldmines Telefilms, the distributor of Leo in the Hindi market, rejected this criticism. “Only a few south Indian films have become pan-Indian hits theatrically,” he said. “In Kannada, other than the KGF films, no other film that was released as ‘pan-Indian’ became a hit in the Hindi market. Kantara (2022) was not a simultaneous release in Hindi. It became a hit in Kannada and they released the dubbed version two weeks later.”