Besides, he added, if the MAI wanted more people to go to theatres instead of waiting for the film’s release on OTT, such a move was pushing them to do the opposite. “You’re turning them away from theatres and telling them to wait for four weeks for the film to come on OTT,” he said. The MAI declined to comment on the issue when approached by Film Companion.
There are currently around 3,500 multiplex screens in India, with PVR-INOX and Cinepolis India being major players. In south India, however, the single screens still dominate over multiplexes – of the estimated 6,000 single screens in the country, over 50 percent are in the south. Multiplex penetration is the leastin the south. Tamil producer Dhananjayan confirmed to Film Companion that the OTT release window for south Indian films is four weeks, with most films ending their theatrical run in three weeks. “The agreement is very clear. The eight-week rule is applicable only for Hindi and Hindi dubbed films. The national multiplexes will release the film in south Indian languages in the north, too, but not the Hindi version. This isn’t territory-bound, but language-specific,” said Dhananjayan.
According to unconfirmed reports, the OTT rights for Leo were sold to Netflix for a whopping Rs 125 crore, and the film will be out on the platform in four weeks. If south Indian filmmakers want the Hindi version of their films also to be released in national multiplexes, the only option currently is to negotiate with the OTT platforms and increase the release window to eight weeks. “It’s not that the release window cannot be increased, but the money offered by the OTT will be less. There is also a possibility that they might not be interested in taking a film if it’s an eight-week release window,” Dhananjayan said.