For small budget films, OTT is also a steep climb now

- The illusion that OTT is a last resort for small budget films should be dispelled. OTT has never said that we are the saviors of independent films.

For some time now, there has been a popular belief that content is all that matters on OTT. The OTT boom seen during the pandemic reinforced this belief as the web space was flooded with fresh and unique content. However, it will be interesting to know whether this situation still persists now that the theaters have resumed operations. Is the OTT wait easy for small budget films with good content? This question is still confusing the filmmakers.

Recently Manoj Bajpayee said in an interview that releasing a film on any platform is a struggle. The trouble I had to get films like Aligarh (2015) and Bhosle (2018) to cinemas is unforgettable.

Bhonsale's director Devashish Makhija also expressed a similar tone. He said that earlier we wanted to release this film in theatres, but due to covid this proposal was dropped and we turned to OTT. According to Makhija, we should get out of the illusion that OTT is the last resort for small budget films. Filmmakers like us are giving too much importance to OTT. OTT has never said that we are the saviors of independent films. We got to introduce Bhosle to new OTT platforms while established platforms still shy away from small budget films. Their view is that we are here to earn money. We also have to answer to our master.

Vinod Bachchan, the producer of Jahan Char Yaar, also expressed a similar view. He still hasn't found an OTT platform for his film. According to him, just having content is not enough qualification. Many OTT platforms have syndicated. They don't care about the content, but they focus on the stars.

However, there are creators who have had a good experience with the OTT platform. Ratna Sinha, director of Esha Singh and Preet Kamani starrer Middle Class Love, says that it is more imperative that the OTT owner is also involved in the production of the film. Making a film with new faces is really a daunting task. Many doubted our success. But as our producer owns OTT platform, we got both theatrical and OTT release.

Ardha film director Palash Muchhal said that we have not met any OTT platform in front. We produced the film and then met the web teams. We sold the film rights on a first-come, first-served basis. However, we got a good profit.

Now the OTT platform is given based on how successful the film is at the box office. According to agents involved in film sales, OTT platforms do not buy films that fail at the box office. During covid there was a compulsion for OTT as they had a lot of demand. Now he has realized that the film for which he paid Rs. 20 crores were paid for those films Rs. It did not deserve even 10 crores. Hence now even the journey to OTT for small budget films will remain troublesome.

Tara Vs. Bilal is also a film that failed at the box office after its OTT deal collapsed.

According to Vineet Kumar Singh, actor of the recently released film Siya, the industry is changing fast. Now OTT owners are saying release the movie in theater first, we will think about it after seeing the box office result.