Alarm bells seem to be ringing in Bollywood. The Hindi film industry, which has been under the double-whammy attack of the rise in the pan-Indian popularity of south Indian films and the growing dominance of OTT platforms, now looks to be in a mood to hit back.
Of course, it can do very little to stop the appeal that South Indian movies hold among the masses. But Bollywood, as a collective, can hold out against the streaming platforms. Of course, the situation is such that Bollywood cannot antagonise the streamers outright as they are now viable money-making vista for the industry.
So, Bollywood biggies have agreed among themselves to stop Hindi movies from streaming on OTT platforms in just 4 weeks after their theatrical release.
4-week window expanded to 8-week
Producers, theatre owners and distributors seem to have come to an informal understanding that Hindi movies can be passed on to the OTT platforms only after 8 weeks off their release in the theatres. The new 'rule' will come into effect from August 1.
Thanks to the pandemic, with cinema halls shut, streaming platforms became remarkably well entrenched. Considering the demand, the streamers, many of them multinational biggies with deep pockets, did not hesitate to splurge on acquiring movie rights. They also threw large sums at producers and studios to reduce the gap between a theatrical release and an OTT broadcast from eight weeks to four. Digital rights, which accounted for 30-40% of a movie’s revenue, quickly rose to 50-60%.
But now the film industry wants to re-establish the pre-eminence of box-office collections. But it is just on Bollywood where this feeling pervasive. Tollywood and Kollywood (Telugu and Tamil movie industries) are also keen to wrest the initiative from the streaming platforms.
But what makes Bollywood efforts at regrouping more prominent is the fact that it is also much hurt by the 'pan-Indian blockbusters from the South'. Films like RRR, KGF2, Pushpa, and Vikram have stolen the limelight from Bollywood movies. What more, these dubbed movies contributed to half of Bollywood’s collections in 2022. On the other hand, seven A-lister Hindi movies with a total budget of Rs 1,100 crore recovered only a third of it.
How will the OTT platforms be impacted?
Bollywood biggies feel that going back to the eight-week window is in the interest of the producers as it gives more breathing space for movies to succeed at the box-office. Also, the producers feel that the habit of the public wanting to watch movies in the theatres has to be rebuilt.
"If the film delivers at the box office, the producers can negotiate a better satellite and OTT deal as well. Hence, if you give the box office a solid chance and it performs, the value of every other right amplifies. So it’ll be better for the producer in every possible way," is the general thinking in the industry.
But it should be understood that the 8-week window is just an understanding among the various stakeholders in the industry, and not any specific rule. Producers, depending on the cost-benefit analysis of any particular film, can still push the a film's streaming date forward.
How will the OTT platforms be affected by the new norm? One industry veteran cattily said, "the OTT genie is out of the bottle. It can't be put back. Industry must understand this reality. It can't elbow out streamers. Films are not the only content for them. They have web series, which are made for them."
Truer words have not be spoken.
- Veetla Vishesham, Jaadugar, Kunjeldho lead OTT releases - July 15 weekend
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