For a long time now, there have been reports and rumours that producers and distributors feel begrudged about the involvement of OTT platforms in films. Their involvement in deciding the release dates of films has reportedly become an issue for makers. And now, Suniel Narang, the producer of the upcoming film Kuberaa, has made shocking revelations about an OTT giant, which further establishes those rumours. He claimed that Prime Video threatened to cut ₹10 crore from their deal if the film was not released on time.
Kuberaa producer makes shocking claims
During an interview with Gulte, the producer was asked about how an OTT window of 4 weeks has become unavoidable in recent times, even for films that are faring well in theatres. The Suniel of Asian Cinemas revealed, “Yes, Telugu films come on OTT platforms in 28 days, sometimes we drag it to 30 days. They have overtaken everything, and it all goes according to their will. I requested them (Prime Video) to give me a few weeks` time and a July date because there might be a delay in post-production. They said they’ll cut ₹10 crore if I don’t release on 20 June as planned.”
He further went on to claim that the film industry is ‘finished’ with regards to certain things, such as relying on Qube Cinema for projection, BookMyShow for ticketing and OTT platforms for post-theatrical revenue. The producers said, “And yet people say artists` remuneration should be reduced. Why should we do that? India has a population of 145 crore, only 50 of them are superstars. They are gods, in my opinion. The issue lies with everything else but them. These other entities are happy irrespective of films being a hit or a flop.”
About Kuberaa
Kuberaa is an upcoming Indian social thriller inspired by a mythological tale. The film is directed by Sekhar Kammula and produced by Suniel Narang and Puskur Rammohan Rao under the banner of Amigos Creations. The film includes an ensemble cast of Dhanush, Nagarjuna, Rashmika Mandanna, Jim Sarbh, and Dalip Tahil.
Interestingly, the film made on a budget of Rs 120 crore was shot simultaneously in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Reportedly, the OTT rights for Kuberaa have been sold to Amazon Prime Video, and it will be released in theatres on 20 June. It was initially scheduled to be released in April but was delayed.
