Nivin Pauly’s Saturday Night OTT rights get picked up, but no takers for Mahaveeryar yet

Abrid Shine’s Mahaveeryar hit theatres months before Rosshan Andrrews’ Saturday Night

Stills from Saturday NIght and Mahaveeryar

While Malayalam star Nivin Pauly still remains a powerhouse of a performer, the performance of his latest movies at the box office have arguably taken a hit, especially when it comes to grabbing decent price for their OTT rights.

The actor’s latest release Saturday Night, which is helmed by Rosshan Andrrews, didn’t fare well at the box office and was one of his worst outings this year. However, the silver lining is that the film’s OTT rights have been picked up.

Also read: Mahaveeryar review: Nivin Pauly’s courtroom, fantasy drama is a brilliant satirical take on the abuse of power

The movie, which revolves around a bunch of friends essayed by Nivin, Siju Wilson, Saiju Kurup and Aju Varghese, failed to set the cash registers ringing at the box office, but its OTT rights have reportedly been grabbed by Sun NXT, which is expected to begin streaming the movie soon. Saturday Night also stars Saniya Iyappan and Grace Antony, and marked Nivin’s second collaboration with Rosshan after Kayamkulam Kochunni.

However, one of Nivin’s better outings this year – Abrid Shine’s Mahaveeryar – is yet to find a taker for its digital rights. According to sources from the industry, it’s not that the streaming services do not have any interest for the film, but the producers have been asking for a high price that the OTT platforms deem too much considering the limited subscribers it might bring in.

Also read: Saturday Night movie review: Nivin Pauly's movie tries hard to be fun but works sparingly

Mahaveeryar, which also has Asif Ali, Lal and Shanvi Srivastava, was produced by Nivin Pauly and was a period time-travel fantasy made on a fairly decent scale. Though it received mixed reviews, the film’s graphics and concept were lauded by the critics and fans alike.

Nivin’s latest film to hit an OTT platform was Padavettu, which released on Netflix last month. His upcoming movie Thuramukham, which was slated to hit theatres in December, has been postponed again. The film has been grappling with financial troubles ever since it missed its release date in 2020 due to the pandemic. Recently, Magic Frames had picked up its distribution but a release date is now expected only in 2023.

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