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777 Charlie on OTT: No public outcry as Rakshit Shetty’s film completes 50 days in rental-only mode

The Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of the Kiranraj K directorial continue to be among the top 10 selling titles for the streamer.

777 Charlie on OTT: No public outcry as Rakshit Shetty’s film completes 50 days in rental-only mode
Rakshit Shetty and Charlie in 777 Charlie

Last Updated: 03.42 PM, Nov 21, 2022

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In May this year, when KGF: Chapter 2 finally made its way to its streaming partner Amazon Prime Video, there was a lot of hue and cry because the platform made the film available for rental only on an early access scheme available to both subscribers and non-subscribers. Subscribers, of course, were hopping mad at having to shell out extra when they were already paying Rs 1,499 per year to the platform. Prime Video persisted and kept the film on the store for about two weeks, before finally making it ‘free’ for all subscribers.

With Rakshit Shetty’s 777 Charlie, though, Amazon Prime Video is following a different strategy. For starters, unlike KGF: Chapter 2, for 777 Charlie, the streamer does not hold the rights to all the versions. The satellite and digital rights of the Kannada version of 777 Charlie rest with Colors Kannada and Voot Select respectively. In fact, the Kannada version of 777 Charlie has been on Voot since July 29, while the rest came on Amazon Prime Video two months later.

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The streamer has kept Rakshit’s film on the store only and now, 50 days later, it is still there. Since it dropped on Prime Video, 777 Charlie has consistently been in the top 10 list of titles sold in India, with the Hindi version often topping it too. Currently the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions are in the top 10. Interestingly, enough, there is no public outcry whatsoever about the fact that access to the film that released in theatres way back in June is still at an extra price only. Some netizens reckon that this lack of anger boils down to the fact that pirated versions of the original film with English subtitles are available.

Queries about 777 Charlie’s rental-only status got this response from the streamer, “As a consequence of how rights are granted by studios/licensors for a movie, we are unable to offer all movies on Prime Video as part of your Prime membership.” Could it be that Rakshit’s deal with the streamer is for a pay-per-view arrangement only?

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