Bagheera Hindi OTT release: When and where to watch Sriimurali’s superhero flick

When the Kannada original Bagheera, produced by Hombale Films, made its way to OTT only 3 weeks after its theatrical outing, it did so with four language options only. There was Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, but no Hindi version. This was attributed to the clause mandating an 8-week gap between theatrical and OTT releases, even though Bagheera did not hit theatres with a Hindi version.

Bagheera movie review: Sriimurali and Dr Suri deliver a grounded, perfectly well-balanced origin story for this superhero 

Bagheera's Hindi version headed to Disney+ Hotstar

Hindi audiences can watch the film this week, what with it set to hit OTT on Christmas Day. Bagheera’s Hindi version, will not join the other south Indian language versions on Netflix, and will, instead, head to Disney+ Hotstar on December 25. Bagheera was the first Kannada film to be picked by Netflix before the film's theatrical release. 

Bagheera, directed by Dr Suri, is an origin story, starring Kannada cinema’s Roaring Star Sriimurali. It follows a righteous IPS officer, who tries to clean up his jurisdictional territory, only to have his wings clipped by the department. Determined to do right by the people, he finds a way out by turning vigilante by night. How he brings about justice as Bagheera is the crux of the film.

Director Dr Suri’s film had been compared to Hollywood superhero films, especially Batman, which the filmmaker said was deliberate, in terms of the visuals and technicalities. AJ Shetty's cinematography and Ajaneesh Loknath's score are major highlights of the film. 

The film had opened to largely positive reviews, but its box office performance remained average, with netizens remarking that it deserved more. The film paired Sriimurali with Rukmini Vasanth, while KGF’s Garuda Ram was the main antagonist. Also on the cast were Prakash Raj, Achyuth Kumar, Rangayana Raghu, Prakash Thuminad, Sharath Lohithashwa, Sudharani, among others.

Visually, Bagheera is like Batman, which was intentional, says director Dr Suri 

Bagheera will likely become a franchise, although the team has not announced a sequel. Sriimurali has a couple of commitments lined up, while Dr Suri is yet to announce his next move.