PremiumBox-office performance becomes the deal-clincher for OTT deals for Telugu films, here’s what we know
Leading OTT platforms are now no longer interested in Telugu films that didn’t do well at the box office. Here’s why
Posters of Salaar, Pushpa 2 and Skanda
Last Updated: 05.50 PM, Nov 02, 2023
In Telugu cinema, which has seen the greatest number of OTT releases in the South since the pandemic, even before a film is released, streaming platforms would approach producers, willing to pay crores of rupees to bag its digital rights.
Recently, Telugu films like Skanda and Waltair Veerayya were bagged for a whopping price of Rs 45 crores by Sony LIV and Netflix, respectively. Even a small Telugu film like Baby, which was made on a budget of Rs 5 crore, was bagged by Aha for Rs 7 crore.
This meant that the OTT rights served as another revenue channel, which also made up for the losses if a film didn’t do well theatrically. For instance, the Telugu film Agent, which featured Akhil Akkineni, was bagged by Sony LIV for Rs 30 crore; this amount helped minimize the losses of the producer, especially when it didn’t even cross Rs 10 crore from its theatrical screenings.
However, this could soon change, with the OTT platforms reportedly not showing much interest in buying the digital rights of films, especially if the film tanks at the box office. Ram Pothineni’s Skanda, which dropped on Disney+ Hotstar, delayed its OTT release as the makers had an issue with the payment of its digital rights.
A source from a leading Telugu OTT platform tells OTTplay that most of the OTT platforms lock a deal with producers, but the amount is transferred depending on how the film fares at the box office. The latest example is Agent, which is yet to stream on Sony LIV, due to the financial dispute that is on between the platform and the producers.
The source also adds that several popular OTT platforms have now decided that they are not going to shell exorbitant amounts to bag the rights of Telugu films, unless and until they emerge as superhits. This is also taking into consideration that the films that fail at the box office are also not watched extensively on OTT. This has also encouraged the platforms to take this decision.
This practice is slowly finding its feet and not many producers in the industry are aware of this new tactic by the OTT platforms, especially in Telugu. While big-budget films like Salaar and Pushpa 2: The Rule will definitely bag big deals as well as money before their theatrical release, the rest of the Telugu films might get popular OTT platforms but not the money; at least not until they prove their worth at the box office.