Kantara on OTT: Rishab Shetty’s blockbuster to be available on rent only?

Ever since news broke that actor-filmmaker Rishab Shetty’s ‘divine blockbuster’ Kantara may be available to stream as early as November 4, fans who had seen it and are waiting for a repeat viewing and those who have not had the fortune yet, because it wasn’t available in their neighbourhood, have been excitedly posting about counting down to the OTT premiere. This, even though the streaming partner, in this case Amazon Prime Video, has not officially confirmed the streaming date.

The digital rights of Kantara had been sold prior to its theatrical release and going by the current trends, it was estimated that it would be available to stream anytime after 30 days from September 30. The film’s massive box office success, though, had industry insiders speculating if the makers, Hombale Films, would strike an agreement with Prime Video for a delayed OTT premiere. While that is still a possibility, they also do not rule out the possibility of the film making the November 4 streaming date, but not how fans hoped for.

In recent times, Prime Video has been bringing popular international and domestic titles to subscribers and non-subscribers through its store, which makes films available on rental only. KGF: Chapter 2 was among the early Indian titles on Amazon’s rental plan and was there for about two weeks, much to the displeasure of subscribers. Rakshit Shetty’s 777 Charlie’s non-Kannada versions (Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam) are also on the platform and have been on the store since September 30, with no change in status quo on the horizon.

Industry experts reckon that if Amazon does actually bring the film to the platform next week, it will be on rental only, given the hype surrounding the ‘divine blockbuster’. Rishab’s film, which was released in Kannada only initially and literally ran riot at the box office, was then dubbed into the other languages ahead of schedule given the demand for it. Since then, Kantara has amassed a whopping Rs 200 crore worldwide and is still going strong.