King of Kotha on OTT: When and where to watch Dulquer Salmaan’s Onam biggie after its theatrical run

Dulquer Salmaan’s big Onam release, King of Kotha is in theatres today. Directed by Abhilash Joshiy, the period gangster drama was one of the most widely-anticipated Malayalam films of the year. Trade predictions hinted at the film breaking the box office opening record set by Superstar Rajinikanth’s Jailer only weeks ago (Rs 5.5 cr), even though it was going to lock horns with Nivin Pauly’s Ramachandra Boss & Co and Shane Nigam’s RDX.

Read also: King of Kotha first review out: 'Absolute treat for Dulquer Salmaan fans, the hype is real'

The film, according to reports that emerged after the film’s Telugu censor, is a gangster tale set in the 90s , and follows how a police officer engineers the return of a former gangster, Raju (Dulquer) to return to Kotha and re-claim the throne he’d vacated for its current king, Kannan Bhai (Shabeer Kallarakkal). Co-produced by Zee Network, it was expected that Dulquer’s film would land on the platform following its theatrical run, with, maybe a Hindi version alone heading to another platform.

This morning, when the credits of the first show of King of Kotha rolled, it emerged that the exclusive streaming partner of the film is not Zee5. Instead, the film will drop on Disney+Hotstar after its theatrical run. The terms of this deal, as in whether it is a 30, 45 or 60-day agreement is yet to be ascertained.

King of Kotha boasts a massive ensemble cast, including Prasanna and Shabeer Kalarakkal, as well as Gokul Suresh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nyla Usha, Chemban Vinod Jose, Shanthi Krishna, Anikha Surendran, Shammi Thilakan, TG Ravi and Sudhi Koppa. The film was rumoured to have a cameo by a top star, with names like Tovino Thomas, Dhruv Vikram, Suriya, among others, being speculated. There are whispers on social media now that that there are no cameos by any Tamil star in the film, but the first reports of the film emerging from the UAE premiere are encouraging.

Read also: Aishwarya Lekshmi: King of Kotha is mounted on a scale 100 times more than what I thought was possible in Malayalam