Multiplex, single screen owners spar over theatrical release of OTT films

New Delhi: Multiplex chains and single screen owners in the country are squabbling over showcasing films in theatres already released on video streaming platforms. Smaller single-screen businesses are open to showing films already released on digital platforms to fill the content lag they face currently. Larger multiplex chains, however, are averse to the idea, fearing it may become the norm for film producers.With most Bollywood producers unwilling to schedule new movies until the covid-19 situation stabilises, single screen owners are demanding that titles such as Coolie No.1 that have already been acquired by video streaming platforms, in this case, Amazon Prime Video, be brought to theatres the same day as their digital premiere. Many small town, independent properties have been screening Zee Studios’ Khaali Peeli for the past few weeks after its premier on Zee Plex.Also read: India can’t make up its mind on PSUs, 30 years after liberalisationIn Hollywood, Warner Bros has slated its superhero sequel Wonder Woman 1984 for a simultaneous theatrical and OTT premiere this Christmas. Trade experts, however, say multiplex owners remain adamant on screening only exclusive content and are willing to delay recovery in the process.“The national chains are clear they will not be treated as second fiddle to the streaming platforms and that they are the premier platform for release in the country. Accepting an OTT release is akin to shutting their own shop. What will the difference between the two screens be if they agree to this?” said a film industry executive on condition of anonymity.The person added that multiplexes view this move to bring OTT films to theatres as a way to further arm-twist them into accepting commercial terms that benefit producers, such as shortening the window between theatrical and digital premiere of films in the coming months to four weeks or less.The Multiplex Association of India did not respond to Mint’s queries. Amazon Prime Video too did not respond on whether it would consider a theatrical release for Coolie No.1 but in an earlier interview with Mint, Vijay Subramaniam, director and head, content, Amazon Prime Video had said that decisions such as simultaneous digital and theatrical premiere of a film would depend entirely on the individual case, that there are many nuanced elements to such conversations and no such options have existed so far.“Single screen owners and multiplexes come from two completely different places,” said Vishek Chauhan, an independent exhibitor in Bihar, who, like several others in his fraternity, does not see a problem in screening films on the same day as their digital release. “They (multiplexes) cater to an elite, metro audience that is already on the verge of moving out of theatres,” he added.The educated, urban middle-class, trade experts like Chauhan say, is well exposed to content on video streaming platforms and far too paranoid about the spread of the virus to go back to cinemas anytime soon. Many small-town audiences, on the other hand, may not even be aware they are watching films that have had a digital premiere.Chauhan screened Khaali Peeli to better attendance in his theatre than Zee’s Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari that had hit the big screen for Diwali. Several single screens have even been showing pirated versions of Akshay Kumar’s Laxmii that premiered on Disney+ Hotstar.Atul Mohan, editor of trade magazine Complete Cinema said the current unusual circumstances demand that all parties let go off their egos. Along with its digital premier, a film like Coolie No.1 can easily have a decent limited release in theatres – 700-800 screens -- in small towns and cities where OTT penetration is low, he said.Entertainment industry specialist see the theatre versus OTT film battle as a temporary one.“We should be mindful of creating a binary argument here (between theatres and streaming platforms),” Uday Shankar, president of the Walt Disney Co. APAC and chairman, Star and Disney India had said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit last week.“After all of this is over, theatres are only going to get bigger and streaming is not competing with them. There is an intense experience that only theatres can generate,” he said.